Women in heraldry
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In English heraldry, a woman may bear arms by inheritance from her father or by grant to herself. When unmarried, she displays her arms on a lozenge (a diamond shape) or on an oval or oval-like shape. Traditionally, a woman does not display her arms on a shield, as the shield originated with knights and warfare, and is thus viewed as fitting for a man, but not a woman. Recently though, some armigerous women have chosen to break with tradition and use a shield anyway.
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 impaled, meaning they are placed side by side in the same shield, with those of the man on the dexter (left, as seen from the front) and those of his wife on the sinister (right, as seen from the front). If one spouse belongs to the higher ranks of an order of chivalry, and is thereby entitled to surround his or her arms with a circlet of the order, it is usual to depict them on two separate shields tilted towards one another, this is termed "accollé".
A married woman may also bear either her own arms or her husband's arms alone on a shield with a small differencing mark to distinguish her from her father or husband. 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, a woman continues to use her marital arms, but placed on a lozenge or oval.
[edit] Canada
In Canadian heraldry, women and men are treated equally for heraldic purposes, as required by Canadian equality laws. 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. Furthermore, the Canadian Heraldic Authority has designated a set of cadency marks for daughters, similar to those used in English heraldry for sons.
