Norroy and Ulster King of Arms

Norroy and Ulster King of Arms
	The arms of office of the Norroy and Ulster King of Arms
Heraldic tradition	British
Jurisdiction	England north of the river Trent and Northern Ireland
Governing body	College of Arms

Norroy and Ulster King of Arms is the provincial King of Arms at the College of Arms with jurisdiction over England north of the Trent and Northern Ireland. The two offices of Norroy and Ulster were formerly separate. Norroy King of Arms is the older office, there being a reference as early as 1276 to a "King of Heralds beyond the Trent in the North". The name Norroy is derived from the Old French nort roy meaning 'north king'.^[1]^[2] The office of Ulster Principal King of Arms for All-Ireland was established in 1552 by King Edward VI to replace the older post of Ireland King of Arms, which had lapsed in 1487.

Ulster King of Arms was not part of the College of Arms and did not fall under the jurisdiction of the Earl Marshal, being the heraldic authority for the Kingdom of Ireland (the jurisdiction of the College of Arms being the Kingdom of England and Lord Lyon's Office that of the Kingdom of Scotland).

Ulster was Registrar and King of Arms of the Order of St Patrick. Norroy and Ulster King of Arms now holds this position,^{[citation needed]} though no new knights of that Order have been created since 1936, and the last surviving knight died in 1974. Heraldic matters in the Republic of Ireland are now handled by the office of the Chief Herald of Ireland (a part of the Genealogical Office in the National Library).

The arms of the new office of Norroy and Ulster King of Arms were devised in 1980 based on elements from the arms of the two former offices. They are blazoned: Quarterly Argent and Or a Cross Gules on a Chief per pale Azure and Gules a Lion passant guardant Or crowned with an open Crown between a Fleur-de-lis and a Harp Or.

The office is currently vacant following the appointment of Robert Noel to the office of Clarenceux King of Arms on 28 October 2024.

^ "Norroy". Collins English Dictionary. Retrieved 2 July 2023. Word origin C15: Old French nor north + roy king
^ Burke, Bernard, Sir (1884). "The general armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales; comprising a registry of armorial bearings from the earliest to the present time". London : Harrison & sons (Internet Archive). Retrieved 2 July 2023. "Norroy King of Arms", the most ancient of the heraldic sovereigns in England possesses as his province, England north of the Trent. He is the North King — "Norroy." The English Heralds bear the designation of "Windsor", "Chester", "Somerset", "Lancaster", "York" and "Richmond" the Pursuivants, are known by the names of "Rouge Dragon", "Rouge Croix", "Bluemantle" and "Portcullis." The date of the creation of the historic and dignified office of Garter King of Arms may be fixed with certainty to have been between May and September, 1417. The first Garter was William Bruges, originally styled "Guyenne King of Arms" and subsequently "Garteir Roy d'Armes des Anglois." By the constitution of King Henry VIII., it was provided that Garter should be Sovereign within the College of Arms above all the other officers...{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[1] "Norroy". Collins English Dictionary. Retrieved 2 July 2023. Word origin C15: Old French nor north + roy king

[2] Burke, Bernard, Sir (1884). "The general armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales; comprising a registry of armorial bearings from the earliest to the present time". London : Harrison & sons (Internet Archive). Retrieved 2 July 2023. "Norroy King of Arms", the most ancient of the heraldic sovereigns in England possesses as his province, England north of the Trent. He is the North King — "Norroy." The English Heralds bear the designation of "Windsor", "Chester", "Somerset", "Lancaster", "York" and "Richmond" the Pursuivants, are known by the names of "Rouge Dragon", "Rouge Croix", "Bluemantle" and "Portcullis." The date of the creation of the historic and dignified office of Garter King of Arms may be fixed with certainty to have been between May and September, 1417. The first Garter was William Bruges, originally styled "Guyenne King of Arms" and subsequently "Garteir Roy d'Armes des Anglois." By the constitution of King Henry VIII., it was provided that Garter should be Sovereign within the College of Arms above all the other officers...{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

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