A letter of credence is a formal diplomatic letter that designates a diplomat as ambassador to another sovereign state. Commonly known as diplomatic credentials, the letter is addressed from one head of state to another, asking them to give credence to the ambassador's claim of speaking for their country. The letter is presented personally by the ambassador-designate to the receiving head of state in a formal ceremony, marking the beginning of the ambassadorship.
Letter of credence for the Czechoslovak Ambassador to Lithuania (1992), written in the traditional French and signed by President Václav Havel
British diplomat Sir Charles Stuart presenting his credentials to Emperor Pedro I of Brazil, who is flanked by his wife Maria Leopoldina, their daughter Maria da Glória (later Queen Maria II of Portugal), and other dignitaries (allegory), c. 1825
Ambassador Eugène-Richard Gasana of Rwanda presents his credentials to Russian President Vladimir Putin, attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (2007).
The Ambassador of Yugoslavia, Zdravko Pečar, presenting his letter of credence to the Head of state of Ghana, Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, in 1974.
An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sovereign or appointed for a special and often temporary diplomatic assignment. The word is also used informally for people who are known, without national appointment, to represent certain professions, activities, and fields of endeavor, such as sales.
Ambassador Daoud Zadour of Persia
Arrival of the English Ambassadors by Vittore Carpaccio, painted between 1495 and 1500—though ostensibly part of a series of paintings on the life of Saint Ursula, this actually depicts the developing diplomatic practices of the Republic of Venice in the painter's own time
Before an ambassador takes office, their credentials must be accepted, such as when South African Ambassador Harry Schwarz handed his credentials to U.S. President George H. W. Bush in 1991.
Maria-Pia Kothbauer, Princess of Liechtenstein and ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Czech Republic, presenting her credentials to Václav Klaus
