Heraldic courtesy or courtoisie (French) is a practice typical of the heraldry of Germany, in which coats of arms are mirrored if necessary so that helms and animate charges, such as lions, face the center of a composition. This may be done in arms of alliance, as in the first illustration here; or within a single shield, such as that of the dukes of Guelders and Jülich in which the gold lion of Guelders turns to face the black lion of Jülich.