English Lion -- Temple Bar Gate, Paternoster Square, City of London, UK
N 51° 30.851 W 000° 05.971
30U E 701248 N 5710995
The Lion of England, one of two supporters of the Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom, on the west side of the Temple Bar Gate at Paternoster Square
Waymark Code: WMTCQC
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 11/02/2016
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The Lion is an English national symbol dating back at least a thousand years.
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The lion as a heraldic charge is present from the very earliest development of heraldry in the 12th century. One of the earliest known examples of armory as it subsequently came to be practiced can be seen on the tomb of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, who died in 1151. An enamel, probably commissioned by Geoffrey's widow between 1155 and 1160, depicts him carrying a blue shield decorated six golden lions rampant and wearing a blue helmet adorned with another lion. A chronicle dated to c. 1175 states that Geoffrey was given a shield of this description when he was knighted by his father-in-law, Henry I, in 1128. Earlier heraldic writers attributed the lions of England to William the Conqueror, but the earliest evidence of the association of lions with the English crown is a seal bearing two lions passant, used by the future King John during the lifetime of his father, Henry II, who died in 1189. Since Henry was the son of Geoffrey Plantagenet, it seems reasonable to suppose that the adoption of lions as an heraldic emblem by Henry or his sons might have been inspired by Geoffrey's shield. John's elder brother, Richard the Lionheart, who succeeded his father on the throne, is believed to have been the first to have borne the arms of three lions passant-guardant, still the arms of England, having earlier used two lions rampant combatant, which arms may also have belonged to his father.[10] Richard is also credited with having originated the English crest of a lion statant (now statant-guardant)."