Three gold lions walking across a red field is the oldest and most recognisable emblem of England. It has been the royal arms of England since the twelfth century, and it is now best known from the badge on the England football shirt.
Where they came from
Richard I — the Lionheart — is credited with settling the design in the 1190s. Earlier Norman kings had used one or two lions, and Richard’s second great seal shows three, which stuck.
The heraldic description is gules, three lions passant guardant or: on red, three gold lions walking, each with its head turned to face the viewer. The arms of England have been quartered into the royal arms ever since, and they still occupy the first and fourth quarters of the royal coat of arms today.
Lions or leopards
A genuine heraldic quibble that historians enjoy. In early Norman French heraldry, a lion shown walking with its face turned outward was called a leopard, and the word described a pose rather than a species. French heralds accordingly referred to the English arms as three leopards, and some medieval English sources do too.
English usage settled on lions, and the point survives mainly as something to raise in a pub.
On the shirt
The England football team has worn the three lions since its first international in 1872, and the badge is now inseparable from the national side. The cricket team wears them too, as do England teams in several other sports.
The connection to football was fixed permanently by the 1996 song “Three Lions”, written by David Baddiel, Frank Skinner and the Lightning Seeds for the European Championship held in England. Its refrain — “It’s coming home” — became the most quoted line in English sport, deployed with an unusual mixture of hope and self-mockery, since England had not won anything since 1966 and did not win that either.
It returns to the charts every major tournament, and its ironic reuse abroad whenever England lose is now part of the ritual.
The other national emblems
England has several, and they are not interchangeable:
- The three lions — the royal arms, used for national teams and official insignia.
- The Tudor rose — the floral emblem, red and white combined, created by Henry VII to symbolise the union of Lancaster and York.
- St George’s Cross — the flag, a red cross on white.
- The English lion as a supporter on the royal arms, standing opposite the Scottish unicorn.
Scotland and Wales
Scotland uses a single red Lion Rampant on gold — reared up on its hind legs, and technically the personal banner of the monarch rather than a national flag, which does nothing to stop it being flown at football matches. Wales uses the red dragon.