MBE for calligrapher and heraldry artist Tim Noad in the King’s Birthday Honours

Tim Noad has been awarded an MBE in the King’s Birthday Honours, in recognition of his international reputation as one of the most accomplished artists and craftspeople working in his field, combining heraldry, calligraphy, design and illustration.

Tim was nominated by Heritage Crafts in 2022, and is likely to be one of a number of nominations for him, having since designed The King’s Royal Cypher and the Stole Royal which His Majesty wore at his coronation.

The charity – which was set up in 2009 to support and champion traditional craft skills – has made 32 previously successful nominations for National Honours since 2013, believing that the vernacular craft skills practised across the UK deserve as much recognition as other popularly-celebrated forms of culture.

Tim has designed more official medals, gold sovereigns and one pound coins than anyone else in the last 70 years, as well as over 200 Grants of Arms (including that of the Olympics and Paralympics), Royal Warrants and Charters, Letters Patent granting life peerages and appointments to the Supreme Court, and the Instrument of Consent for the marriage of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. He painted three heraldic panels for the Holbein ceiling of the Chapter Royal in St James’ Palace in 2002 and contributed to the design of the Diamond Jubilee Window in Westminster Hall in 2012.

Tim has worked at the College of Arms for 35 years and current Garter Principal King of Arms, David Vines White, said:

“His exacting aesthetic standards and exquisite artwork, underpinned by great knowledge and intellectual curiosity ensures he is the doyen of heraldic painters.”

Former Garter Principal King of Arms, Sir Thomas Woodcock, said:

“He is the outstanding British heraldic painter and calligrapher of his generation… His designs for Jubilee and other medals and coinage will be a lasting tribute to him and evidence of the quality of such work produced in this country in the first two decades of the twenty-first century. His sense of design, virtuosity as a calligrapher and ability as a painter mean that he has produced much of the most prestigious heraldic work to the highest standard that has come out of the College of Arms in recent decades.”

Tim is the only person to have designed the coins for a monarch’s Golden, Diamond and Platinum Jubilees and Dr Kevin Clancy, Director of the Royal Mint Museum, said:

“What defines his work as outstanding is his exquisite draughtsmanship, his creative flair and the impeccable professionalism of his approach to each and every commission. In an area of art and design that still defines large tracts of public art in Britain, his ability is masterly and he stands as a credit to his profession.”

As well as all of this, Tim is a great advocate for the crafts of heraldic painting and calligraphy and regularly passes on his skills through adult education classes, including at the V&A and British Museum, throughout the UK, and in Australia, Belgium and the Republic of Ireland.

Heritage Crafts encourages anyone who supports the continuation of traditional craft skills, whether or not they are makers themselves, to join the organisation as a member via its website.