Armorial of British universities

Common card · No. 412670

The armorial of British universities is the collection of coats of arms of universities in the United Kingdom. Modern arms of universities began appearing in England around the middle of the 15th century, with Oxford's being possibly the oldest university arms in the world, being adopted (prior to the establishment of the College of Arms) around the end of the 14th century. The earliest granting of university arms was to King's College Cambridge by Henry VI in 1449. Arms are granted in respect of England, Wales and Northern Ireland by the College of Arms and, for Scotland, by the Lyon Court. It has been suggested that new universities register arms in an attempt to appear more traditional or legitimate. As corporations, older university arms have historically been granted without a crest, however newer institutions use crests with mantling, including new colleges at older universities. The first crest granted to a university was to Leeds in 1905 while the first British university to be...

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