Achievement (heraldry)

Sometimes the term "coat of arms" is used to refer to the full achievement, but this usage is incorrect in the strict sense of heraldic terminology, as a coat of arms refers to a garment with the escutcheon or armorial achievement embroidered on it. ==Hatchment==

of John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford (–1554/5), installed as a Knight of the Garter 18 May 1539, showing his "achievement", at that time termed "hatchment" The ancient term used in place of "achievement" was "hatchment", deriving (through such historic forms as atcheament, achement, hathement, etc.) from the French achèvement, from the French verb achever, a contraction of à chef venir ("to come to a head"), ultimately from Latin ad caput venire, "to come to a head", thus: "to reach a conclusion, accomplish, achieve". The word "hatchment" in its historical usage is thus identical in meaning and origin to the English heraldic term "achievement". In modern English, however, the term "hatchment" has come to be used almost exclusively to denote a funerary hatchment, while the word "achievement", now archaic in that sense, is used in place of "hatchment" in non-funereal contexts. An example of the historic use of "hatchment" in a non-funerary context to denote what is now termed "achievement" appears in the statute of the Order of the Garter laid down by King Henry VIII () concerning the regulation of Garter stall plates: ==References==