A monde, meaning 'world' in French, is an orb located near the top of a crown. It represents, as the name suggests, the world that the monarch rules. It is the point at which a crown's half arches meet. It is usually topped off either with a national or religious symbol, for example a cross in Christian countries.

Contents

• Gallery
• See also
• References

In some cases, the crossed arches might relate this object to an armillary sphere representing the cosmic orb, as seems to happen with the crown of Pedro I of Brazil or, in a different way, with the serpent in the Rainbow Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I. ^[1]