Officer of arms

An officer of arms is a person appointed by a sovereign or state with authority to perform one or more of the following functions: to control and initiate armorial matters; to arrange and participate in ceremonies of state; to conserve and interpret heraldic and genealogical records. The medieval practice of appointing heralds or pursuivants to the establishment of a noble household is still common in European countries, particularly those in which there is no official heraldic control or authority. Such appointments are also still made in Scotland, where four private officers of arms exist. These appointments are all purely advisory. Work completed by the Canadian Heraldic Authority is conducted by officers known as the herald of arms. The organization is led by the Herald Chancellor of Canada and the Chief Herald of Canada, the latter serving as the director for the heraldic authority. In addition to the Chief Herald, other herald of arms includes the Athabaska Herald, Assiniboine Herald, Coppermine Herald, Fraser Herald, Miramichi Herald, Saguenay Herald, and the Saint-Laurent Herald. In addition to the herald in ordinary, several retired heralds and notable individuals were named to the honorary position of Herald Emeritus or Heralds Extraordinary. This includes the Albion Herald Extraordinary, Capilano Herald Extraordinary, Cowichan Herald Extraordinary, Dauphin Herald Extraordinary, Niagara Herald Extraordinary, Rouge Herald Extraordinary, Outaouais Herald Emeritus, and the Rideau Herald Emeritus. In the Republic of Ireland, matters armorial and genealogical come within the authority of an officer designated the Chief Herald of Ireland. The legal basis for Ireland's heraldic authority, and therefore all grants since 1943, has been questioned by the Attorney General, therefore, on 8 May 2006, Senator Brendan Ryan introduced the Genealogy & Heraldry Bill, 2006, in Seanad Éireann (Irish Senate) to remedy this situation and legitimise actions since the transfer of power from the Ulster King of Arms.