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Escutcheon (heraldry)

In heraldry, an escutcheon (/ɪˈskʌən/) is a shield that forms the main or focal element in an achievement of arms. The word can be used in two related senses. In the first sense, an escutcheon is the shield upon which a coat of arms is displayed. In the second sense, an escutcheon can itself be a charge within a coat of arms.

Escutcheon shapes are derived from actual shields that were used by knights in combat, and thus are varied and developed by region and by era. Since shields have been regarded as military equipment appropriate for men only, British ladies customarily bear their arms upon a lozenge, or diamond-shape, while clergymen and ladies in continental Europe bear their arms upon a cartouche, or oval. Other shapes are also in use, such as the roundel commonly used for arms granted to Aboriginal Canadians by the Canadian Heraldic Authority, or the Nguni shield used in African heraldry (likewise, Christian organisations and Masonic bodies tend to use the same shape, also known as a vesica piscis).


Although an escutcheon 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. Such escutcheon charges are usually given the same shape as the main shield. When there is only one escutcheon charge, it is sometimes called an inescutcheon.


The word escutcheon (late 15th century) is based on Old North French escuchon ('shield').[a]

Kite shield, 12th/13th century

Kite shield, 12th/13th century

"Norman" style, 13th century

"Norman" style, 13th century

"Heater" shape, 13th/14th century

"Heater" shape, 13th/14th century

Square ("Old French") shape

Square ("Old French") shape

"Square Iberian" or Iberian style (square top, rounded base), 15th century[5]

"Square Iberian" or Iberian style (square top, rounded base), 15th century[5]

Bouched or bouché side ("German" or "Dutch" style), 15th century.[b]

Bouched or bouché side ("German" or "Dutch" style), 15th century.[b]

Scroll-eared top, lobed base, 16th century

Scroll-eared top, lobed base, 16th century

Square eared, nicked top, rounded base, 16th century

Square eared, nicked top, rounded base, 16th century

"Wedge" top

"Wedge" top

"Polish" style, 17th century [7]

"Polish" style, 17th century [7]

Eared top, French base

Eared top, French base

"French" style, 17th century[c]

"French" style, 17th century[c]

Two engrailed top, 19th century[d]

Two engrailed top, 19th century[d]

oval or "Iberian" shape

oval or "Iberian" shape

Lozenge shape (see Lozenge section)

Lozenge shape (see Lozenge section)

Boutell, Charles (1914). Fox-Davies, A.C. (ed.). (11th ed.). London: Reeves & Turner. OCLC 81124564 – via Project Gutenberg.

The Handbook to English Heraldry

Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (1909). . London: T.C. & E.C. Jack. ISBN 0-517-26643-1. LCCN 09023803.

A Complete Guide to Heraldry: Illustrated by Nine Plates and Nearly 800 Other Designs

Grazebrook, George (1890). . Liverpool: Brakell.

The dates of variously-shaped shields with coincident dates and examples

Woodward, John; Burnett, George (1892) [1884]. . Edinburgh: W. & A. B. Johnson. LCCN 02020303 – via Internet Archive.

A treatise on heraldry, British and foreign: with English and French glossaries