on 15 february 2008, the house of commons was granted its own heraldic symbol following a request by commons speaker peter milliken to the canadian heraldic authority. the new symbol for parliament is a badge of the escutcheon in the arms of canada superimposed on the mace used by the house of commons as a symbol of its authority derived from the crown. the senate was granted a similar badge on 15 april 2008, using its own mace. parliament as a whole has been granted the right to use the escutcheon of the arms of canada, superimposed over the maces of the commons and senate in saltire.