The Royal Arms

The Family Arms of the Royal Family

Per pale on the dexter per fess 1) Or four pallets Gules a bendlet Azure (Paterno); 2) Azure a castle triple towered Or, the door, windows and masoning Sable (Castello); 3) on the sinister Azure three bars Or between the 1st and the 2nd three bezants, between the 2nd and the 3rd two bezants and in base one bezant (Guttadauro). The shield is surmounted by a Royal Crown of eight arches and surrounded by the Grand Collar of the Military Order of the Collar of St. Agatha of Paterno.

The Arms of Pretension are

Or four pallets Gules a bendlet Azure. The shield is surmounted by the Crown of Martin I which is preserved in the Treasury of Barcelona Cathedral. The supporters are two lions rampant guardant Or.

The Small Arms of Dominion, or Territorial Arms

Per pale on the dexter per fess 1) Argent a Cross Gules between four saracen kings’ heads Sable wreathed Argent (Aragon ancient); 2) Argent a Cross Gules (Catalonia); 3) Or four pallets Gules a bendlet Azure (Kingdom of Majorca). The shield is surmounted by the Crown of Martin I.

The Great Arms of Dominion

  1. Aragon Ancient: Argent a cross gules between four Saracens’ heads sable wreathed argent – adopted by Peter I of Aragon in 1096 after having killed four Moorish kings in combat before Huesca.
  2. Catalonia: Argent a cross gules — the cross of Sant Jordi (Saint George), patron of Catalonia.
  3. Majorca: Or four pallets gules a bend azure — ascribed to James II of Majorca in the Armorial du Hérault Vermandois (1285-1300), being the differenced version of Aragon Modern / Catalonia : Or four pallets gules — in use by the House of Barcelona since pre-heraldic times such as on the tomb of of Ramòn Berengar II Cap d’Estopes (+1082) and his great-grandmother Eremessenda (+1058) wife of Count Ramòn Borrell in the portico of the Cathedral of Girona. Legendary concession to Wilfred the Hairy by Charles the Bald.
  4. Sicily: Quartered per saltire 1) & 4) Argent an eagle displayed sable, 2) & 3) or four pallets gules — Aragon quartered with the Swabian eagle for the marriage of Peter III and Constance of Sicily in 1262.
  5. Cerdagne: Quartered per saltire 1) & 4) Argent a cross gules, 2) & 3) Or four pallets gules — Catalonia and Aragon, came under the Counts of Barcelona in the 9th Century.
  6. Rousillon: Or four pallets gules — inherited in 1172 by Alfonso II of Aragon from Girard II the last Count. Overall on a shield of pretence the arms of Paternò Castello Guattadauro
  7. Montpellier: Azure the Virgin and Child proper seated on a gothic throne or — Marie of Montpellier, the heiress, brought the territory as her dowry when she married Peter II in 1213
  8. Valencia: Or four pallets gules — after the Aragonese conquest by James I in 1238.

Overall on a shield of pretence the arms of Paternò Castello Guattadauro

General information

The Royal Arms are displayed in front of a red tent lined with ermine with gold cords and fringes; the supporters are two lions rampant guardant Or; the crest is a dragon Vert; the mottoes are “lmpavidus Pavidum Firmo” for Paterno and “Que sera sera” for Aragon.

The Infantes surmount the Arms of Pretension and the family Arms with the four arched Crown of a Prince of the Blood (three arches visible).