_Crest._ A figure or device originally worn upon a helm, and now generally represented above a Shield of arms. Crests at first were ensigns of high honour, and their use was restricted to a few persons of eminence: they were attached by a _wreath_, or _torse_, or by a _coronet_, to the helm or basinet; and sometimes a crest stood upon a cap of estate. Crests are still represented standing upon either a wreath, or a cap, or issuing from a coronet: but in our own Heraldry a _crest-coronet_ must always be carefully distinguished from those coronets that are insignia of princely and noble rank. Crests are not borne by ladies, a reigning Sovereign only excepted. (See _Panache_, _Rebus_, and Chapter XIV.) [Illustration: No. 232.--Crest Coronet.] [Illustration: No. 233.--Crest-Wreath.] _Crest-Coronet._ A coronet from which issues, or which supports, a crest. No. 232. _Crest-Wreath_, or _Torse_. In the Middle Ages, of rich materials and costly workmanship; now represented as being formed of two rolls of silk of the principal metal and colour in the arms, which are twisted to show the metal and colour alternately. The earliest examples are about A.D. 1375. No. 233 shows three varieties of representation. (See Chapter XIV.) _Crined._ Having a mane or hair. _Cross._ One of the Ordinaries. Nos. 90-110. _Crown._ The ensign of Royal and Imperial dignity; in Heraldry borne as a charge, and also used to denote the rank of a Sovereign Prince. The Crown that is generally borne as a charge is represented without arches, and resembling No. 232. Certain other crowns, each distinguished by an appropriate title, are also sometimes borne on shields, or introduced as heraldic accessories. (See _Celestial_, _Eastern_ or _Radiated_, _Mural_, _Naval_, and _Vallary_ Crowns.) The different forms assumed at different periods by the Royal Crown of England are faithfully exemplified in the seals and the coinage of the successive Sovereigns, and several fine examples are preserved in the Royal effigies. The adornment of the regal circlet was arbitrary before the fifteenth century; still, it always was enriched with gems and surmounted by golden foliage. HENRY V. first arched his crown; and by HENRY VI. the circlet was first heightened with alternate crosses-patée and fleurs de lys. This arrangement has since been retained, the subsequent alterations being restricted to changes in the number and in the contour of the arches. The crown of His Majesty the KING has the circlet heightened with four crosses and as many fleurs de lys; from the crosses rise the arches, which are surmounted by a mound and a cross-patée. No. 234. This, the heraldic crown, is not an exact reproduction of the actual crown of the King. _Crozier._ Strictly, the cross-staff of an archbishop; distinguished by its form from the pastoral-staff with a crook-head, of bishops; but the term is loosely and very generally applied also to the crook-headed pastoral-staff.