{{shortShort description|Main or focal element in an achievement of arms}}

In [[heraldry]], an '''escutcheon''' ({{IPAc-en|ᵻ|ˈ|s|k|ʌ|tʃ|ən}}) is a [[shield]] that forms the main or focal element in an [[Achievement (heraldry)|achievement of arms]]. The word iscan be used in two related senses. FirstIn the first sense, asan escutcheon is the shield onupon which a [[coat of arms]] is displayed;. In the second sense, aan shieldescutcheon can itself be a [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] within a coat of arms.

Escutcheon shapes are derived from actual shields that were used by [[knight]]s in combat, and thus are varied and developed by region and by era. AsSince thisshields shape hashave been regarded as amilitary war-like deviceequipment appropriate tofor men only, British ladies customarily bear their arms upon a [[Lozenge (heraldry)|lozenge]], or diamond-shape, while clergymen and ladies in continental Europe bear theirstheir onarms upon a [[Cartouche (design)|cartouche]], or oval. Other shapes are also in use, such as the [[roundel (heraldry)|roundel]] commonly used for arms granted to [[Aboriginal Canadians]] by the [[Canadian Heraldic Authority]], or the [[Nguni shield]] used in [[Coats of arms and emblems of Africa|African heraldry]] (likewise, [[Christianity|Christian]] organisations and [[Freemasonry|Masonic]] bodies tend to use the same shape, also known as a [[vesica piscis]]).

ThoughAlthough itan 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 [[Heraldry#Marshalling|marshalling]]. TheseSuch escutcheonsescutcheon charges are usually given the same shape as the main shield. When there is only one suchescutcheon shieldcharge, it is sometimes called an ''[[inescutcheon'']].

The word ''escutcheon'' (late 15th century) is based on Old North French ''escuchon'' "('shield"').{{efn|text=ultimatelyUltimately from [[Vulgar Latin]] ''scūtiōn-'', [[Latin]] ''scūtum'', "'shield"'.<ref>{{Cite web

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 [[William II Longespée]] (d. 1250) shown with his effigy at Salisbury Cathedral is triangular, while the shield shown on the effigy of his father [[William Longespée, 3rd Earl of Salisbury]] (d. 1226) is still of a more elongated form.

File:CoA sample 260x300.svg|"Square Iberian" or ''Iberian'' style (square top, rounded base), 15th century<ref>[http://bilderserver.at/wappenbuecher/TirolerHandschriftOSPv2_52z2/ ''Codex Figdor''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181021013453/http://bilderserver.at/wappenbuecher/TirolerHandschriftOSPv2_52z2/ |date=21 October 2018 }}, Tiroler Landesarchiv, Innsbruck (c. 1400).</ref>

File:CoA modFrench2 260x300.svg|"French" style, 17th century{{efn|text=Used in the ''Armorial général de France'' (1696).<ref>{{cite book |title=Armorial général, ou Registres de la noblesse de France |url=https://archive.org/details/armorialgnralou03hozi/page/406 |last= d'Hozier |first=Louis Pierre |orig-year=1696 |year=1865 |location= Paris |publisher=Firmin Didot |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> The "French" shape of the base is found earlier, in French and English heraldry, from c. {{circa|1600}} ("Stuart" type).}}

[[File:Coat of Arms of CatherineKate Middleton.svg|thumb|150px|[[Pippa Middleton]]'s coat of arms (granted 2011), based on those of her father. This lozenge shaped version, supported by a blue ribbon, denotes an unmarried woman.<ref name="Coat of arms1">{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13127145 |title=Royal wedding: Kate Middleton coat of arms unveiled |publisherwork=BBC News |access-date=19 April 2011 |date=19 April 2011 |archive-date=19 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110419145449/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13127145 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Coat of arms2">{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/apr/19/kate-middleton-coat-of-arms |title=Kate Middleton family gets coat of arms |work=The Guardian |location=UK |access-date=19 April 2011 |first=Stephen |last=Bates |date=19 April 2011 |archive-date=12 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140212100952/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/apr/19/kate-middleton-coat-of-arms |url-status=live }}</ref>]]

[[File:Coats of arms at Cardinal's Wharf, Bankside, Southwark - panoramio.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Male (shield-shaped) and female (lozenge-shaped) coats of arms in relief in [[Southwark]], [[London]].]]

In [[English heraldry]], the lozenge has been used by women since the 13th century{{sfnp|Grazebrook|1890|p=[https://archive.org/details/datesofvariously00graz/page/20 20]}} 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 [[crest (heraldry)|crest]] or [[Helmet#Heraldry (heraldry)|helm]]. For the practical purpose of categorisation the lozenge may be treated as a variety of heraldic escutcheon.

Traditionally, very limited categories of femaleswomen would 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 ''[[suo jure]]'' [[peerage|peeresses]], who may display their own arms alone on a lozenge even if married.{{sfnp|The Arms of Women|2002|loc=paragraph 10}}

In general a femalewoman was represented by her paternal arms [[Impalement (heraldry)|impaled]] by the arms of her husband on an escutcheon as a form of [[Heraldry#Marshalling|marshalling]].

In modern Canadian heraldry, and certain other modern heraldic jurisdictions, women may be granted their own arms and display these on an escutcheon.{{cncitation needed|date=November 2018}}

As a result of rulings of the English [[King of Arms|Kings of Arms]] dated 7 April 1995 and 6 November 1997,<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.theheraldrysociety.com/articles/the-arms-of-women-a-decree/ |title=The Arms of Women, a Decree |author1=Garter King of Arms |author2=Clarenceux King of Arms |author3=Norroy and Ulster King of Arms |date=Autumn 2002 |magazine=Coat of Arms |number=199 |ref={{harvid|The Arms of Women|2002}} |publisher=The Heraldry Society |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240415003138/https://www.theheraldrysociety.com/articles/the-arms-of-women-a-decree/ |archive-date= Apr 15, 2024 }}</ref> married women in England, Northern Ireland and Wales and in other countries recognising the jurisdiction of the [[College of Arms]] in London (such as New Zealand) also have the option of using their husband's arms alone, marked with a small lozenge as a [[Difference (heraldry)|difference]] to show that the arms are displayed for the wife and not the husband;{{sfnp|The Arms of Women|2002|loc=paragraph 6}} or of using their own personal arms alone, marked with a small shield as a [[Cadency|brisure]] for the same reason.{{sfnp|The Arms of Women|2002|loc=paragraph 3}}

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.<ref>{{cite book|last=Fearn |first=Jacqueline|title=Discovering Heraldry|year=1980|publisher=Shire|page=61}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/resources/same-sex-marriages |date=29 March 2014 |author1=Thomas Woodcock, Garter King of Arms |author2=Patric Dickinson, Clarenceux King of Arms |author3=H Bedingfeld, Norroy and Ulster King of Arms |title=The Arms of Individuals in Same-Sex Marriages |website=college-of-arms.gov.uk |access-date=31 July 2019 |archive-date=9 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190709230551/https://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/resources/same-sex-marriages |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{citation needed section |date=September 2019}}

[[File:Armoiries_république_française.svg|thumb|150pxupright|left|[[Pelta]] escutcheon as used in the [[Nationaldiplomatic emblem of France]].]]

ModernThe current ([[Frenchdiplomatic Republic|republican]])emblem [[Frenchof heraldryFrance]] tends to be based onincorporates the ''[[pelta'']] escutcheon, a wide form of shield (or [[gorget]]) with a small animal head pointing inward at each end.{{cncitation needed|date=November 2018}}

This is Roman in origin; although not the shape of their classic shield, many brooches of this shape survive from antiquity.{{cncitation needed|date=November 2018}}

A form of pelta appears as a decoration above the head of every official on the [[Austerlitz campaign|Austerlitz]] table, commissioned by [[Napoleon]] for propaganda purposes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.napoleon.org/en/history-of-the-two-empires/objects/the-austerlitz-or-marechaux-table/|title=The Austerlitz or 'Maréchaux' Table|access-date=27 January 2021|archive-date=4 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211204111253/https://www.napoleon.org/en/history-of-the-two-empires/objects/the-austerlitz-or-marechaux-table/|url-status=live}}</ref>

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*{{cite book|lastlast1=Grazebrook |first1=George |date=1890 |title=The dates of variously-shaped shields with coincident dates and examples |url=https://archive.org/details/datesofvariously00graz/ |location=Liverpool |publisher=Brakell |language=en }}

*{{cite book |lastlast1=Woodward |firstfirst1=John |first2=George |last2=Burnett |year=1892 |url=https://archive.org/details/treatiseonherald00wooduoft |title=A treatise on heraldry, British and foreign: with English and French glossaries |orig-year=1884 |location=Edinburgh |publisher=W. & A. B. Johnson |lccn=02020303 |via=Internet Archive }}