The Armorial Register Limited

The Armorial Register Limited, International Register of Arms (formerly Burke's Peerage & Gentry International Register of Arms) is a specialist publisher, of heraldry and associated sciences, founded in 2006. The Armorial Register originally published under the Burke’s Peerage umbrella. After Burke’s was sold to new owners, the directors of The Armorial Register Limited decided that they would no longer licence the name of Burke’s and would henceforth publish under their own established brand.
The Armorial Register maintains an on-line register and then publishes the same in book form to provide a permanent record of international coats of arms. The importance of this work has been recognised by the British Library and using their web archive service they record the web site twice a year for posterity.
Registration
As a condition for registering a personal coat of arms, the armiger must either:
* (a) have inherited a coat of arms from a documented, usually patrilineal ancestor who actually bore that coat of arms, or;
* (b) have been granted an original coat of arms that does not duplicate an existing design, by a recognised granting authority, or;
* (c) have designed and assumed their own coat of arms because they come from a country without a granting authority.
Furthermore, no titles, awards or medals are allowed to be displayed without adequate proofs. "Surname" family coats of arms as sold by bucket shops, will not be entertained.
The Armorial Register now registers Feudal Lords and Barons of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. These are recorded separately and will be published as a separate book.
Publications
The Register may include the rationale and history behind the use and design of featured coats of arms along with the family biographies of the bearers. It is not only important to record the arms in question, but also to record the history and process behind them. To that aim, the Armorial Register has either published the following or has these books in production.
* International Register of Arms - Volume I - 206 pages and 226 full colour images.
* Cheshire Heraldry The Visitations 1533 to 1580 - 350 colour illustrations.
* International Register of Arms - Volume II - Currently being assembled.
* The Register of Feudal Lords and Barons of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - Currently being assembled.
* A Celebration of Scottish Heraldry - 227 pages - 233 images of Scottish arms in use and 82 Letters Patent (the largest printed collection in the world).
Armigerous Corporation
The Armorial Register has received a grant of arms from the Court of Lord Lyon and they are recorded in the 69th folio of the 90th Volume of the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland. In Scotland there is no higher notability as many institutions are not recognised by Lord Lyon.
(The Lord Lyon of Scotland is a Minister of State and member of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II Royal Household. He is Head of the Heraldic Executive and the Judge of the Court of the Lord Lyon, which has jurisdiction over all heraldic business in Scotland and maintains the Scottish Public Registers of Arms and Genealogies. The position of lord Lyon in Scotland dates from around 1437 with the present 'Register of Arms' at Lyon Court dating from 1672.)
Other Activities and Interests
* The Armorial Register is the founder and sponsor of the The International Heraldry Society The International Heraldry Society gives an on-line venue for the promotion and study of heraldry and the encouragement of best practice in the art and science of heraldry.
* Membership is open to any person interested in the study and practice of heraldry and allied subjects. It is not necessary to possess a coat of arms to join the Society, but many members are either armigerous (a person with a Coat of Arms), or intend to become armigerous.
* The Armorial Register also holds Corporate Membership in the Heraldry Society of Scotland. Being one of only two Corporate Members.

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