The design is both “personal and representative,” Kensington Palace says.
She’s got the most talked-about wedding dress of the year, she’s got a title, and now Meghan Markle has her own coat of arms.
Following her May 19 wedding to Britain’s Prince Harry at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, California-born Markle is the Duchess of Sussex.
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And like that wedding brought together influences from her home and from that of her new husband, the Duchess of Sussex’s coat of arms is transatlantic in its symbolism.
The shield’s blue background represents the Pacific Ocean along the Californian coastline, and that state’s flower, the golden poppy, can be seen in the design also.
Touchingly, they’re next to wintersweet, which grows in the garden at the Duchess’s new home, Kensington Palace.
The three quills represent the power of communication and words, and the rays of light between them stand in for California’s sunshine.
That element of communication is mirrored in the songbird’s open beak. The lion, of course, represents Prince Harry.
Markle worked closely on the design with Thomas Woodcock, garter king of arms and senior herald of the United Kingdom, Kensington Palace says.
“The Duchess of Sussex took a great interest in the design,” Woodcock says via the palace’s website.
“Good heraldic design is nearly always simple and the Arms of The Duchess of Sussex stand well beside the historic beauty of the quartered British Royal Arms.”
It’s not the first major symbolic move Markle has made since her wedding, either. In her official bio as the Duchess of Sussex, her activism is front and centre.
“I am proud to be a woman and a feminist,” she says.
Sounds good to us.
Images: Kensington Palace, Getty
