Regalia

Regalia is a Latin plurale tantum word that has different definitions. In one rare definition, it refers to the exclusive privileges of a sovereign. The word originally referred to the elaborate formal dress and dress accessories of a sovereign, but now the word usually refers to any type of elaborate formal dress and dress accessories.

King Haakon VII and Queen Maud of Norway with their regalia[1] in 1906
For other uses, see Regalia (disambiguation).

The word stems from the Latin substantivation of the adjective regalis, "regal", itself from rex, "king". It is sometimes used in the singular, regale.[note 1]

In the abstract

The term can refer to the rights, prerogatives, and privileges that are held exclusively by any sovereign, regardless of title (emperor, grand duke, etc.). An example of that is the right to mint coins, and especially coins that bear one's own effigy. In many cases, especially in feudal societies and generally weak states, such rights have in time been eroded by grants to, or usurpations by, lesser vassals.

Royal dress, accessories, and associated pomp
Regalia of the past kings of Bavaria, Residenz Palace treasury, Munich

Some emblems, symbols, or paraphernalia possessed by rulers are a visual representation of imperial, royal, or sovereign status. Some are shared with divinities, either to symbolize a god(ess)'s role as, say, king of the Pantheon (e.g. Brahman's scepter) or to allow mortal royalty to resemble, identify with, or link to, a divinity.

The term 'crown jewels' is commonly used to refer to regalia items that are designed to lend luster to occasions such as coronations. They feature some combination of precious materials, artistic merit, and symbolic or historical value. Crown jewels may have been designated at the start of a dynasty, accumulated through many years of tradition, or sent as tangible recognition of legitimacy by some leader such as the pope to an emperor or caliph.

Each culture, even each monarchy and dynasty within one culture, may have its own historical traditions, and some even have a specific name for its regalia, or at least for an important subset, such as:

But some elements occur in many traditions.

Headgear
Austrian Imperial Crown
  • Crowns and variations (diadem, tiara)
  • Cap of Maintenance

Other regal dress and jewelry
  • Armills—bracelets
  • (Ermine) coronation mantle
  • Gloves
  • Barmi (Бармы) or barmas, a detachable silk collar with medallions of precious material sewn to it,[2] as used in Moscovy
  • Rings, symbolizing the monarch's "marriage" to the state (in the case of the Doge of the Republic of Venice, to its lifeblood, the sea); or as a signet-ring, a practical attribute of his power to command legally

Hand-held symbols of power
The Royal Scepter of Boris III of Bulgaria
Danish globus cruciger. Part of the Danish Crown Regalia.
The Holy Crown of Hungary along with other regalia.
Replicas of the Crown of Bolesław I the Brave and other regalia.
The Throne, Crown and the Sword of Sri Vikrama Rajasinha of Kandy, the last King of Kingdom of Kandy in Sri Lanka.

Other hand-held symbols

Regalia can also stand for other attributes or virtues, i.e. what is expected from the holder.

Thus the Imperial Regalia of Japan (Japanese: 三種の神器, romanized: Sanshu no Jingi, or "Three Sacred Treasures"), also known as the Three Sacred Treasures of Japan as follows:

  • The sword, Kusanagi (草薙剣) (or possibly a replica of the original; located at Atsuta Shrine in Nagoya) represents valor
  • The jewel or necklace of jewels, Yasakani no magatama (八尺瓊曲玉; at Kokyo in Tokyo), represents benevolence
  • The mirror, Yata no kagami (八咫鏡), located in the Ise Shrine in Mie Prefecture, represents wisdom

Since 690, the presentation of these items to the emperor by the priests at the shrine are a central part of the imperial enthronement ceremony. As this ceremony is not public, the regalia are by tradition only seen by the emperor and certain priests, and no known photographs or drawings exist.

Coronation paraphernalia

Some regalia objects are presented and/or used in the formal ceremony of enthronement/coronation. They can be associated with an office or court sinecure (cfr. archoffices) that enjoys the privilege to carry, present and/or use it at the august occasion, and sometimes on other formal occasions, such as a royal funeral.

Such objects, with or without intrinsic symbolism, can include

Companions' attributes

Apart from the sovereign himself, attributes (especially a crown) can be used for close relatives who are allowed to share in the pomp. For example, in Norway, the queen consort and the crown prince are the only other members of the royal family to possess these attributes and share in the sovereign's royal symbolism.

Reserved color

In the Roman Empire, the color Tyrian purple, produced with an extremely expensive Mediterranean mollusk extract, was in principle reserved for the imperial court. The use of this dye was extended to various dignitaries, such as members of the Roman senate, who wore stripes of Tyrian purple on their white togas, for whom the term purpuratus was coined as a high aulic distinction.

In late imperial China, the color yellow was reserved for the emperor, as it had a multitude of meanings. Yellow was a symbol of gold, and thus wealth and power, and since it was also the color that symbolized the center in Chinese cosmology (the five elements, or wu xing(五行)), it was the perfect way to refer to the emperor, who was always in the center of the universe. Consequently, peasants and noblemen alike were forbidden to wear robes made entirely out of yellow, although they were allowed to use the color sparingly.

Additional display
Copy of University of Olomouc rector's mace

Non-royal regalia

Republics

In republics, the presidential sash, common especially in Latin American countries but also elsewhere in the world, have a similar role as royal regalia, marking the leader of the country.

Academic regalia
Main article: Academic dress

Academic dress is a traditional form of clothing for academic settings, primarily tertiary (and sometimes secondary) education, worn mainly by those who have been admitted to a university degree (or similar), or hold a status that entitles them to assume them (e.g., undergraduate students at certain old universities). It is also known as academicals and, in the United States, as academic regalia.

Other regalia

Another example of non-royal regalia is the traditional dress that is worn by First Nation/Native American peoples in the United States, and Canada for ceremonial purposes, such as Pow Wow dancing.[4]

gollark: Ubq make gravel?
gollark: It's like synchronous code but you must sprinkle magic keywords everywhere.
gollark: Yes, python does indeed do async in a fairly bees way.
gollark: Well, other people might have atomic-scale microscopy/manipulation technology.
gollark: Actually, using a scanning tunneling microscope I can fit almost arbitrarily large amounts of data into margins.

See also

Notes
  1. As in the Upper Harz Water Regale, a royal right granted for use of water resources in the Harz mountains of Germany.

References
  1. The Royal Regalia at royalcourt.no
  2. "Moscow Kremlin Museums: EXHIBITIONS". www.kreml.ru.
  3. Régalia 2011 éd. Imago. (in French)
  4. McCue, Duncan. "First Nations law student gets OK to wear regalia to call to bar in Ontario". CBC News. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.