The present arms do not include a representation of the United Kingdom's fourth constituent country, Wales.

[3] It is instead represented heraldically by two royal badges, which use the Welsh dragon and the coat of arms of Llywelyn ab Iorwerth respectively.

Below the shield is a grassy mound, a type of compartment, on which are thistles, Tudor roses and shamrocks, representing Scotland, England and Ireland respectively.

[1] In front of this is the motto Dieu et mon droit, a French phrase meaning 'God and my right'.

Except during the Commonwealth and The Protectorate in the mid-seventeenth century, and the use by William III of an inescutcheon of Nassau, the arms remained unchanged until the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707.

The arms of the new kingdom impaled England and Scotland in the first and fourth quarters, representing their union, with France in the second and Ireland in the third.

[13] In 1837, Victoria became queen of the United Kingdom but not Hanover, as the latter followed Salic law which barred women from the succession.

[13] The Hanoverian inescutcheon was therefore removed, and the royal arms reached the form they have retained to the present.

The only changes since have been cosmetic, such as altering the depiction of the Irish harp so that it no longer includes a bare-breasted woman.

But how these blazons are depicted has been subject to artistic interpretation and the preferences of the monarch under the royal prerogative.

[c] The first reference to the "imperial crown" of England was during the reign of Henry VIII in the Ecclesiastical Appeals Act 1532, which declared that "this realm of England is an empire ... governed by one Supreme Head and King having the dignity and royal estate of the imperial Crown of the same".

[38] In addition, use of the royal arms and devices for commercial purposes is specifically restricted in the UK (and in countries which are party to the Paris Convention) under sections 4 and 99 of the Trade Marks Act 1994, and its use is governed by the Lord Chamberlain's Office.

It is an offence under Section 12 of the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 to give a false indication that any goods or services are supplied to the monarch or any member of the royal family.

[42][41] The UK Government generally uses a simplified form of the arms that omits the helm and mantling, reduces the crest to the crown alone, and has no compartment.

[2] The royal arms feature on all Acts of Parliament, in the logos of government departments, on the cover of all UK passports (and passports issued in other British territories and dependencies), as an inescutcheon on the diplomatic flags of British Ambassadors, and on The London Gazette.

The royal arms appear in courtrooms in England and Wales, typically behind the judge's bench, and symbolise that justice comes from the monarch.

[f][46] The arms are not displayed in the Middlesex Guildhall, which houses the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, as the remit of the former includes the four nations of the entire UK, and the latter is the final court of appeal for three independent republics and for the independent sultanate of Brunei Darussalam, not recognizing the judicial authority of the British monarch as their head of state, as well as for the various British territories and sovereign bases, the Crown dependencies, and other independent Commonwealth realms where the king is the head of state but separated from the judicial authority.

The full royal arms appear on the one pound coin, and sections appear on each of the other six, which combine to form a complete depiction.

[50][51] If a church building of either denomination does not currently display the royal arms, permission from the Crown must be given before one can be used.

[52] Use of the royal arms and devices for commercial purposes is specifically restricted in the UK (and in countries which are party to the Paris Convention) under sections 4 and 99 of the Trade Marks Act 1994, and its use is governed by the Lord Chamberlain's Office.

It is an offence under Section 12 of the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 to give a false indication that any goods or services are supplied to the monarch or any member of the royal family.

In Australia, the royal arms are used as a logo by the Parliament of Victoria and the Western Australian Legislative Council.

[63][64] It is also used by several state and federal courts, including: The current royal arms are also used by Australian newspaper The Age.

An exception is made for the eldest son of the Prince of Wales, who also bears a three-point label.