u/AggravatingBug5282 — reddlx

In 1856, Abdülmecid I was awarded the Order of the Garter by Britain. According to tradition, each member’s coat of arms is displayed behind their stall in St George's Chapel (Windsor Castle). However, at that time, the Ottoman Empire did not have an established heraldic tradition comparable to that of Europe and therefore lacked an official coat of arms in this sense. For this reason, it is often claimed that, under the direction of Queen Victoria, Charles Young studied Ottoman symbols and designed a coat of arms, which was then presented together with the Order and displayed in the chapel. An image similar to the coat of arms claimed to have been displayed in the chapel has been shared in the first link below.

The main question is what this original design displayed in the chapel actually looked like. The record for Abdülmecid is as follows: Stall N5 (6), 1856 (717) – Abdul Medjid, Sultan of Turkey.

Is there anyone with reliable knowledge, or who has visited the chapel, who can confirm this claim? If such a design existed, what did it look like, and is there any photograph of it?

Is the coat of arms designed by Charles Young and currently present in the chapel in places related to Abdülmecid similar to the one in the first link? What exactly did the coat of arms designed by Charles look like? Is this claim accurate? If not, I would kindly ask you to share a photograph of the coat of arms currently placed in the chapel for Abdülmecid.

Ottoman coat of arms;
1/ https://ibb.co/qYMF07F4

The Order of the Garter awarded to Abdülmecid I ;
2/ https://ibb.co/bgjnjbFg

In 1856, Abdülmecid I was awarded the Order of the Garter by Britain. According to English tradition, the coat of arms of the recipient’s state is displayed behind their stall in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.

However, the Ottoman Empire did not have an established heraldic tradition comparable to that of Europe at the time, and therefore lacked an official coat of arms in this sense. As a result, it is often claimed that, under the direction of Queen Victoria, Charles Young was tasked with designing one.

According to this claim, Charles Young studied Ottoman symbols and created a coat of arms, which was then presented to Abdülmecid along with the Order of the Garter. It is also said that this design was displayed in St George’s Chapel. I have shared an example of the coat of arms attributed to Charles Young in the first link.

However, the key issue here is what the original design displayed in St George’s Chapel for Abdülmecid actually looked like. If we could find a photograph of this original design—or if someone here is able to share one—it would greatly help clarify the matter.

The stall plate record for Abdülmecid in the chapel is as follows:
Stall N5 (6), 1856 (717) – Abdul Medjid, Sultan of Turkey

My question is the following:
Is there anyone who has visited St George’s Chapel or has reliable knowledge on this subject who can confirm this claim? If Charles Young did indeed design such a coat of arms, what exactly did the original version displayed in the chapel look like? Is there anyone who can share a photograph of it?

Additionally, although there appear to be some minor similarities between the design attributed to Charles Young and the Ottoman coat of arms I shared in the first link, I believe there are significant differences between them overall. However, I have not been able to verify this conclusively.

👉 I would especially appreciate input from anyone who can confirm this with sources or, ideally, provide visual evidence.

The coat of arms shown in this image is the Ottoman coat of arms. According to some claims, this is the design that Charles Young originally created or laid the foundations for. However, this remains only a claim for now.

According to some, Charles Young had no role in the design of the Ottoman state coat of arms. Those who hold this view argue that Charles Young only designed the Order of the Garter insignia awarded to Abdülmecid I shown in this image. In other words, they claim that he had no direct connection to the Ottoman state coat of arms.