Steven Xue: Targaryen kings and their stylish crown collection

Isn’t it kind of weird that the Targaryen monarchs didn’t have a singular or at least uniformed set of crowns, instead we have several crowns of different variations with some kings even coming up with their own unique designs. What’s more is that this phenomenon seems to be exclusively a Targaryen trend. Kings before and after the Targaryen dynasty don’t seem to follow this trend, all of whom seem to stick to one particular design which gets reused by their successors. We had for example Robert and all his heirs (save for Stannis) donning the crown which must have been worn by the Storm Kings. We also had Robb who when declaring himself a king made sure his crown replicated the one which the Kings of Winter all used to wear.

This bugs me because it seems like the Targaryen monarchs don’t seem to place any special significance over their royal jewels and treat them like another accessory. Now I know that crowns did evolve over time and we have for example several different crowns of England and the UK but they all look essentially the same. I think this was so that people could better identify their monarchs from the iconography of what they wore, which is important especially if they recently replaced their predecessor. The fact that the Targaryens had so many crowns of different designs that get reused depending on the mood of the sitting king must have been a little confusing for some people.

Would it not have been better if the Targaryens just stuck to one particular crown instead of having several different ones to pick and choose from or just make them up as they go? Why didn’t they just keep reusing the Valyrian Steel circuit encrusted with rubies that Aegon I wore?

That’s an excellent question. I think initially the issue was that the crown was a tertiary or even quaternary symbol, after the dragons and the Iron Throne and the Valyrian swords. 

Aegon’s crown was used a lot by the earlier kings, but was probably too plain looking for someone with Aenys’ tastes. Jaehaerys’ crown seems to be emphasizing the reconciliation with the Faith, Aegon II’s crown by his personal simplicity, and Aegon IV’s was probably a bribe someone gave him. 

But the major factor in all the switching seems to be that Aegon I’s crown was lost in Dorne with Daeron I, and that was the only crown that had any symbolism at the time.