r/heraldrycirclejerk

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.