Master's Gift 2025

The Master, Katherine Smart, has presented the Company with a gift of four ceremonial “crowns” on behalf of her company, Diageo.

Historically, embroidered crowns were a symbol of office of the Master and Wardens, the most senior members of a Livery Company. The crowns would have been placed on the heads of the new Master and Wardens in a ceremony at Brewers’ Hall to mark their ‘installation’ as Senior Officers of the Company. 

The Brewers’ Company is one of a very small number of Livery Companies that still has its original Wardens’ crowns, dating back to 1628. The crowns are made of crimson velvet carefully embroidered with symbols which have a special meaning for the Brewers: 

• Ears of barley, used in the production of malt which is an ingredient used in brewing beer
• The coat of arms of the Brewers’ Company, which includes three barrels of beer
• The Moorish maiden, who appears in the ‘crest’ above the Company’s coat of arms. She represents the stepmother of Thomas Becket, the Brewers’ Company’s patron saint.

There would originally have also been another, probably more elaborate, crown for the Master, but sadly this no longer survives. The remaining crowns are rather fragile now, being nearly 400 years old and are therefore no longer used ceremonially.

The Master’s generous gift is a set of four new crowns (three for the Wardens and one for the Master) recreated based on the originals. 

The new crowns are embroidered with the earliest date that is on the original crowns (1628) and the date that they were presented to the Company (2024). The embroidery also includes ears of barley, the Company’s coat of arms and the Moorish maiden in very similar style to the originals. As an addition, the new crowns feature the Guinness Harp to commemorate the Master’s company, Diageo.

At a Court Luncheon in Brewers’ Hall in 12 December 2024, the Master and Wardens were ceremonially crowned by Ewan Andrew, President, Global Supply Chain & Procurement at Diageo.

The Company is very grateful to the Master and to Diageo for this very generous gift, which recalls one of the oldest traditions of the Brewers’ Company and will be used to keep these traditions alive for many years to come.