Royal cypher

thumb|upright|A Royal Mail post box in Windsor in Berkshire bearing the royal cypher of King Edward VII, an intertwined ER thumb|Royal Mail van in Scotland, displaying the Royal Mail logo as used in Scotland during the latter years of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. Unlike the logo as used in the rest of the United Kingdom during Elizabeth's reign, the Royal Mail logo in Scotland during her reign was surmounted by a stylised version of the Crown of Scotland and did not feature the royal cypher. This was largely the result of the 'Pillar Box War' of the early 1950s. A stylised version of the Crown of Scotland can be seen on the passenger door of the van as well.
In modern heraldry, a royal cypher is a monogram or monogram-like device of a country's reigning sovereign, typically consisting of the initials of the monarch's name and title, sometimes interwoven and often surmounted by a crown.The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (Fifth edition; 2002), Volume 1, p. 1820. Such a cypher as used by an emperor or empress is called an imperial cypher. In the system used by various Commonwealth realms, the title is abbreviated as 'R' for or (Latin for "king" and "queen"). Previously, 'I' stood for or (Latin for "emperor" and "empress") of the Indian Empire.
Royal cyphers appear on some government buildings, impressed upon royal and state documents, and are used by governmental departments. They may also appear on other governmental structures built under a particular ruler. For example, the insignia of "N III" for Napoléon III is seen on some Paris bridges, such as the Pont au Change.
==Commonwealth realms==
The use of a royal cypher in the Commonwealth realms originated in the United Kingdom, where the public use of the royal initials dates at least from the early Tudor period, and was simply the initial of the sovereign with, after Henry VIII's reign, the addition of the letter 'R' for or . The letter 'I' for was added to Queen Victoria's monogram after she became Empress of India in 1877.
The initialswhich had no set pattern or form of lettering laid downwere usually shown in company with the royal arms or crown as on the king's manors and palacessuch as those of Henry VIII on the gatehouse of St James's Palace. The purpose seems to have been simply to identify an individual sovereign, particularly on certain landmarks that he or she has commissioned, as the royal coat of arms in contrast was often used by successive monarchs and is therefore not distinct. The initials are furthermore used on government papers, duty stamps and similar objects, and are surmounted throughout the United Kingdom (except in Scotland) and the Commonwealth realms by a stylised version of the Tudor Crown or St Edward's Crown; in Scotland, the Crown of Scotland is used instead.
Though royal symbols (including, most notably, the coat of arms, royal standards and great seals) differ among the 15 Commonwealth realms, as they are separate monarchies, the one sovereign uses the same cypher throughout all of his or her countries. Distinction continues to be made between the personal cypher and the simpler, more workaday public initials, the former being the sovereign's own monogram and the latter simply a means of identifying a reign. Nowadays, the initials are also called the royal cypher, but, to aid clarification, the monogram is referred to as the royal cypher interlaced and reversed.
===Elizabeth II===
The cypher for Elizabeth II was , standing for Elizabeth II and was usually surmounted by a stylised version of St. Edward's Crown. In Scotland, as a result of the 'Pillar Box War', which was a dispute over the correct title of the new monarch (Elizabeth I of England and Ireland was not a monarch of Scotland, so the new queen would have been Elizabeth I, not II, in Scotland according to that view), after 1953 new post boxes carried only the Crown of Scotland image rather than the cypher, which continued to be used in the rest of the United Kingdom and in the other realms and territories.
The production of the cypher was an early step in the preparations for her coronation in 1953 as it had to be embroidered on to the uniforms of the Royal Household and on other articles. Cyphers for other members of the royal family are designed by the College of Arms or Court of the Lord Lyon and are subsequently approved by the monarch.
File:Royal Cypher of Queen Elizabeth II.svg|Queen Elizabeth II's royal cypher, surmounted by St Edward's crown
File:Royal Cypher of Queen Elizabeth II (in Scotland).svg|Queen Elizabeth II's royal cypher, surmounted by the Crown of Scotland
File:Dual Cypher of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip of Great Britain.svg|One example of a dual cypher for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, which appeared on a 1972 coin commemorating their 25th wedding anniversary
File:Royal Cypher of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.svg|Royal cypher of Prince Philip, consort of Queen Elizabeth II
===Charles III===
On 26 September 2022, Buckingham Palace unveiled the cypher of the new king, Charles III, that is gradually replacing the cypher of Elizabeth II in everyday use. The design was selected by Charles himself from a series of designs prepared by the College of Arms and features the King's initial "C" intertwined with the letter "R" for with "III" denoting Charles III, with a Tudor Crown above the letters. Charles's Scottish cypher uses the Crown of Scotland instead.
File:Royal Cypher of King Charles III.svg|King Charles III's royal cypher surmounted with a Tudor Crown
File:Royal Cypher of King Charles III (Scotland).svg|King Charles III's royal cypher surmounted by the Crown of Scotland
File:Royal Cypher of King Charles III (Canada).svg|King Charles III's royal cypher surmounted by the Canadian Royal Crown
File:Dual Cypher of King Charles and Queen Camilla of Great Britain.svg|Dual cypher of King Charles III and Queen Camilla
File:Queen Camilla cypher.svg|Royal cypher of Queen Camilla, consort of King Charles III
===Other monarchs===
See the Gallery section for example of the cyphers of other monarchs.
===Canada===
The royal cyphers have been incorporated by the Canadian Heraldic Authority into the various royal standards of Canada. The use in Canada of the reigning monarch's cypher, which is sometimes uniquely surrounded by a garland of maple leaves, is as a symbol not only of the sovereign him- or herself, but of Canada's full sovereignty.
=== Australia===
The royal cypher is also found on post offices and some government buildings in Australia.
==Elsewhere==
British royal cyphers are still visible on several public buildings and old post boxes in the Republic of Ireland.
Other royal houses have also made use of royal or imperial cyphers; Ottoman sultans had a calligraphic signature known as their tughra.
All the monarchs of Europe's six other surviving kingdoms use cyphers, with royal crowns above them. King Harald V of Norway uses the letter H crossed with the Arabic numeral 5; King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden uses the letters C and G overlapping with the Roman numeral XVI below them; King Felipe VI of Spain uses the letter F with the Roman numeral; and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark used the letter M with the Arabic numeral 2 and the letter R (for Regina) below it during her reign. King Philippe of the Belgians uses the letters P and F intertwined, referring to the fact that his name is Philippe in French and Philipp in German, but Filip in Dutch, the three main languages in Belgium. King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and his Queen Maxima share a joint cypher consisting of the letter W entwined with the letter M.
King Maha Vajiralongkorn of Thailand uses a cypher made up of his initials in Thai script ("" V.P.R. , an equivalent of ).
==Gallery==
File:Byzantine Palaiologos Eagle.svg|The double-headed eagle, the most recognized emblem of the Byzantine Empire, with the sympilema (dynastic cypher) of the Palaeologi in the centre
File:King Saint Stephen signature.svg|Royal monogram of King Stephen I of Hungary
File:Small Arms of the Kingdom of Prussia 1790.svg|Arms of the Kingdom of Prussia including the cypher of King Friedrich I of Prussia at the centre
File:Al Maktoum royal cypher.jpg|The cypher of Dubai Sovereign H.H. Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum
File:Royal Flag of King Rama IX.svg|The Personal flag with the cypher of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand
File:Royal Monogram of King Rama X.svg|Cypher of King Maha Vajiralongkorn of Thailand
File:Royal Monogram of King George I of Greece.svg|Cypher of George I of Greece
File:George II cipher monogram.jpg|The cypher of King George II of Great Britain and Ireland, employing an Arabic numeral '2'
File:Richmond Green, railings round the green.jpg|A railing with the royal cypher of King William IV
File:RVO-Star.jpg|The royal and imperial Cypher of Queen Victoria forms a part of the emblem of the Royal Victorian Order surrounded by a Brunswick star
File:Cypher of Edward VII.svg|The royal cypher of King Edward VII, using the Tudor Crown
File:ERI (Edward Rex Imperator) on Indian railway coach c1907.jpg|The royal and imperial cypher of King Edward VII, ERI Edwardus Rex Imperator, used on an Indian railway wagon
File:Royal Cypher of Alexandra of Denmark, Queen of the United Kingdom.svg|Royal cypher of Queen Alexandra, consort of King Edward VII
File:Royal Cypher of King George V.svg|Royal cypher of King George V, using the Tudor Crown
File:Hong Kong Post street posting box number 110.jpg|A Hong Kong mailbox with a cypher of King George V
File:Royal Cypher of Mary of Teck, Queen of the United Kingdom (variant).svg|Royal cypher of Queen Mary, consort of King George V
File:Royal Cypher of King Edward VIII.svg|The royal cypher of King Edward VIII, using the Tudor Crown
File:Royal Cypher of King George VI.svg|The most common variant of King George VI's cypher
File:Royal Cypher of Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother.svg|Royal cypher of Queen Elizabeth, consort of King George VI and later The Queen Mother
File:Royal Cypher of Queen Elizabeth II.svg|The royal cypher of Queen Elizabeth II, using St Edward's Crown
File:E2R Fort Régent 1806 1976 Jèrri.jpg|Variant Queen Elizabeth II cypher in Jersey, with Arabic instead of Roman numerals typically employed
File:Base de farola fernandina.jpg|Base of a Spanish style lamp post with the cypher of King Ferdinand VII
File:Монограмма Екатерины.jpg|Royal cypher (monogram) of Catherine II of Russia
File:Royal Monogram of Charles III, Duke of Brabant.svg|The monogram of Charles III of Brabant
File:The Royal Cypher of King Carol II of Romania on the porch roof of the Royal Palace of Bucharest.jpg|The royal cypher of King Carol II of Romania (two opposed Cs) decorates the porch roofs at the entrances in the Royal Palace of Bucharest.
File:Royal Monogram of King Michael of Romania.svg|Royal cypher of King Michael I of Romania
File:Royal Monogram of Princess Margarita Of Romania.svg|Royal cypher of Margareta of Romania
File:Royal Monogram of Felipe VI of Spain.svg|Royal cypher of King Felipe VI of Spain
File:Royal Monogram of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.svg|Royal cypher of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark
File:Royal Monogram of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.svg|Royal cypher of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
File:Great Seal of the Korean Empire.png|Great Seal of Gojong of Korea
File:The Imperial Seal of the Late Korean Empire.png|Coat of arms of House of Yi of Korea
File:Royal Monogram of King Harald V of Norway.svg|Royal cypher of King Harald V of Norway
File:Royal Monogram of Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg.svg|Royal cypher of Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg
File:Royal Monogram of King Umberto II of Italy.svg|Royal cypher of King Umberto II of Italy
File:Royal Monogram of King Nicholas I of Montenegro.svg|Royal cypher of King Nicholas I of Montenegro
File:Quinta da Boa Vista 13.jpg|A door in the Palace of São Cristóvão with cyphers of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil
File:Royal Monogram of King Rama IV.svg|Cypher of Rama IV of Siam
File:Royal Monogram of King Rama V.svg|Cypher of Rama V of Siam
File:Royal Monogram of Vajiravudh - รร6.svg|Cypher of Rama VI of Siam
File:Royal Monogram of Prajadhipok.svg|Cypher of Rama VII of Siam
File:Royal Monogram of King Rama VIII.svg|Cypher of Rama VIII of Siam
File:Royal Monogram of King Bhumibol Adulyadej.svg|Cypher of Rama IX of Thailand
File:Royal Monogram of King Rama X.svg|Cypher of Rama X of Thailand
==See also==
* Flags of Elizabeth II
* H7 (monogram)
* Heraldic badge
* MacCormick v Lord Advocate
* Mon (emblem)
* Royal sign-manual
* Signum manus
==References==
Category:Monarchy
Category:Monarchy of Australia
Category:Monarchy of Canada
Category:Monograms
Category:State ritual and ceremonies