Coat of Arms is presented to the Royal Celtic Society – after 197 years in existence

The Royal Celtic Society ended a wait of 197 years this month when it was finally presented with its own Coat of Arms.
The society was founded in Edinburgh in 1820 and has a mission to promote and protect the language, literature, arts and music of Scotland.
Although it has been part of the Scottish cultural scene for close on 200 years – founded by Sir Walter Scott, played a prominent role in George IV’s groundbreaking visit to Edinburgh in 1822, and granted its ‘Royal’ status by Queen Victoria in 1873, it has not, until now, had its own Coat of Arms.

The Lord Lyon presents the Letters Patent to Royal Celtic Society chairman Alan Hay

This was finally put right at an event in the magnificent Dome Room in Edinburgh’s New Register House on Friday,  October 6.
At the society’s annual general meeting, the Lord Lyon King of Arms, Dr Joseph Morrow QC, presented Alan Hay, chairman of the Royal Celtic Society with its new Arms, based on the ‘Kilmartin Knot’, a device found on a slap stone at Kilmartin in Argyll, an area rich in carved Celtic stonework.
The Lord Lyon went on to give a talk to members on the role of Lyon Court in a 21st century context.
Visit www.royalcelticsociety.scot for more details on the work of the group.

The letters patent presented to the Royal Celtic Society