Further to the ruling of the
English
Kings of Arms dated 7 April 1995 we, Garter, Clarenceux and Norroy and
Ulster Kings of Arms, do rule, ordain and decree as follows:
1. An unmarried woman may continue to bear her paternal
arms on a lozenge, oval or similar vehicle of display (not being an
escutcheon or a colourable imitation thereof) or on a banner.
2. A married
woman may
continue to bear her paternal arms marshalled on a shield or banner
with those of her armigerous husband in the normal way.
3. Whether or not her husband is armigerous, a married
woman may bear her paternal arms alone on a shield or banner
differenced by a small escutcheon of a contrasting tincture
in the canton, centre chief point or other suitable position depending
on the design.
4. A widow may continue to bear her paternal arms
marshalled with those of her late husband on a lozenge etc. as in
paragraph 1.
5. Whether or not her husband is armigerous, a widow may
bear her paternal arms alone on a lozenge or banner differenced by a
small escutcheon as in paragraph 3.
6. Whether or not a woman is entitled to paternal arms, she
may bear her husband's arms alone on a shield or banner differenced by
a small lozenge of a contrasting tincture in the canton, centre chief
point or other suitable position
depending on the design.
7. Whether or not a widow is entitled to paternal arms she
may bear her late husband's arms alone on a lozenge, oval or similar
vehicle of display (not being an escutcheon or a colourable imitation
thereof) or on a banner
differenced by a small lozenge as in paragraph 6.
8. The husband's arms in paragraph 6 and 7 will be borne
"by courtesy" and remain the arms of the husband. In cases such as a
grant of supporters to a woman peer, Lady Companion of the Garter or
Dame Grand Cross,
the woman must have arms of her own.
9. Divorced women should (as hitherto) revert to their
paternal arms on a lozenge until remarriage; the use of a mascle to
indicate divorce will be optional.
10. Women who
are peers in
their own right, Lady Companions of the Garter or Dames Grand Cross may
wish to bear arms on a lozenge regardless of their marital
status. If they wish to show that they are married they may add a small
escutcheon as in paragraph 3.
11. Children of an heraldic heiress (living or deceased)
shall be allowed to quarter her arms provided they are armigerous and
their mother's father is dead.
12. A woman
grantee is to be
considered as the representative of her arms which may be transmitted
as a quartering to her descendants during her lifetime and thereafter,
unless the patent specifies otherwise.
13. Grants of arms in memory of deceased female ancestors
will be at the discretion of the Kings of Arms who will not normally
allow such grants to extend beyond the petitioner's grandparents. Any
woman so commemorated must have been eminent in her own right.
F
= Father (ie paternal arms)
M = Mother
H = Husband
W = Wife
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The information on this
page is, by way
of being a legal ruling, freely available and in the public domain. The
images are however, produced by Martin S J Goldstraw and are the
subject of copyright.
