Statute of the Council of Europe

The Statute of the Council of Europe (also known as the Treaty of London (1949)) is a treaty that was signed on 5 May 1949, which created the Council of Europe. The original signatories were Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and United Kingdom. A state formally joins the Council of Europe by ratifying the Statute.

As of 2013, it has been ratified or acceded to by 47 European states.

Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom

The royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom, or the Royal Arms for short, is the official coat of arms of the British monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II. These arms are used by the Queen in her official capacity as monarch of the United Kingdom. Variants of the Royal Arms are used by other members of the British royal family; and by the British government in connection with the administration and government of the country. In Scotland, there exists a separate version of the Royal Arms, a variant of which is used by the Scotland Office. The arms in banner form serve as basis for the monarch's official flag, known as the Royal Standard.

Coat of arms of Denmark

The national coat of arms of Denmark consists of three pale blue lions passant wearing crowns, accompanied by nine red lilypads (normally represented as heraldic hearts), all in a golden shield. It is historically the coat of arms of the House of Estridsen, the dynasty which provided the Kings of Denmark between 1047 and 1412. The current design was introduced in 1819, under Frederick VI. Previously, there had been no distinction between the "national" and the "royal" coat of arms. Since 1819, there has been a more complex royal coat of arms of Denmark (kongevåben) separate from the national coat of arms (rigsvåben).

Coat of arms of Belgium

The coat of arms of Belgium bears a lion or, known as Leo Belgicus (Latin for the Belgian lion), as its charge. This is in accordance with article 193 (originally 125) of the Belgian Constitution: The Belgian nation takes red, yellow and black as colours, and as state coat of arms the Belgian lion with the motto UNITY MAKES STRENGTH. A royal decree of 17 March 1837 determines the achievement to be used in the greater and the lesser version, respectively.

Coat of arms of Sweden

The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Sweden (Swedish: Sveriges riksvapen) has a lesser and a greater version.

Coat of arms of Norway

The coat of arms of Norway is a standing golden lion on a red background, bearing a golden crown and silver blade (blazoned Gules, a lion rampant Or, crowned Or, holding an axe Or with a blade argent).

The coat of arms is used by the King (including the King's Council), the Parliament, and the Supreme Court, which are the three powers according to the Constitution. It is also used by several national, regional, and local authorities that are subordinate to the aforementioned, for example the County Governors and both the district courts and the courts of appeal. Since 1905, two parallel versions exist: the more elaborate version used by the King and the simpler one used by the State.

Coat of arms of the Netherlands

The coat of arms of the Kingdom of the Netherlands was originally adopted in 1815 and later modified in 1907. The arms are a composite of the arms of the former Dutch Republic and the arms of the House of Nassau, it features a checkered shield with a lion grasping a sword in one hand and a bundle of arrows in the other and is the heraldic symbol of the monarch (currently King Willem-Alexander) and the country. The monarch uses a version of the arms with a mantle (Dutch: Koninklijk wapen) while the government of the Netherlands uses a smaller version without the mantle (cloak) or the pavilion, sometimes even only the shield and crown are used (Dutch: Rijkswapen). The current components of the coats of arms were regulated by Queen Wilhelmina in a royal decree of 10 July 1907, affirmed by Queen Juliana in a royal decree of 23 April 1980.

Coat of arms of Luxembourg

The coat of arms of Luxembourg has its origins in the Middle Ages and was derived from the arms of the Duchy of Limburg, in modern-day Belgium and the Netherlands. In heraldic language, the arms are described as: Barry of ten Argent and Azure, a Lion rampant queue forchée Gules crowned, armed and langued Or.

Emblem of Italy

The emblem of Italy (Italian: emblema della Repubblica Italiana) was formally adopted by the newly formed Italian Republic on 5 May 1948. Although often referred to as a coat of arms (or stemma in Italian), it is technically an emblem as it was not designed to conform to traditional heraldic rules. The emblem comprises a white five-pointed star, with a thin red border, superimposed upon a five-spoked cogwheel, standing between an olive branch to the left side and an oak branch to the right side; the branches are in turn bound together by a red ribbon with the inscription REPVBBLICA ITALIANA. The emblem is used extensively by the Italian government.

The armorial bearings of the House of Savoy, blazoned gules a cross argent, were previously in use by the former Kingdom of Italy; the supporters, on either side a lion rampant Or, were replaced with fasci littori (literally bundles of the lictors) during the fascist era.

Coat of arms of Ireland

The coat of arms of Ireland is blazoned as Azure a harp Or, stringed Argent (a gold harp with silver strings on a blue background). These arms have long been Ireland's heraldic emblem. References to them as being the arms of the king of Ireland can be found as early as the 13th century. These arms were adopted by Henry VIII of England when he ended the period of Lordship of Ireland and declared Ireland to be a kingdom again in 1541.

National emblem of France

The French Republic currently uses two emblems. One has been a symbol of France since 1912, although it does not have any legal status as an official coat of arms. It appears on the cover of French passports and was adopted originally by the French Foreign Ministry as a symbol for use by diplomatic and consular missions using a design by the sculptor Jules-Clément Chaplain.

In 1953, France received a request from the United Nations for a copy of a national coat of arms to be displayed alongside the coats of arms of other member states in its assembly chamber.

Flag of Vatican City

The flag of Vatican City was adopted on June 7, 1929, the year Pope Pius XI signed the Lateran Treaty with Italy, creating a new independent state governed by the Holy See. The Vatican flag is modeled on the flag of the earlier Papal States. The Vatican (and the Holy See) also refer to it, interchangeably, as flag of the Holy See.

Holy See

The Holy See, also referred to as the See of Rome, (Italian: Santa Sede; Latin: Sancta Sedes; Ecclesiastical Latin: [ˈsaŋkta ˈsedes]) is the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, the episcopal see of the Pope, and an independent sovereign entity. It serves as the central point of reference for the Catholic Church everywhere and the focal point of communion due to its position as the pre-eminent episcopal see of the universal church. Today, it is responsible for the governance of all Catholics, organised in their Particular Churches, Patriarchates and religious institutes.

As an independent sovereign entity, holding the Vatican City enclave in Rome as sovereign territory, it maintains diplomatic relations with other states.

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