Editing Crown (section)

==History==
[[File:King of Persis Ardashir II with crown 1st century CE.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Crown of [[King of Persis]] [[Ardakhshir II]], 1st century BC.]]

Crowns have been discovered in pre-historic times from [[Haryana]], India.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.stonepages.com/news/archives/005435.html|title=Stone Pages Archaeo News: 4,000-year-old copper crown unearthed in India|access-date=2020-12-16|archive-date=2021-09-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210928034831/https://www.stonepages.com/news/archives/005435.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The precursor to the crown was the browband called the [[diadem (personal wear)|diadem]], which had been worn by the [[Achaemenid|Achaemenid Persian emperors]]. It was adopted by [[Constantine I]] and was worn by all subsequent rulers of the later Roman Empire.
Almost all Sassanid kings wore crowns. One of the most famous kings who left numerous statues, reliefs, and coins of crowns is the king [[Shapur I]].

Numerous [[Crowns of Egypt|crowns of various forms]] were used in antiquity, such as the [[Hedjet]], [[Deshret]], [[Pschent]] (double crown) and [[Khepresh]] of [[Ancient Egypt|Pharaonic Egypt]]. The Pharaohs of Egypt also wore the diadem, which was associated with solar cults, an association which was not completely lost, as it was later revived under the Roman Emperor Augustus.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Muslim Kingship: Power and the Sacred in Muslim, Christian and Pagan Politics|last=Al-Azmeh|first=Aziz|publisher=I.B. Tauris Publications|year=2001|isbn=1-86064-609-3|location=London|pages=12}}</ref> By the time of the Pharaoh Amenophis III (r.1390–1352c)  wearing a diadem clearly became a symbol of royalty. The [[Wreaths and crowns in antiquity|wreaths and crowns of classical antiquity]] were sometimes made from natural materials such as laurel, myrtle, olive, or wild celery.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Winners of Panhellenic Games Received Victory Wreaths |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/victory-wreaths-at-the-ancient-olympics-120135 |access-date=2023-03-10 |website=ThoughtCo |language=en |archive-date=2023-03-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230310175033/https://www.thoughtco.com/victory-wreaths-at-the-ancient-olympics-120135 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The ''corona radiata'', the "[[radiant crown]]" known best on the [[Statue of Liberty]], and perhaps worn by the [[Helios]] that was the [[Colossus of Rhodes]], was worn by Roman emperors as part of the cult of [[Sol Invictus]] prior to the [[Roman Empire]]'s conversion to Christianity. It was referred to as "the chaplet studded with sunbeams" by [[Lucian]], about 180&nbsp;AD.<ref>in [http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/lucian/lucian_alexander.htm ''Alexander the false prophet''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161126000745/http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/lucian/lucian_alexander.htm |date=2016-11-26 }})</ref>

[[File:Iron Crown.JPG|thumb| The [[Iron Crown of Lombardy]]. ]]
In the Christian tradition of European cultures, where ecclesiastical sanction authenticates monarchic power when a new monarch ascends the throne, the crown is placed on the new monarch's head by a religious official in a coronation ceremony. Some, though not all, early [[Holy Roman Emperor]]s travelled to Rome at some point in their careers to be crowned by the pope. [[Napoleon]], according to legend, surprised [[Pius VII]] when he reached out and crowned himself, although in reality this order of ceremony had been pre-arranged.

Today, only the [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|British Monarchy]] and [[Monarchy of Tonga|Tongan Monarchy]], with their anointed and crowned monarchs, continue this tradition, although many monarchies retain a crown as a national symbol. The [[French Crown Jewels]] were sold in 1885 on the orders of the [[Third French Republic]], with only a token number, their precious stones replaced by glass, retained for historic reasons and displayed in the [[Louvre]]. The [[Spanish Crown Jewels]] were destroyed in a major fire in the 18th century while the so-called "[[Irish Crown Jewels]]" (actually merely the British Sovereign's insignia of the [[Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick]]) were stolen from [[Dublin Castle]] in 1907, just before the investiture of [[Bernard Edward Barnaby FitzPatrick, 2nd Baron Castletown]].

The [[Georgian Crown|Crown]] of King [[George XII of Georgia]] made of gold and decorated with 145 diamonds, 58 rubies, 24 emeralds, and 16 amethysts. It took the form of a circlet surmounted by ornaments and eight arches. A [[globus cruciger|globe surmounted by a cross]] rested on the top of the crown.

Special headgear to designate rulers dates back to pre-history, and is found in many separate civilizations around the globe. Commonly, rare and precious materials are incorporated into the crown, but that is only essential for the notion of crown jewels. [[Gold]] and precious [[gemstone|jewel]]s are common in western and oriental crowns. In the [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] civilizations of the [[Pre-Columbian]] [[New World]], rare [[feather]]s, such as that of the [[quetzal]], often decorated crowns; so too in Polynesia (e.g., Hawaii).

[[Coronation|Coronation ceremonies]] are often combined with other rituals, such as enthronement (the throne is as much a symbol of monarchy as the crown) and anointing (again, a religious sanction, the only defining act in the Biblical tradition of Israel).

In other cultures, no crown is used in the equivalent of coronation, but the head may still be otherwise symbolically adorned; for example, with a royal ''[[tikka (forehead mark)|tikka]]'' in the Hindu tradition of India.
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