The “rod of equity”?!?
That is what I thought I heard. What did you hear?
Per its description in 1066:
‘For by the sceptre uprisings in the kingdom are controlled and the rod gathers and confines those men that stray’.
The sceptre used today was made in 1661, and follows several constitutional reforms including Magna Carter, that limited the temporal authority of the monarch.
Think of the “rod of equity and mercy” as now representing a shepherd’s crook, representing the spiritual duty of the monarch to address injustice, protect the weak, protect people of faith, uphold the Christian faith, and serve as the government’s moral compass.
Note that the faith element is non denominational. While King Charles heads the Church of England his position as defender of “the faith” was directly confirmed by Greek Orthodox, Catholic, non-denominational, Protestant and other Christian churches, but is additionally enforsed by formal representatives of Jewish, Sikh, Muslim and Hindu faith communities.