HERALDRY 101

NOTE: as stated before, this is NOT intended to be a "study" of Heraldry and Arms. It is simply as stated--and introduction to the subject, an "overview." I would recommend a trip to your local library for more information. I am not, nor pretend to be, an expert in the subject. ALSO NOTE: the arms depicted below, except for the last, are no one's arms that I am aware of. The LAST, depicting Quartering, IS a real arm, and YOU HAVE NO CLAIM to it. Do NOT steal it..it is already registered and is USED BY PERMISSION.


In the Middle Ages, men were men, and women were---well---women. Second class citizens. A man's property, and the child bearer and raiser.

Women were forbidden to use many heraldic symbols (except, of course, for the Queen!), and most didn't even try to have Arms. The higher caste (yes, there's that word, but lets be truthful!) did use them occasionally. And the rules were very strict. The biggest: the woman HAD to be descended from an Arms bearing father. No Arms bearing father? Then no arms.

An unmarried woman COULD display her Father's Arms on an oval, or "Lozenge" (sort of a diamond). While not required (and most didn't use it), a bow, or some other feminine thing could be used as a Helm.

(!!) Then came marriage, and the rules change.

At marriage, the womans identity (which is represented by HER FATHERS ARMS), had one of two things happen to it:
1. IF she was an heiress (in other words, was an ONLY child, or a CO-HEIRESS if there were other SISTERS, but no brothers!) THEN her fathers arms were placed on a SMALL shield (called an "escutcheon") and then placed in the Center of the husbands Coat of Arms. In this manner, the husband bears the wife's father's arms "in pretence", because the husband is "pretending" to represent the wife's family. The correct heraldic term for this is "escutcheon in pretence."

2. IF NOT an heiress, then the fathers' arms were combined with the husbands side-by-side. The husbands arms were (as you LOOK at the shield) on the left side (the "dexter" side), and the wife's on the right side (the "sinister" side). This is known as "impalement". Now, this "new" Coat was usually used ONLY for record keeping. If the husband went into battle, or on his carriage, his banner, or his seal, he would only use HIS Coat!

                 &nbspAn "escutcheon in pretence"                                                   An "Impalement"

In BOTH cases, on the death of the wife, the husbands right to either the "impalement" or the "escutcheon in pretence" ended, and were removed. There were exceptions for this though. In the case of the impalement, the husband COULD keep the impalement IF THE COUPLE HAD CHILDREN (in this manner he still represented the wife's family to the kids!) . In the case of the escutcheon, while the HUSBAND's right ended, the CHILDREN could bear her arms by a process called "QUARTERING."

Quartering is when the child divides the shield into FOUR QUARTERS, the fathers arms in the upper left AND lower right quarter, and the mothers in the upper right AND lower left quarters (as you are looking at them).

I know what you are thinking, so here it is. When the HUSBAND died, the wife was OBLIGED to bear her dead husbands arms in whatever manner of combining was used....but on a LOZENGE! In the case of a DIVORCE, the woman reverted to her father's arms--again on a Lozenge.
In the next part of this series, we will look at , the colors and descriptions. In other parts we will look at the state of Heraldry today.