Aegon the Conqueror’s Crown

Aegon the Conqueror’s Crown turns a claim to rule into a visible public ceremony. First associated with the Conqueror’s crowning, the iron-and-ruby crown later became a potent emblem in the struggle between Aegon II and Rhaenyra: Aegon wore it at his coronation, while Rhaenyra was crowned with an older crown associated with Jaehaerys the Conciliator.

Appearance and First Coronation

At the Conqueror’s first crowning, Queen Visenya placed a Valyrian steel circlet studded with rubies on his head. The rite took place at the Aegonfort, where the lords and knights cheered and the smallfolk’s voices rose loudest. Alongside the red three-headed dragon standard, the circlet helped present the new ruler in forms that Westerosi lords could recognize: a crowned king at the head of a realm.

The Conqueror was crowned again at Oldtown after Lord Manfred Hightower submitted. In the Starry Sept, the High Septon anointed him with the seven oils, placed a crown upon his head, and proclaimed his royal titles. The account does not specify that this was the same jeweled circlet used at the Aegonfort. The second ceremony drew hundreds of lords and tens of thousands of cheering townspeople; it was this coronation, rather than the first, that the maesters later treated as the start of the Conqueror’s reign.

A Crown as a Claim to Rule

During the Dance, Aegon II chose to wear the iron-and-ruby crown of the Conqueror. At his coronation in the Dragonpit, Criston Cole placed it on the new king’s brow before a crowd whose size is disputed by the histories. The choice joined Aegon’s claim to the memory of the dynasty’s founder, while the ceremony also supplied public and religious signs of legitimacy: Aegon was acclaimed with the titles of king and protector, and Septon Eustace anointed him with holy oils.

The crown was one element in a larger display of authority. At the black council, Rhaenyra’s supporters recognized that Aegon sat the Iron Throne, lived in the Red Keep, and possessed the Conqueror’s crown and sword. He had also been anointed before a great crowd and was male, which many considered decisive in his favor. The crown therefore mattered not in isolation but as a conspicuous piece of the political case his supporters could present.

The Rival Coronation

Rhaenyra’s coronation used a different crown: Ser Steffon Darklyn arrived on Dragonstone with the stolen crown of Jaehaerys the Conciliator, which had been taken from King’s Landing. Before three hundred witnesses, Daemon placed it on his wife’s head. The contrast between the two ceremonies made the competing claims tangible: Aegon wore the Conqueror’s iron-and-ruby crown, while Rhaenyra was crowned with the crown of an earlier king.

That contrast did not mean the rival claimants adopted separate dynastic emblems at once. Initially, both sides flew the red dragon on black of House Targaryen. By the end of 129 AC, Aegon had changed the dragon on his banners to gold, while Rhaenyra quartered the Targaryen arms with those of House Arryn and House Velaryon. As with these later banners, the crowns marked affiliation through visible distinctions, even as both rulers claimed the same royal inheritance.

Symbol and Political Vulnerability

The crown’s repeated use connects the foundation of the Targaryen realm with its fracture. In the Conqueror’s ceremonies, a crown accompanied submission, anointing, and public acclamation; during the Dance, the Conqueror’s crown helped Aegon assert authority against his half-sister, while Rhaenyra’s coronation drew legitimacy from a different royal relic and ceremony. The object could strengthen a claim by making it visible, but the rival crowning showed that possession of a crown could not by itself settle who would rule.