AND NORROY AND ULSTER KING OF ARMS
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.