The Prince of Wales's feathers is the heraldic badge of the Heir Apparent to the Commonwealth realms thrones. It consists of three white feathers emerging from a gold coronet. A ribbon below the coronet bears the motto Ich dien (a contraction of the German for "I serve", ich diene). As well as being used in royal heraldry, the badge is sometimes used to symbolise Wales, particularly in Welsh rugby union and rugby league; however, its use as such is controversial and rejected by some Welsh nationalists as a symbol of the British monarchy rather than of Wales.
Read more about Prince Of Wales's Feathers: Origins of The Badge, Popular Accounts of Origins
Famous quotes containing the words prince of wales, prince of, prince, wales and/or feathers:
“If English is spoken in heaven ... God undoubtedly employs Cranmer as his speechwriter. The angels of the lesser ministries probably use the language of the New English Bible and the Alternative Service Book for internal memos.”
—Charles, Prince Of Wales (b. 1948)
“What is it then to me, if impious War,
Arrayed in flames like to the prince of fiends,
Do with his smirched complexion all fell feats
Enlinked to waste and desolation?”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“For among other evils caused by being disarmed, it renders you contemptible; which is one of those disgraceful things which a prince must guard against.”
—Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527)
“I just come and talk to the plants, really—very important to talk to them, they respond I find.”
—Charles, Prince Of Wales (b. 1948)
“The feathers of the willow
Are half of them grown yellow
Above the swelling stream;
And ragged are the bushes,
And rusty now the rushes,
And wild the clouded gleam.”
—Richard Watson Dixon (1833–1900)