Coronet

In British heraldry, a coronet is a type of crown that is a mark of rank of non-reigning members of the royal family and peers. In other languages, this distinction is not made, and usually the same word for crown is used irrespective of rank (German: Krone, Dutch: kroon, Swedish: krona, French: couronne, Italian: corona, Polish: korona etc.) In this use, the English coronet is a purely technical term for all heraldic images of crowns not used by a sovereign. A coronet is another type of crown, but is reserved for the nobility: dukes, marquesses, earls, viscounts and barons. The specific design and attributes of the crown or coronet signifies the hierarchy and ranking of its owner.

Certain physical coronets are worn by the British peerage on rare ceremonial occasions, such as the coronation of the monarch. These are also sometimes depicted in heraldry, and called coronets of rank in heraldic usage. Their shape varies depending on the wearer's rank in the peerage, according to models laid down in the 16th century. Similar depictions of crowns of rank (German: Rangkronen) are used in continental heraldry, but physical headgear has never been made to imitate them.

Due to the extreme rarity of occasions in which peers' coronets are worn (sometimes more than fifty years pass before a new coronation and occasion to wear physical coronets), practical use of the term coronet today is almost exclusively confined to pictorial crowns and rank symbols in heraldry, adorning someone's coat of arms (indeed, many people entitled to a coronet never have a physical one made). Depiction of ordinary crowns or coronets in heraldry, rather than coronets of rank, including a variety of crest coronets sometimes placed under the crest, are not confined to peers, and are often shown in British heraldry outside the peerage.

The word stems from the Old French coronete, a diminutive of co(u)ronne ('crown'), itself from the Latin: corona, lit. 'crown, wreath' and from the Ancient Greek: κορώνη, romanized: korōnē, lit. 'garland, wreath'.

Traditionally, such headgear is used by nobles and by princes and princesses in their coats of arms, rather than by monarchs, for whom the word 'crown' is customarily reserved in English, while many languages have no such terminological distinction. As a coronet shows the rank of the respective noble, in the German and Scandinavian languages there is also the term rangkrone (literally 'rank crown').

Members of the British royal family often display coronets in their coats of arms and may wear actual coronets at coronations (e.g., Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret at the 1937 coronation of their father as George VI). Such coronets were made according to regulations instituted by King Charles II in 1661, shortly after his return from exile in France (getting a taste for its lavish court style; Louis XIV started monumental work at Versailles that year). They vary depending on the individual's relationship to the monarch. Occasionally, additional royal warrants vary the designs for individuals.

The most recent (and most comprehensive) royal warrant concerning coronets was the 19 November 1917 warrant of George V. The coronet of the British heir apparent is distinctive in itself, as it has a single arch with a globe and cross. Charles III opted against the use of coronets at his coronation in 2023, for both members of the royal family and peers, but he did not abolish the tradition.

In the United Kingdom, a peer traditionally wears a coronet on one occasion only – for a royal coronation, when it is worn along with coronation robes, equally standardised as a luxurious uniform. However, for the 2023 coronation of King Charles III, on the government's advice, the King forbade the wearing of coronets by those peers who had been invited, except those performing specific ceremonial roles.