When is the speakers mace used

In the Middle Ages, the mace was widely used in Europe as a weapon. However, by , the mace was commonly used as a ceremonial symbol of legislative power.

For example, maces were used in the Houses of Parliament of the United Kingdom and the general assembly in colonial Virginia.

House of Representatives About this object The Sergeant at Arms, with the House Mace held aloft, retrieved Members from dinners, receptions, and other social events, and led them back to the Chamber in order for the House to achieve a quorum in early March The Sergeant at Arms is tasked with maintaining decorum in the Chamber of the House of Representatives.

A booklet about the mace, published in , explained that the Sergeant at Arms may use the mace to achieve decorum. Thompson holding the mace on the floor of the House of Representatives. The print depicts him performing another duty of the Sergeant at Arms: holding the mace as he enters the House Chamber with absentee Members of the House of Representatives behind him.

The Sergeant at Arms can compel absentee Members to the House Chamber to perform legislative duties, in this case creating a quorum so that legislative business could be accomplished. The National Republican explained that on February 24, , while the House of Representatives was in session, some Members were attending a reception at the White House.

Thompson dispatched his deputy Sergeant at Arms to retrieve those Members and bring them back to the House Chamber. When the House of Representatives is in session, the mace is usually placed atop a pedestal to the Speaker's right side. The only time the Mace is not removed from the Table is when the Speaker leaves the Chair is when he or she has temporarily suspended a sitting of the House perhaps for a meal break.

The Mace remains on the Table during the whole of the suspension. The Sergeant-at-Arms is custodian of the Mace. Bearing the Mace upon the right shoulder, the Sergeant-at-Arms, has become an important symbol of the authority of the Speaker.

The Mace, carried by the Sergeant-at-Arms, has become an important symbol of the authority of the Speaker and of the House itself. There is a view that the House is not properly constituted unless the Mace is present on the brackets in the Chamber. Being the symbol of the royal authority, the Mace is unnecessary in the presence of the authority itself.

The evening of 27 May proved to be a particularly eventful one for the House of Commons. The government was attempting to steer its aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Bill through the Commons.

The Bill was hotly contested, with Michael Heseltine leading the Conservative opposition. The vote on the main government motion — which one would have expected also to be tied — was in fact carried by the Labour Government.

Made of gilded silver, it measures The vase-shaped head consists of four panels bearing the Arms of Canada, the rose of England, the harp of Ireland and the thistle of Scotland. The initials ER for Elizabeth Regina are carved on each side of the panel.

The head of the mace is in the shape of the Tudor crown, with the Royal Arms of the United Kingdom appearing on it in relief. Roses, shamrocks, thistles, fleurs-de-lys and maple leaves are carved on the staff. The mace in use today dates from and replaced the original House of Commons mace that was destroyed in the Centre Block fire on February 3, A temporary mace photo 2 , made of painted wood and metal, was used until March 28, , when the new mace was presented in London to Prime Minister Robert L.

To an increasing extent, their Maces - originally ordinary weapons of war, similar to a club - became their emblems of authority. They were stamped with the Royal Arms; and in an age in which few men could read or write, the Serjeants effected their arrests by showing their Maces and not by producing any form of written warrant.

The evolution of maces from weapons of war to symbolic representations has seen the flanged head decrease in size into an ornamental bracket, while the butt end, which carried the Royal Arms, has expanded to accommodate larger and more ornate Royal Arms and an arched crown surmounted by an orb and cross. As a result of the expansion of the butt end, maces began to be carried upside down with the crown uppermost.

The Mace of the House of Representatives is the symbol not only of the Royal authority but of the authority of the House. As it has been stated that 'the authority of the Speaker and of the House are indivisible', it also symbolises the authority of the Speaker.