chain of office

plural chains of office

1. A heavy chain, usually made of gold or another precious metal, worn around a person’s neck to denote their official position.

   […] the ruler wore certain regalia items such as chains of office, a ceremonial hat of gold […] and ceremonial shoes.

   1990, Helen Ibbitson Jessup, chapter 4, in Court Arts of Indonesia, page 208

   3 more examples

   When the Court came upon the Hustings, the Livery were acquainted of the choice the Court had made; and the proper Officers immediately put the chain of office round his neck as Lord Mayor elect;

   1762 October, The Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure, volume 31, page 215

   Necklaces were, from the earliest times, a favorite ornament of the male sex in the East; and expressed the dignity of the wearer, as we see in the instances of Joseph, of Daniel, &c.; indeed the gold chain of office, still the badge of civic (and until lately, of military) dignities, is no more than the outermost row of the Oriental necklace.

   1828, Thomas de Quincey, “Toilette of the Hebrew Lady”, in Theological Essays and Other Papers, published 1854, pages 74-75

   […] a year has passed since Howard and Brandon walked into York Place and demanded the cardinal’s chain of office, and turned him out of his house.

   2009, Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall, page 256