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The Coat of Arms of Northern Ireland was granted to the Government of Northern Ireland in 1924, after the Irish Free State had separated from the United Kingdom.

Neville Rodwell Wilkinson, Ulster King of Arms, had designed the great seal and flag of Northern Ireland in 1923. In January 1924 he held discussions with Northern Ireland officials in London regarding the coat of arms. The final design was completed by Wilkinson's deputy Thomas Ulick Sadleir for approval by the Northern Ireland cabinet in April 1924. The artwork was approved and the Royal warrant signed by George V and issued through the Home Office on August 2, 1924 and registered in the Register of Arms in Dublin as follows:

Royal Warrant Government of Northern Ireland

Argent a cross gules, overall on a six pointed star of the field ensigned by an Imperial crown proper a dexter hand couped at the wrist of the second.

Given at our Court of St. James in the 15th year of our reign 2nd August 1924 by His Majesty's command.

This was the same design as the Flag of Northern Ireland which had been designed in the previous year.

The supporters were granted in 1925, and consist of a gold lion supporting a banner of the Irish coat of arms — Azure a harp Or stringed Argent, meaning a gold harp, stringed silver, on a blue background, as represented in the Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom; and a white elk with gold antlers and hooves supporting a banner of the arms of the De Burgo Earls of Ulster, the basis for the Flag of Ulster.

In 1971 the College of Arms in London added the compartment on which the supporters stand. The Latin motto Quis separabit (Who shall separate). The motto was first used by the Order of St. Patrick in the 18th Century, and was also used by the British Army regiment, the Royal Ulster Rifles. More recently, the motto has been used by the proscribed paramilitary group known as the Ulster Defence Association (the UDA).

When the Government of Northern Ireland was prorogued in 1972 the arms went out of official use. The grant has not been rescinded, but the arms are considered historical, as the body to which the arms were granted no longer exists and so cannot be used unless regranted to another armiger.

The Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom as used for Northern Ireland is the same as that used in England and Wales, with the exception of the crest.

The crest (not shown here) is that of a hart (a stag) exiting a tower (on a torse Azure and Or, a castle triple-towered of the second, from the portal thereof a hart springing Argent attired and hooved Or).

• Register of Arms, Genealogical Office, Dublin
• Royal Roots, Republican Inheritance - The Survival of the Office of Arms, Susan Hood, Dublin, 2002

• Flag of Northern Ireland