As early as the reign of HENRY III., a Shield of Arms, No. 23, was assigned to the Anglo-Saxon Kings: another Shield, No. 2, was assigned to EDWARD THE CONFESSOR: and a third Shield, No. 3, to another sainted Anglo-Saxon Prince, EDMUND. [Illustration: No. 22.--Royal Arms, supposed to have been borne before A.D. 1189.] [Illustration: No. 187.--Royal Arms, from A.D. 1189 to 1340.] From the appearance of the Second Great Seal of RICHARD I., about A.D. 1195, all uncertainty concerning the Royal Arms of England is at an end, and they are borne as follows by the successive English Sovereigns:-- RICHARD I.: JOHN: HENRY III.: EDWARD I.: EDWARD II.: and EDWARD III., till the thirteenth year of his reign, A.D. 1340:--_Gu., three lions passant guardant in pale or_,--No. 187. EDWARD III., from the thirteenth year of his reign, when he claimed to be King of France as well as of England, and so styled himself: RICHARD II.: and HENRY IV., till about the fifth year of his reign:--_France Ancient and England quarterly_,--No. 252. RICHARD II. sometimes bore the Arms of the CONFESSOR, No. 2, with his own, on a separate shield, as at Westminster Hall; and sometimes he impaled the Confessor’s Arms with his own quartered Shield, the arms of the Confessor having the precedence. [Illustration: No. 252.--Royal Arms from A.D. 1340 to about 1405.] [Illustration: No. 253.--Royal Arms from about A.D. 1405 to 1603.] HENRY IV. from about 1405: HENRY V.: HENRY VI.: EDWARD IV.: EDWARD V.: RICHARD III.: HENRY VII.: HENRY VIII.: EDWARD VI.: MARY: and ELIZABETH, to A.D. 1603:--_France Modern and England Quarterly_, No. 253. The Royal Shield of SCOTLAND, No. 138, first appears upon the Seal of ALEXANDER II. about A.D. 1235; and, as Mr. Seton well observes, the origin of its bearings “is veiled by the mists of Antiquity.” The same Shield, without any modification or change, was borne by all the Sovereigns of Scotland. [Illustration: No. 138.--Royal Arms of Scotland.] JAMES I.: CHARLES I.: CHARLES II.: JAMES II.: WILLIAM III. and MARY: and ANNE, till May 1, 1707: _Quarterly_: 1 _and_ 4, _Grand Quarters, France Modern and England_ (No. 253): 2, _Grand Quarter, Scotland_ (No. 138): 3, _Grand Quarter--Az., a harp or, stringed arg., for Ireland_: No. 423. [Illustration: No. 423.--Royal Arms of the Stuart Sovereigns.] [Illustration: No. 425.--Diagram of Shield of William III. and Mary.] [Illustration: No. 424.--Arms of Nassau.] [Illustration: No. 426.--Diagram of Shield of William III. alone.]