Helmet.—Royal.
Supporters.—The lion and unicorn, as used by James I. (q.v.).
Motto.—Dieu et mon droit.
Initials.—G. R. (Georgius Rex).
Badges.—A Tudor rose and a thistle.
[The many advantages of a good Language. 1724.]
George Lewis, Electoral Prince of Hanover (born 28th May 1660, died 11th June 1727), was the eldest son of Sophia, youngest daughter of the Princess Elizabeth, daughter of James I., and Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick-Lunenburg. In 1714 Prince George succeeded his cousin, Queen Anne, on the throne of England. He was then fifty-four years of age, and firmly fixed in his German ideas; he never spoke English well, and took every possible opportunity of revisiting his electoral dominions, where he died in 1727.
George I. made an important change in the English coat-of-arms, by including the quartered coat containing the Arms of the Royal Dominions in Germany, Brunswick, Lunenburg, and Saxony. These arms were used in the fourth quarter by George I., George II., and George III. until 1801. After that date they were shown on an escutcheon of pretence by George III., George IV., and William IV., at whose death they were discontinued altogether.
