Women in heraldry

The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the English-speaking world and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate. (September 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Dutch. (September 2017) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Dutch article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 377 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Dutch Wikipedia article at [[:nl:Vrouwenwapen]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template {{Translated|nl|Vrouwenwapen}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Due to the differing role of women in past society, special rules grew relating to the blazoning of arms for women. The rules for women and heraldry developed differently from place to place and there is no one single rule that applies everywhere. In general, arms of women were most likely depicted not on shields but on lozenges or ovals. Different rules exist that depend on the woman's marital status and a married woman would also often make use of her husband's arms in addition to those from her family. In both the English^[1] and the Scottish^[2] systems of heraldry these differences remain active.

Characteristics

Escutcheons, crests, and other heraldic elements

Heraldry has its origins from associations with warfare and the age of chivalry. The traditional shield was also associated with war and so women did not usually display familial arms on escutcheons. Rather, they could display these on various other shapes: more commonly the lozenge, an oval, or a cartouche.

The

Transmission

In many heraldic traditions, arms generally are passed patrilineally. In other nations' traditions, Canadian heraldry for example, women may inherit arms on an equal basis with their brothers (if any). Women in Canada may also transmit their arms to their heirs, regardless of sex.^[4]

By tradition

British Heraldry

In

When married, a woman has the option of uniting her arms with those of her husband in what are called marital arms; their arms are

A married woman may also bear either her own arms or her husband's arms alone on a shield with the shield charged with a small lozenge to distinguish her from her husband.^[7]

A widowed woman usually displays the impaled arms on a lozenge-shaped shield, unless she is a heraldic heiress (see below).^[8]

Mary Mathew was the first woman to be granted her own Coat of Arms in 1558.^{[9][10][11][12][13][14]}

Heraldic Heiresses

If the woman is an heraldic heiress, her arms are shown on an inescutcheon of pretence, which is a small shield in the centre of her husband's arms. When widowed, instead of showing the impaled arms on a lozenge, she continues to use her marital arms, but placed on a lozenge or oval.^[8] In England and Northern Ireland, if there is more than one surviving daughter, each transmits her father's arms on equal terms.^[15] In Scotland however, only the eldest surviving daughter transmits her father's undifferenced arms to her offspring.^[16]

Canadian Heraldry

In Canadian heraldry, women and men are treated equally for heraldic purpose, reflecting Canadian equality laws.^[17] It is therefore common to display the arms of women on shields, rather than on a lozenge or oval, but a woman may still choose to have her arms displayed on a traditional shape.

In many systems of heraldry, the arms of each living person must be unique. English heraldry has used armorial variants to distinguish the arms of brothers from their father's arms and from each other since the thirteenth century;^[18] this is now normally done by the system of marks or brisures set up by the early Tudor herald John Writhe.^[1] Canada adds a unique series of brisures for use by female children who inherit arms. As in other heraldic systems, these cadency marks are not always used;^[19] in any case, when the heir succeeds (in Canada, the first child, whether male or female, according to strict primogeniture), the mark of cadency is removed and the heir uses the plain coat of arms.^[2]

Gallery

• 
  Archduke Charles (later

  Holy Roman Emperor Charles V), aged 2, with his sisters Eleonore and Isabella

  . Charles's arms are depicted on a shield with a label indicating that he is his father's heir while those of his sisters are on lozenges with half left blank, to be filed with those of their future husbands.
• 
  Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut (c. 1435)
• 
  Jan van Wassenaar (1483–1523) and Josina van Egmond (1485–1538)
• 
  Arms of Susanna thoe Schwartzenberg
• 
  The arms of Sophia Sheppard (née Routh) showing the arms impaled, meaning that she survived her husband.
• 
  Arms of Mary Mathew, the first woman to be granted her own coat of arms in 1558.^{[9][10][20][21][13][14]}

See also

• Baron and feme
• Coverture
• Elizabeth Roads
• Arms of alliance

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Coats of arms of women.

References