Coat of arms of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor[1] was the heir of four of Europe's leading royal houses. He first inherited the Burgundian Netherlands, which came from his paternal grandmother, Mary of Burgundy. Charles was then the first sole monarch of Spain, inheriting the kingdoms first united by his maternal grandparents, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon (the Catholic Monarchs). Finally, on the death of his paternal grandfather, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, he inherited the Habsburg lands in Austria. His coat of arms, representing much of the land he inherited, is blazoned as follows:

Quarterly: I and IV grand-quarterly i and iv great-grand-quarterly 1 and 4 gules a three towered castle Or masoned sable and ajouré azure (for Castile), 2 and 3 argent a lion rampant purpure crowned Or langued and armed gules (for Leon), ii per pale, dexter per fess, in chief Or four pallets gules (for Aragon), in base gules a cross, saltire, and orle of chains linked together Or and a centre point vert (for Navarre), sinister party per pale argent a cross potent and four crosslets Or impaling barry of eight gules and argent (for Naples), iii per pale, dexter per fess, in chief Or four pallets gules (for Aragon), in base gules a cross, saltire, and orle of chains linked together Or and a centre point vert (for Navarre), sinister per saltire, 1 and 4 Or four pallets gules, 2 and 3 argent an eagle displayed sable (for Sicily); II and III grand-quarterly, i gules a fess argent (for Austria), ii azure semy-de-lis Or a bordure compony argent and gules (for new Burgundy), iii bendy of six Or and azure a bordure gules (for old Burgundy), iv sable a lion rampant Or langued and armed gules (for Brabant), overall at the fess point of the quarter an inescutcheon Or a lion rampant sable armed and langued gules (for Flanders) impaling argent an eagle displayed gules, armed, beaked, and langued Or (for Tyrol); enté en point argent a pomegranate proper seeded gules, supported, sculpted and slipped vert (for Granada). Supporters: A bicephalous eagle displayed sable imperially crowned proper in front of a saltire ragulée gules, the whole between two columns argent issuing from the sea proper in base, the one to dexter crowned imperially proper, the one to sinister crowned with the Royal Crown of Spain proper. The motto, PLVS VLTRA or PLVS OVLTRE, wraps around the columns.

Coat of arms of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
ArmigerCharles V
Adopted1530
CrestImperial Crown of Austria
TorseCross of Burgundy
BlazonHis maternal inheritance quartering his paternal inheritance
SupportersImperial Eagle and the Pillars of Hercules
MottoPlus Ultra
(Latin areas)
Plus Oultre
(German and Burgundian areas)
Order(s)Order of the Golden Fleece

Personal arms

Coat of arms of Charles V of Habsburg as King of the Romans, before coronation as Holy Roman Emperor (1520-1530).
Coat of Arms as Heir

The first and fourth quarters represents holdings derived from the Spanish crowns: that is, the quartered arms of Castile and Leon themselves quartered with the quartered arms of Aragon and Sicily. After 1520 the Aragon/Sicily quartering also incorporated the arms of Jerusalem, Naples, and Navarre.

The second and third quarters represents holdings derived from Charles's Austrian and Burgundian inheritance: these quarters shows further quartering of Austria, Duchy of Burgundy, House of Valois-Burgundy, and the Duchy of Brabant, with the escutcheon in the middle showing Flanders on the left and Tyrol on the right.

The Granada pomegranate is represented at the bottom between the two.

Features

First and Fourth Quarters
First and Fourth Grand-quarters Second Grand-quarter
Arms Meaning Details
Kingdom of Castile1st and 4th great-grand-quarters
Gules, a three towered castle Or, masoned sable and ajouré azure
Kingdom of León2nd and 3rd great-grand-quarters
Argent, a lion rampant purpure(sometimes blazoned gules) crowned Or, langued and armed gules
Third Grand-quarter
Crown of AragonDexter chief
Or, four pallets gules
Kingdom of NavarreDexter base
Gules, a cross, saltire and orle of chains linked together Or, a centre point vert
Kingdom of SicilySinister side
Party per Saltire, Or four pallets gules and Argent an eagle displayed sable (Manfred of Sicily)
Arms Meaning Details
Crown of AragonDexter chief
Or, four pallets gules
Kingdom of NavarreDexter base
Gules, a cross, saltire and orle of chains linked together Or, a centre point vert
Kingdoms of Jerusalem and HungarySinister side
Party per pale Argent, a cross potent and four crosslets Or (Kingdom of Jerusalem) and
Barry of eight Gules and Argent (Kingdom of Hungary).[2]
Second and Third Quarters
Arms Meaning Details
Austria1st grand-quarter
Gules a fess Argent
Second Capetian house of Burgundy
(Burgundy "modern")
2nd grand-quarter
azure semy de lis or, a bordure compony gules and argent
Duchy of Burgundy
(Burgundy "ancient")
3rd grand-quarter
bendy of six or and azure a bordure gules
Arms Meaning Details
Duchy of Brabant4th grand-quarter
Sable, a lion rampant Or, langued and armed gules
Escutcheon
County of FlandersDexter
Or, a lion rampant of Sable, langued and armed gules
County of TyrolSinister
Argent an eagle displayed gules, armed, beaked, and langued Or
Enté en point
Arms Meaning Details
Kingdom of Granadaenté en point
Argent, a pomegranate proper seeded gules, supported, sculpted and leafed in two leaves vert.
External ornaments
Arms Meaning Details
Double-headed eagle
(Reichsadler of the Holy Roman Empire)
Imperial Eagle
Double-headed eagle displayed Sable
Cross of Burgundy
(Duchy of Burgundy)
Mantling
blazoned Argent, a saltire ragulée gules.
Arms Meaning Details
Pillars of HerculesSupporters
an ancient name given to the Strait of Gibraltar. The personal motto of the Monarch plus ultra, means 'further beyond' in Latin at Spanish and Italian territories. Plus oultre, in French was common in German and Burgundian areas.
Imperial crown (Holy Roman Empire,
Austrian version)
Crown
Charles's crown as Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Golden FleeceCollar
Order of chivalry founded in 1430 by Duke Philip III of Burgundy to celebrate his marriage to the Portuguese princess Isabel of Aviz.

The Burgundian Inheritance and the Order of the Golden Fleece

In 1477, the territory of the Duchy of Burgundy had been conquered and annexed by France. In the same year, Mary "the Rich", the last Burgundian duke's only child, had married Charles' grandfather Maximilian, giving the Habsburgs control of the remainder of the Burgundian Inheritance: although the territory of the Duchy of Burgundy itself remained in the hands of France, the Habsburgs remained in control of the title of Duke of Burgundy and the other parts of the Burgundian inheritance, notably the Low Countries and the Free County of Burgundy in the Holy Roman Empire. They often used the term Burgundy to refer to it until the late 18th century, when the Austrian Netherlands were lost to the French Republic. Although Charles V had inherited the grand mastership of numerous orders, the only order which he habitually wore and awarded was that of the Burgundian Order of the Golden Fleece.

Coat of Arms of Charles when he was Duke of Burgundy and King of Navarre, Castile and Aragon (Version with motto and supporters) Greater Coat of Arms (common use)
1530-1556
Or shield version Variant used as Monarch of Naples

References

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