coronet

Small crown worn by a peer at coronations. A duke's coronet consists of a golden circlet, above which are eight strawberry leaves; a marquess's has four strawberry leaves with four points surmounted by pearls between them, an earl's eight strawberry leaves with eight tall points surmounted by pearls between them, a viscount's sixteen small pearls, and a baron's six larger pearls. The ‘pearls’ are made of silver. No peer, unless of royal family, may wear a coronet adorned with jewels. The coronet of the Prince of Wales differs from the royal crown only by the absence of one arch. The coronet of the other princes, sons of the sovereign, have no arches.

In England coronets were in use in the reign of Edward III; but the different forms given to the coronets of the various orders of the peerage are of later date, as is also the use of the crimson velvet cap, lined with ermine and surmounted by a gold tassel, now worn within the coronet. The coronets of foreign nobility have no caps and are used only in blazonry; that is, they are depicted but not worn.