Coat of arms of Munster

The coat of arms of Munster consists of three gold crowns on a blue field. Similar crowns were included on the arms of Ireland before being superseded by the golden harp in the 16th century.

The meaning of the three crowns is not certain, but one possibility is that they may represent three of the medieval Hiberno-Norman lordships in Munster; the O'Briens (Thomond), the Butlers (Ormond) and the Fitzgeralds (Desmond). Other sources suggest that the arms (dark blue, three antique crowns Or) are derived from the short-lived dukedom of Ireland created for Robert de Vere in 1386. Further sources suggest that the crown motif dates to the earlier Kingdom of Munster, based on a thirteenth-century crozier head which was decorated with a crown on a blue enamel surface and found near the Rock of Cashel, the seat of the Gaelic Irish Kings of Munster.

The crowns are usually depicted as "antique" or "eastern": a gold rim with eight sharp, triangular rays, of which five are seen.