Royal cypher Royal cypher In modern heraldry, a royal cypher is a monogram-like device of a country's reigning sovereign, typically consisting of the initials of the monarch's name and title, sometimes interwoven and often surmounted by a crown. Where such a cypher is used by an emperor or empress, it is called an "imperial cypher". In the system used by various Commonwealth realms, the title is abbreviated as "R" for "rex" or "regina" (Latin for "king" and "queen"). Previously, "I" stood for "imperator" or "imperatrix" (Latin words for "emperor" and "empress") of India. The cypher is displayed on some government buildings, impressed
Despot (court title) Despot (court title) Despot or despotes (, "lord", "master") was a senior Byzantine court title that was bestowed on the sons or sons-in-law of reigning emperors, and initially denoted the heir-apparent of the Byzantine emperor. From Byzantium it spread throughout the late medieval Balkans and was also granted in the states under Byzantine cultural influence, such as the Latin Empire, the Second Bulgarian Empire (), the Serbian Empire and its successor states (), and the Empire of Trebizond. With the political fragmentation of the period, the term gave rise to several principalities termed "despotates" which were ruled either as independent