of all the coats of arms of the Kingdom and for the signing of new grants. The High Armorer, besides his main role of maintaining the personal armor and weapons of the King, had the heraldic responsibility of keeping a roll of arms for the King's immediate consultation. From the late 17th century, associated with the beginning of a period of decadence of heraldry in Portugal, the role of the officers of arms became increasingly merely ceremonial. The offices were often filled by persons with little heraldic knowledge, instead of the highly literate officers of arms in the past. From then until the end of the Monarchy, the responsibility for the heraldic authority function fell mainly on the Scrivener of the Nobility and his Nobility Register Office. Contemporary authorities With the introduction of the republican regime on the 5 October 1910, the body of officers of arms and the Nobility Register were disbanded. Since then no central heraldic authority has existed in Portugal. However, some sectorial heraldic authorities were later established. In 1930, the Heraldic Section of the Association of Portuguese Archeologists (AAP) was appointed by the Ministry of Interior as the authority for municipal heraldry. The municipal heraldry law of 1991 anticipated the establishment of a State Office of Municipal Heraldry that would become the authority in these matters. However, as this office was never created, the Heraldic Section of the AAP continued to fulfill that role until today. This section also serves as heraldic adviser for other entities, but with no formal authority. In the 1940s the Office of Corporate Heraldry was established within the FNAT (the workers' leisure organization during the Corporatist Estado Novo). This office became the authority for corporate heraldry, including the heraldry used by labor groups such as trade unions, guilds, and professional orders. Besides the corporate heraldry, this office was also required by the Ministry of the Overseas to serve as the authority for the Overseas municipalities heraldry. The Office of Corporate Heraldry was disbanded in 1974, following the overthrow of the Estado Novo and the end of Portuguese corporatism. The Institute of the Portuguese Nobility is the heraldic authority for the personal and family coats of arms of the descendants of the old Portuguese nobility. It was established in 2004 by members of Portugal's titled nobility, with Duarte Pio, Heir to the Portuguese Crown as its honorary president, as a replacement for