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A Royal Cypher, or Royal and Imperial Cypher is the sovereign's monogram
Monogram

A monogram is a motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbols or logos....
 or the initials of their name and title, usually surmounted by a crown. It is impressed upon royal and state documents and is used by government departments.

he United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, the public use of the royal initials dates at least from early Tudor times
Tudor period

The Tudor period usually refers to the period between 1485 and 1603, specifically in relation to the history of England. This coincides with the rule of the Tudor dynasty in England whose first monarch was Henry VII of England ....
, and early on was simply the initial of the sovereign with, after Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was also Lordship of Ireland and claimant to the Early Modern France. Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII of England....
's reign, the addition of the letter R for Rex or Regina
Queen regnant

A queen regnant is a qualifying reference to a female monarch possessing and exercising all of the monarchical powers of a ruler, in contrast to a "queen consort", who is the wife of a male reigning as monarch and who is without any official powers of state....
.






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Royal Cypher Eliz 2 Gold
A Royal Cypher, or Royal and Imperial Cypher is the sovereign's monogram
Monogram

A monogram is a motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbols or logos....
 or the initials of their name and title, usually surmounted by a crown. It is impressed upon royal and state documents and is used by government departments.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, the public use of the royal initials dates at least from early Tudor times
Tudor period

The Tudor period usually refers to the period between 1485 and 1603, specifically in relation to the history of England. This coincides with the rule of the Tudor dynasty in England whose first monarch was Henry VII of England ....
, and early on was simply the initial of the sovereign with, after Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was also Lordship of Ireland and claimant to the Early Modern France. Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII of England....
's reign, the addition of the letter R for Rex or Regina
Queen regnant

A queen regnant is a qualifying reference to a female monarch possessing and exercising all of the monarchical powers of a ruler, in contrast to a "queen consort", who is the wife of a male reigning as monarch and who is without any official powers of state....
. The letter "I" for Imperatrix was added to Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom

Victoria was from 20 June 1837 the Queen regnant of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and from 1 May 1876 the first Empress of India of the British Raj until her death....
's monogram after she became Empress of India in 1877. The initials – which had no set pattern or form of lettering laid down – were usually shown in company with the royal arms or crown as on the king's manors and palaces, such as those of Henry VIII on the gatehouse of St James's Palace, and the purpose seems to have been simply to identify a sovereign. Since a monarch often uses the same arms as his or her predecessor, a particular Sovereign cannot always be identified by the arms alone. The initials were used mostly on government papers, duty stamps and similar objects, and were sometimes surmounted by a stylised version of the Tudor Crown or, more recently, St. Edward's Crown
St. Edward's Crown

St Edward's Crown was one of the English Crown Jewels and remains one of the senior Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. It is the official coronation crown used exclusively in the Coronation of the British monarch of a new monarch....
. (In Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
, the Crown of Scotland
Crown of Scotland

The Crown of Scotland was remade in its modern form for King James V of Scotland of Scotland in 1540. It is part of the Honours of Scotland, the oldest set of Crown Jewels in the United Kingdom....
 appears in place of the Imperial crown.)

Commonwealth realms

Though royal symbols will differ amongst each of the sixteen Commonwealth realm
Commonwealth Realm

A Commonwealth realm is any one of 16 Sovereignty states within the Commonwealth of Nations that each have Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom as their monarch....
s, as they are separate monarchies, the one sovereign uses the same cypher throughout all of his or her realms. Distinction continues to be made between the personal cypher and the simpler, more workaday public initials, the former being the sovereign's own monogram and the latter simply a means of identifying a reign. Nowadays, the initials are also called the royal cypher, but to aid clarification the monogram is referred to as the royal cypher interlaced and reversed.

The present Queen's cypher is EIIR, standing for Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the queen regnant of sixteen independent states known as the Commonwealth realms: Monarchy of the United Kingdom, Monarchy of Canada, Monarchy of Australia, Monarchy of New Zealand, Monarchy of Jamaica, Monarchy of Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Monarchy of the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Sain...
 Regina. Cyphers for other members of the Royal Family
British Royal Family

The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in his or her Commonwealth realm#The Crown in the Commonwealth realmss, thus sometimes at variance with official national terms for the family....
 are designed by the College of Arms
College of Arms

The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is an office regulating heraldry and granting new armorial bearings for England, Wales and Northern Ireland....
 or Court of the Lord Lyon
Court of the Lord Lyon

The Court of the Lord Lyon, also known as the Lyon Court, is a standing court of law which regulates heraldry in Scotland. Like the College of Arms in England it maintains the register of grants of coat of arms, known as the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland, as well as records of genealogies....
 and are subsequently approved by the Queen.

Elsewhere

Other royal houses have also made use of royal or imperial cyphers. Ottoman sultans had a calligraphic signature, their tughra
Tughra

A tughra is a calligraphy seal or signature of an Ottoman Empire sultan that was affixed to all official documents and correspondence. It was also carved on his seal and stamped on the coins minted during his reign....
.

Gallery


See also

  • Heraldic badge
    Heraldic badge

    File:Badge of the Prince of Wales.svgIn heraldry, a badge is an emblem or personal device used to indicate allegiance to or property of an individual or family....
  • Mon (badge)
    Mon (badge)

    File:Imperial Seal of Japan.svgFile:Mitsubaaoi2.svg', also ', ', and ', are Japanese heraldry symbols. Mon may refer to any symbol, while kamon and mondokoro refer specifically to family symbols....
  • Personal Flag of Queen Elizabeth II
    Personal Flag of Queen Elizabeth II

    The Personal Flag of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom is used in Commonwealth of Nations countries which are not Commonwealth Realms. The flag was created in 1960 and first used in 1961 for the Queen's visit to India.....