History
Edward the Confessor sometime before 1066 started using a Great Seal casting in wax of his own visage to signify that a document carried the force of his will. With some exceptions, each subsequent British monarch has chosen his or her own design for the Great Seal.
When opening Parliament, on 3 September 1654, Oliver Cromwell was escorted by the three Commissioners of the Great Seal of the Commonwealth of England, who were Whitelock, Lisle, and Widdrington. This Seal was inscribed with 'The Great Seal of England, 1648', displaying the map of England, Ireland, Jersey, and Guernsey on one side, with the Arms of England and Ireland. On the other side was shown the interior of the House of Commons, the Speaker in the chair, with the inscription, 'In the first year of Freedom, by God's blessing restored, 1648.' In 1655, Cromwell appointed three Commissioners of the Great Seal of Ireland, Richard Pepys, Chief Justice of the Upper Bench, Sir Gerard Lowther, Chief Justice of the Common Bench; and Miles Corbet, Chief Baron of the Exchequer. But they held the seal only until 1656, when Cromwell nominated William Steele, Chief Baron of the Court of Exchequer in England, Lord Chancellor of Ireland.
In 1688, before attempting to flee to France, James II is said to have thrown his Great Seal of the Realm into the River Thames in the hope that the machinery of government would cease to function. The story is of dubious authority, but if the seal was thrown into the river, it was certainly recovered soon afterwards, as James's successors, William III and Mary used the same seal matrix, fairly crudely adapted to represent their dual monarchy. This may have been a quite deliberate choice, in order to imply the continuity of government.
Edward VIII, who abdicated in order to marry Mrs Wallis Simpson only a few months after succeeding to the throne, never selected a design for his own seal and continued to use that of his predecessor, George V. On the other hand, the longer-lived British monarchs have had several Great Seals during their reigns. Only one matrix of the Great Seal exists at a time, and since the wax used for the Great Seal has a high melting point, the silver plates that cast the Seal eventually wear out. Queen Victoria had to select four different Great Seal designs during the sixty-three years of her reign.
The current seal matrix was authorised by the Privy Council in July 2001. It was designed by James Butler and replaced that of 1953, designed by Gilbert Ledward. The obverse shows a middle-aged Elizabeth II enthroned and robed, holding in her right hand a sceptre and in her left the orb. The circumscription ELIZABETH . II . D . G . BRITT . REGNORVMQVE . SVORVM . CETER . REGINA . CONSORTIONIS . POPVLORVM . PRINCEPS . F . D . is the abbreviated Latin form of the royal title. On the reverse are the full royal arms, including crest, mantling and supporters. This is the first time that the royal arms have provided the main design for one side of the British Great Seal. The reverse of the 1953 version depicted the Queen on horseback, dressed in uniform and riding sidesaddle, as she used to attend the annual Trooping the Colour ceremony for many years until the late 1980s. The seal's diameter is 6 inches (150 mm) and the combined weight of both sides of the seal matrix exceeds 275 troy ounces (302 oz; 8,600 g).
Read more about this topic: Great Seal Of The Realm
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