Rouge Croix Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary is a junior officer of arms of the College of Arms. He is said to be the oldest of the four pursuivants in ordinary. The office is named after St George's Cross which has been a symbol of England since the time of the Crusades.

The current Rouge Croix Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary is Thomas Johnston. He took part in the Royal Procession at the 2023 Coronation.

Holders of the office Arms Name Date of appointmentRefNicholas Serby(Henry IV)Richard Boys(Henry IV)Giles Waster(Henry V)Roger Legh or Lygh(Henry V)John Writhe(Henry V)John Mowbray(1422)Robert Ashwell(Henry VI)James Billett(Henry VI)John Mallett(Henry VI)Robert Dunham(Henry VI)Richard Ashwell(Henry VI)John Ballard(Henry VI)Thomas Holme(Henry VI)John More(Henry VI)William Carlill(Edward IV)Roger Stamford(Edward IV)Richard Slacke(Edward IV)John Water or Walter(Edward IV)Thomas Benolt(Edward IV)Thomas Waters(Edward IV)Robert Browne(Edward IV)William Jenyns(Edward IV)Thomas Tonge(Edward IV)George Berry(1484)Richard Greenwood(1485)(name unknown)(1492)William Wriothesley1505–1509Thomas Hawley1509–1515Laurence de la Gatta1515–1520Thomas Wall1521–1521Charles Wriothesley1524–1535Bartholomew Butler1535–1538Thomas Stevenson1538–1540Gilbert Dethick1540–1541Justinian Barker1541–1543William Flower1543–1546Lawrence Dalton1546–1547Simon Newbald(Edward VI)Nicholas Tubman1551–1553Henry Cotgrove1553–1566William Dethick1566–1569Thomas Dawes1569–1580Ralph Brooke1580–1592Thomas Knight1592–1604William Wyrley1604–1619John Guillim1619–1621Augustine Vincent1621–1624John Bradshaw1624–1626George Owen1626–1637Edward Walker1637–1638Henry Lilly1638–1639William Dugdale1639–?Robert Browne(intruded)Everard Exton(intruded)Henry Dethick1660–1677Henry Ball1677–1686Charles Mawson1686–1688Samuel Stebbing1688–?Peter Le Neve(Anne)John Bound(Anne)Richard Graham1722–1725Richard Pomfret1725–1751Alexander Cozens1751–1752Henry Hastings1752?–1773John Charles Brooke1773–1777Francis Townsend1777–1784John Atkinson1784–1794Joseph Hawker1794–1803William Radclyffe1803–1823Robert Laurie1823–1839William Courthope1839–1854James Planché1854–1866John de Havilland1866–1872Stephen Tucker1872–1880Sir Henry Farnham Burke1880–1887George William Marshall1887–1904Sir Arthur Cochrane1904–1915Archibald Russell1915–1922Henry Robert Charles Martin1922–1928Philip Walter Kerr1928–1941John Walker1947–1954Sir Walter Verco1954–1960Rodney Dennys1961–1967(David) Hubert Chesshyre1970–1978Sir Thomas Woodcock1978–1982Sir Henry Paston-Bedingfeld, 10th Baronet1983–1993David White1995–2004John Allen-Petrie2013–2019Thomas Andrew Johnston, Esq.2023–present

See also Heraldry Officer of Arms

References

Further reading The College of Arms, Queen Victoria Street : being the sixteenth and final monograph of the London Survey Committee, Walter H. Godfrey, assisted by Sir Anthony Wagner, with a complete list of the officers of arms, prepared by H. Stanford London, (London, 1963) A History of the College of Arms &c, Mark Noble, (London, 1804)

External links The College of Arms CUHGS Officer of Arms Index