Queen Elizabeth II has granted the Duchess of Sussex her own Coat of Arms following her marriage to Prince Harry on Saturday, 19 May 2018.

The Duchess of Sussex worked with the College of Arms in London to help create the design.

The arms of a married woman are shown with those of her husband placed side by side on the same shield.

The left half of the shield represents her husband Prince Harry’s arms and symbols, which were granted on the Duke of Sussex’s 18th birthday, which includes both his Royal Family lineage and his mother’s family.

Meghan has chosen her own symbols and supporter representing her personal life and her American heritage.

The blue background represents the Pacific Ocean off the California coast, with two golden rays representing the sunshine from Meghan’s home state.

The three quills represent the power of words and communication.

Underneath the shield on the grass is a combination of golden poppies (California’s state flower) and wintersweet which grows at Kensington Palace.

A coronet sits above the shield, comprising two crosses patée, four fleurs-de-lys and two strawberry leaves, laid down by a Royal Warrant of 1917 for the sons and daughters of the Heir Apparent.

Meghan chose a white flying songbird in flight with an open beak as her supporter which stands opposite the lion which represents her husband and his family.

Mr Thomas Woodcock, Garter King of Arms said, ‘TThe Duchess of Sussex took a great interest in the design. Good heraldic design is nearly always simple and the Arms of The Duchess of Sussex stand well beside the historic beauty of the quartered British Royal Arms. Heraldry as a means of identification has flourished in Europe for almost nine hundred years and is associated with both individual people and great corporate bodies such as cities, universities and for instance the livery companies in the City of London.’

The Duchess of Gloucester (neé Birgitte Eva Henriksen), who was born in Denmark, set a precedent when she was given her own coat of arms when she married into the British Royal Family in 1972.

The Middleton family was granted its own coat of arms before Catherine married Prince William in 2011.

However, Meghan’s father Thomas Markle does not have his own coat of arms as he is an American, despite complaints of a snub by relatives, including her half-sister Samantha.