College of Arms

You are approaching the College of Arms, the oldest active heraldic institution in Europe and the official authority on coats of arms and genealogy for England and Wales. While it operates as a private corporation, its members are part of the Royal Household and serve the monarch directly during major state occasions. The institution traces its royal roots back to a charter granted by King Richard the Third in fourteen eighty-four. When you look at the building today, you are seeing a structure that rose from the ashes of the Great Fire of London in sixteen sixty-six, when the original medieval headquarters on the site were destroyed. Despite the ferocity of that fire, the heralds successfully saved their entire collection of ancient registers and manuscripts, ensuring the survival of centuries of records that document British family lineage and armorial history.