[1] The blazon is as follows: Azure, billetty Or a lion with a coronet Or armed and langued Gules holding in his dexter paw a sword Argent hilted Or and in the sinister paw seven arrows Argent pointed and bound together Or.

They stand on a scroll Azure with the text (Or) "Je Maintiendrai" (pronounced [ʒə mɛ̃tjɛ̃dʁe], French for "I shall maintain".)

In the royal decree, it is stated that male successors may replace the crown on the shield with a helm with the crest of Nassau.

From the arms of the former States General of the Republic of the United Provinces he took the lion with a coronet, sword and arrows.

The arrows symbolize the seven provinces that made up the Republic, the sword the determination to defend their liberty, and the coronet their sovereignty.

The helm and crest that can be used in the royal arms by the male successors to the throne (and is in fact being used by some male members of the royal family) is: "On a (ceremonial) helmet, with bars and decoration Or and mantling Azure and Or, issuing from a coronet Or, a pair of wings joined Sable each with an arched bend Argent charged with three leaves of the lime-tree stems upward Vert".

Count Henry III of Nassau-Breda, who was living in the Low Countries, was married to Claudia Orange-Châlon.

When he died in 1530, Henry's and Claudia's son René of Nassau-Breda inherited the Princedom on condition that he used the name and coat of arms of the Châlon family.

[citation needed] The lion, as representing the Burgundian Netherlands, first appears as a crest on the tomb of Philip the Handsome.

The arrows were used, on coins etc., since the early 16th century to represent the Seventeen Provinces in the low countries under control of Charles V. In 1578, during the Eighty Years' War, the States General ordered a new great seal representing the lion, the sword and the 17 arrows combined.

After the completion of its forming in 1584 the Republic of the Seven United Provinces used as its arms: Or a crowned lion Gules armed and langued Azure, holding in his dexter paw a sword and in the sinister paw seven arrows tight together Azure.

After c. 1668 the colours where reversed and the arms became Gules a crowned lion Or armed and langued Azure holding in his dexter paw a sword Argent hilted Or and in the sinister paw seven arrows Argent pointed and tight together Or.

The arrows symbolize the seven provinces that made up the Republic, the sword the determination to defend their liberty, and the coronet their sovereignty.

With the replacement of the Batavian Republic with the Kingdom of Holland (1806–1810), the lion of the States General was again adopted.

After the emperor Napoleon abolished the Kingdom of Holland in 1810 the lion again had to leave the stage and the Imperial Eagle was the only image in use.

Because this new kingdom comprised not only the lands of the former Dutch Republic but also of the former Austrian or Southern Netherlands, it was also not appropriate to continue the use of the old arms.