guardant
/ˈɡɑːd(ə)nt
/adjective [usually postpositive] Heraldry
(Especially of an animal) depicted with the body sideways and the face towards the viewer: three lions passant guardant...
- This design is blazoned as ‘Gules, three lions passant guardant in pale Or,’ and it is still the coat of arms of England today.
- Between 1405 and 1603 the Royal Arms of England were Quarterly, France Modern and England; three fleur-de-lis in the 1st and 4th quarters, and three lions passant guardant in the 2nd and 3rd quarters.
- The lion passant guardant appears in various places; the renderings of it in the Palatine Chapel completed before 1143 antedate this symbol's presumed use by the King of England.
Origin
Late 16th century: from French gardant 'guarding', from garder 'to guard'.