There are greater, middle and lesser versions of the coat of arms of Luxembourg. The greater coat of arms has two reguardant and crowned lions as supporters, the Dynastic Order and all surrounded by ermine mantling crowned with a heraldic royal crown. The middle coat of arms has the supporters, the order and the crown. The lesser coat of arms has the crown and the escutcheon without external ornaments.
Arms of the monarch
The Grand Duke has a personal coat of arms, the current arms were adopted in 2001: Quarterly: 1 and 4 Luxembourg, 2 and 3 Nassau. The lesser variant of the arms of the monarch has no external ornaments. The middle variant has the supporters, the order and the crown. The greater variant has a dynastic inescutcheon with the arms of the House of Bourbon-Parma. The supporters are holding a lance Or, flying the flag of Luxembourg, all surrounded by ermine mantling with the crown.
Historical
The coat of arms adopted by Grand Duke Adolphe in 1898: These arms were adopted in 1898 by Grand Duke Adolphe and used by him and his successors up until Grand Duke Jean. Upon acceding to the throne in 1964, Grand Duke Jean used the lesser and medium arms as adopted in 1898. The greater arms featuring the former territorial claims attached to the duchy of Nassau that was annexed by Prussia in 1866 were, however, unreflective of political reality of the time and were not used extensively: They were only used on the Great Seal of Grand Duke Jean. Prior to acceding the throne, Grand Duke Jean made use of the following arms:
The current greater and lesser coats of arms for the Hereditary Grand Duke are currently prescribed by grand-ducal decree of 31 October 2012 and are similar to that of the Grand Duke's with the addition of a gold label on the shield for differencing. In the greater arms, the supporters also do not carry flags.
was the first Count of Luxembourg to adopt a primitive form of these arms. His father, Waleran III, Duke of Limburg, bore the arms, argent a lion rampant queue fourché gules armed, langued and crowned or. Henry V replaced the white field by a series of white and blue stripes to differentiate from his half-brother Henry IV, Duke of Limburg. It is yet uncertain where the origins of this burely of 10 argent and azure are. Jean-Claude Loutsch, Luxembourg's most prominent heraldist, authored the theory that the original Luxembourg dynasties may have born a striped banner. Two dynasties closely related to the first Houses of Luxembourg also adopted striped coats of arms during this period. Both the Counts of Loon and Counts of Grandpré bore the arms burely of 10 or and gules. In such a case, the choice of colour of the stripes would have been determined to match the white field and red lion of Limburg.
The Luxembourg Coat of Arms bears a striking similarity to both the arms of Lusignan and of Stratford. The relationship is unknown, if indeed any exists at all although the link between the Lusignan and Luxembourg coat-of-arms is provided in 'Le Roman de Mélusine' by Couldrette whereby a descendant of the legendary founder and faerie queen of Lusignan adopts the burely of 10 argent and azure, adding the lion rampant due to his similarly-shaped birthmark. Historians have generated various theories as to the connection between the houses and the arms, none conclusive.
