The Stories Behind Queen Elizabeth II's Beloved Commonwealth Brooches

During her seven decades as Head of the Commonwealth, Elizabeth II amassed an impressive collection of national brooches, often given to her during royal tours and visits

Yesterday, the King and Queen of Australia–Charles III and Camilla–arrived on the shores of the continent for the first royal visit of his reign. (As always, I’m tracking the sparkling jewels worn during the trip by Queen Camilla over at The Court Jeweller.) The previous Queen of Australia, Elizabeth II, loved to bring out pieces from her collection of Commonwealth-related royal jewelry during her visits Down Under. For our discussion post today, I’m showcasing five spectacular Commonwealth brooches and sharing the fascinating stories of their presentations to the late Queen.

The Australian Wattle Brooch is displayed at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, January 2015 (Richard Milnes/Alamy)

The language of flowers has always been a helpful guide for royal designers and dressers looking to pay tribute to various locations and nations. For the late Queen Elizabeth II, the floral symbolism of the Commonwealth of Nations was present throughout her collection of jewelry. Many of the pieces were offered to her as gifts during her visits to Commonwealth countries, both those that were fully independent and those that retained her as their head of state.

Born out of the ashes of empire, the Commonwealth is an organization that recognizes the cultural and linguistic ties shared by countries that were once British colonies and promotes continued connections between member nations. Among these are the 15 Commonwealth realms, nations that are independent from Britain but which continue to have the British monarch as their head of state. As of October 2024, the list of realms is as follows: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu. (The United Kingdom is, of course, technically also a Commonwealth realm itself.)

Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation gown, 2022 (Royal Collection Trust/All Rights Reserved)

When she was crowned in June 1953, Elizabeth II wore a coronation gown that was embroidered with the floral emblems of many of those independent realms. These included the Tudor rose (England), the leek (Wales), the thistle (Scotland), the shamrock (Northern Ireland), the maple leaf (Canada), the wattle (Australia), the silver fern (New Zealand), the protea (South Africa), the lotus flower (India), the water lily (Sri Lanka), and wheat, cotton, and jute (Pakistan).

Over the course of the Queen’s long reign, she made multiple visits to each nation represented by the flowers embroidered on her coronation gown. Some kept her as their monarch and head of state, while others became republics. Nevertheless, all remained part of the family of the Commonwealth of Nations, and they maintained a relationship with Elizabeth II as the head of that organization for her entire reign.

In 2022, when the late Queen passed away, her son, King Charles III, also became Head of the Commonwealth. The brooches that Elizabeth received during various Commonwealth tours and visits also became part the jewelry collection now overseen by Charles and Camilla.