Sword of justice

For the TV series, see Sword of Justice (TV series).

A sword-wielding allegory of justice, painted by Lucas Cranach the Elder in 1537

A sword of justice is a ceremonial sword used as insignia of a monarch's supreme judicial power. In some cases this may have been an executioner's sword that was no longer used for executions, becoming instead a ceremonial one. The Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom include two swords of justice: the sharply pointed Sword of Justice to the Temporal and the obliquely pointed Sword of Justice to the Spiritual, whose characteristics are said to indicate that only temporal courts have power over death.

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