User:Stephen2nd/Royal Labels of England
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Heraldic labels are used to differentiate the individual coats of arms of members of the royal family of the United Kingdom. In the Gallo-British heraldic tradition, cadency marks have been available to "difference" the arms of a son from those of his father, and the arms of brothers from each other, and traditionally this was often done when it was considered important for each man to have a distinctive individual coat of arms and/or to differentiate the arms of the head of a house from junior members of the family. This was especially important in the case of arms of sovereignty, since someone who displayed the undifferenced arms of a kingdom would be heraldically claiming the throne. Therefore in the English royal family, systematic cadency marks were used from the time of Henry III of England, typically a label or bordure alluding to the arms of the bearer's mother or wife. For the next three generations, the heir apparent differenced with a label azure, while other sons used a label or bordure of a different tincture, or bearing charges. After about 1340, when Edward III of England made a claim to the throne of France, a blue label did not contrast sufficiently with the blue field of the French quarter of the royal arms; accordingly the heir apparent used a label argent.[1] Bordures of various tinctures continued to be used into the 15th century.
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