Escutcheon

is a term used in for a. It can also mean a symbol of honor. In heraldry, an escutcheon is a shield that forms the main or focal element in an. The word is used in two related senses. First, as the shield on which a is displayed; second, a shield can itself be a  within a coat of arms.

Escutcheon shapes are derived from actual shields used by s in combat, and thus are varied and developed by region and by era. As this shape has been regarded as a war-like device appropriate mainly for men, with ladies customarily bearing their arms upon a, or diamond-shape, while men and ladies in continental bear theirs on a , or oval. Other shapes are in use, such as the commonly used for arms granted to ns or the  used in.

Though it can be used as a charge on its own, the most common use of an escutcheon charge is to display another coat of arms as a form of marshalling. These escutcheons are usually given the same shape as the main shield. When there is only one such shield, it is sometimes called an inescutcheon.

The word escutcheon (late 15th century) is based on Old North French escuchon "shield".

Shapes
The earliest depictions of proto-heraldic shields in the second half of the 12th century still have the shape of the Norman used throughout the 11th and 12th centuries. By about the 1230s, shields used by had become shorter and more triangular, now called s.

Transitional forms intermediate between kite and heater are seen in the late 12th to early 13th centuries. Transition to the heater was essentially complete by 1250. For example, the shield of (d. 1250) shown with his effigy at Salisbury Cathedral is triangular, while the shield shown on the effigy of his father  (d. 1226) is still of a more elongated form.

The shield on the enamel monument to (d. 1151) is of almost full-body length. The heater was used in warfare during the apogee of the, at about the time of the (1346) and the founding of the  (1348). The shape is therefore used in armorials from this “classical age” of heraldry.

Beginning in the 15th century, and even more throughout the, a great variety of escutcheon shapes develops. In the the heraldic escutcheon became more square, taking the shape of an inverted. Continental European designs frequently use the various forms used in jousting, which incorporate “mouths” used as lance rests into the shields; such escutcheons are known as à bouche. The mouth is correctly shown on the dexter side only, as jousting pitches were designed for right-handed knights. Heraldic examples of English shields à bouche can be seen in the s of the trussed timber roof of Hall, London.

The shape of the top, the sides and the base may be separately described, and these elements may be freely combined. The highly complex shields of the 17th century come in many artistic variations.

Lozenge
In, the lozenge has been used by women since the 13th century for the display of their coats of arms instead of the escutcheon or shield, which are associated with warfare. In this case the lozenge is shown without or helm. For the practical purpose of categorisation the lozenge may be treated as a variety of heraldic escutcheon.

Traditionally, very limited categories of females have been able to display their own arms, for example a female monarch—who uses an escutcheon as a military commander, not a lozenge—and , who may display their own arms alone on a lozenge even if married. In general a female was represented by her paternal arms by the arms of her husband on an escutcheon as a form of marshalling.

In modern Canadian heraldry, and certain other modern heraldic jurisdictions, women may be granted their own arms and display these on an escutcheon. Life peeresses in England display their arms on a lozenge. An oval or is occasionally also used instead of the lozenge for armigerous women.

As a result of rulings of the English dated 7 April 1995 and 6 November 1997, married women in England, Northern Ireland and Wales and in other countries recognizing the jurisdiction of the  in London (such as New Zealand) also have the option of using their husband’s arms alone, marked with a small lozenge as a  to show that the arms are displayed for the wife and not the husband; or of using their own personal arms alone, marked with a small shield as a  for the same reason. Divorced women may theoretically until remarriage use their ex-husband’s arms differenced with a. Widowed women normally display a lozenge-shaped shield impaled, unless they are heraldic heiresses, in which case they display a lozenge-shaped shield with the unaltered escutcheon of pretence in the centre. Women in same-sex marriages may use a shield or banner to combine arms, but can use only a lozenge or banner when one of the spouses dies.

The lozenge shape of quasi-escutcheon is also used for s for both men and women. in is one of the few all-girls schools that was granted permission to use the lozenge as part of its coat of arms.

Points
The points of the shield refer to specific positions thereon and are used in blazons to describe where a should be placed.

1. : very top of the shield, corresponding to where the begins

2. Dexter: right side of shield when worn (viewer's left)

3. Sinister: left side of shield when worn (viewer's right)

4. Base: very bottom

5. Dexter Chief: top-right corner

6. Middle Chief: top-middle

7. Sinister Chief: top-left corner

8. Honour Point: halfway between the middle chief and fess point

9. Fess Point: exact middle

10. Nombril Point: halfway between the base and the honour point

11. Dexter Base: bottom-right

12. Sinister Base: bottom-left

13. Middle Base (seldom used): bottom-middle

Inescutcheon
An inescutcheon is a smaller escutcheon that is placed within or superimposed over the main shield of a coat of arms. This may be used in the following cases:
 * as a simple mobile charge, for example as borne by the French family of Abbeville, illustrated below; these may also bear other charges upon them, as shown in the arms of the Swedish Collegium of Arms, illustrated below;
 * in  (as a mark of a hereditary claim, usually by right of marriage), bearing assumed arms over one's own hereditary arms;
 * in territorial claim, bearing a monarch's hereditary arms en surtout over the territorial arms of his domains.

Inescutcheons as mobile charges
Inescutcheons may appear in personal and civic armory as simple mobile charges, for example the arms of the, the or the noble French family of Abbeville. These mobile charges are of a particular but do not necessarily bear further charges and may appear anywhere on the main escutcheon, their placement being specified in the, if in doubt.

Inescutcheons may also be charged with other mobile charges, such as in the arms of the Swedish Collegium of Arms (illustrated above) which bears the of Sweden, each upon its own escutcheon upon the field of the main shield. These inescutcheons serve as a basis for including other charges that do not serve as an augmentation or hereditary claim. In this case, the inescutcheons azure allow the three crowns of Sweden to be placed upon a field, thus not only remaining clearly visible but also conforming to the rule of tincture.

Inescutcheon of pretence
Inescutcheons may also be used to bear another's arms in “pretence”. In the husband of a, the sole daughter and heiress of an armigerous man (i.e. a lady without any brothers), rather than impaling his wife's paternal arms as is usual, must place her paternal arms in an escutcheon of pretence in the centre of his own shield as a claim (“pretence”) to be the new head of his wife’s family, now extinct in the male line. In the next generation the arms are quartered by the son.

Use by monarchs and states
A monarch’s personal or hereditary arms may be borne on an inescutcheon en surtout over the territorial arms of his/her domains, as in the, the of the  members, the , or the arms of  as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England (1653–1659). The early Georgian kings of England bore an inescutcheon of the on the, whose territories they now ruled.

Pelta escutcheon
The current republican incorporates the pelta, a wide form of shield (or gorget) with a small animal head pointing inward at each end. This is Roman in origin; although not the shape of their classic shield, many brooches of this shape survive from antiquity. A form of pelta appears as a decoration above the head of every official on the table, commissioned by Napoleon for propaganda purposes.

The pelta appeared officially on the cover of the French passport early in the twentieth century, and in the mid-twentieth century as the state in the halls of the United Nations.

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