[1][2] The Imperial Crown consists of three principal elements possessing great symbolic significance: the circlet, the high arch, and the mitre.

Between the stones are two large pearls arranged vertically and set within white enamel rosettes surrounded by scrollwork.

[5] The mitre symbolises the divine right to rule, and the spiritual position of the emperor, who during coronation was consecrated symbolically as a deacon.

The mitre fills the left and right sides of the crown, leaving an opening in the middle through which the high arch passes.

The mitre is divided into four sections representing the high honours of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II.

The Latin inscription inside the arch reads, RVDOLPHVS II ROM(ANORVM) IMP(ERATOR) AVGVSTUS HVNG(ARIAE) ET BOH(EMIAE) REX CONSTRVXIT MDCII (Rudolf II, August Emperor of the Romans, King of Hungary and Bohemia, Constructed in 1602).

The crown of Rudolf II was made in 1602 in Prague by Jan Vermeyen, one of the most outstanding goldsmiths of his time, who was called specially from Antwerp.

The Imperial Orb was commissioned in 1612 by Rudolf's brother and successor, Holy Roman Emperor Matthias, and was created by Andreas Ochsenbruck.

The Imperial Orb and Sceptre were already in use before the proclamation of the Austrian Empire, as Bohemian royal regalia and for the hereditary private estates (Erbhuldigung) of the Archduchy of Austria.