page_title: Lord Chancellor
section_title: Insignia
hierarchical_section_title: Lord Chancellor / Official dress / Insignia
caption_attribution_description: English: Banner of the arms of Cardinal Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Archbishop of York and Lord Chancellor of England: Arms: See of York impaling Sable, on a cross engrailed argent a lion passant gules between four leopard's heads azure on a chief or a rose gules between two Cornish choughs proper (Wolsey). Cardinal's hat above. The griffin supporter holds the Mace of the Lord Chancellor.
context_page_description: The Lord Chancellor, formally the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest ranking among the Great Officers of State who are appointed regularly in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the Prime Minister. The Lord Chancellor is outranked only by the Lord High Steward, another Great Officer of State, who is appointed only for the day of coronations. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign on the advice of the Prime Minister. Prior to their Union into the Kingdom of Great Britain, there were separate lord chancellors for the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland; there were Lord Chancellors of Ireland until 1922.
  The Lord Chancellor is a member of the Cabinet and, by law, is responsible for the efficient functioning and independence of the courts. In 2005, there were a number of changes to the legal system and to the office of the Lord Chancellor.
context_section_description: The historic insignia of the Lord Chancellor is a purse containing the Great Seal and a Mace or staff of office. The Elizabethan play Sir Thomas More opens Scene II as follows: "Chelsea. A Room in More's House. A table being covered with a green carpet, a state cushion on it, and the Purse and Mace lying thereon, enter Sir Thomas More".
caption: Heraldic banner of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey as Archbishop of York, Lord Chancellor, showing the arms of the See of York impaling his personal arms, with a cardinal's hat above. The griffin supporter holds the Lord Chancellor's Mace
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