(d.1250) in
Salisbury Cathedral, showing an early triangular
heater shield, the shape used as the "canvas" for the display of arms during the classical age of heraldry The earliest depictions of proto-heraldic shields in the second half of the 12th century still have the shape of the Norman
kite shield used throughout the 11th and 12th centuries. By about the 1230s, shields used by
heavy cavalry had become shorter and more triangular, now called
heater shields. 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. The shield on the enamel monument to
Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou (d. 1151) is of almost full-body length. The heater was used in warfare during the apogee of the
Age of Chivalry, at about the time of the
Battle of Crecy (1346) and the founding of the
Order of the Garter (1348). The shape is therefore used in armorials from this "classical age" of heraldry. Beginning in the 15th century, and even more throughout the
early modern period, a great variety of escutcheon shapes developed. In the
Tudor era the heraldic escutcheon became more square, taking the shape of an inverted
Tudor arch. Continental European designs frequently use the various forms used in jousting, which incorporate "mouths" used as lance rests into the shields; such escutcheons are known as
à bouche. The mouth is correctly shown on the dexter side only, as jousting pitches were designed for right-handed knights. Heraldic examples of English shields
à bouche can be seen in the
spandrels of the trussed timber roof of
Lincoln's Inn Hall, London. The shape of the top, the sides and the base may be separately described, and these elements may be freely combined. The highly complex
Baroque style shields of the 17th century come in many artistic variations. File:Kite shield.svg|
Kite shield, 12th/13th century File:HerbTarczaPL XIIIa.svg|"Norman" style, 13th century File:Coa Illustration Tincture none.svg|"
Heater" shape, 13th/14th century File:CoA OF shield 260x300.svg|Square ("Old French") shape File:CoA sample 260x300.svg|"Square Iberian" or
Iberian style (square top, rounded base), 15th century File:German Escutcheon.svg|Bouched or
bouché side ("German" or "Dutch" style), 15th century. File:Coa Illustration Shield Renaissance.svg|Scroll-eared top, lobed base, 16th century File:HerbTarczaPL XVIa.svg|Square eared, nicked top, rounded base, 16th century File:HerbTarczaPL XIXa.svg|"Wedge" top File:Polish Escutcheon.svg|"Polish" style, 17th century File:CoA English2 260x300.svg|Eared top, French base File:CoA modFrench2 260x300.svg|"French" style, 17th century File:Swiss Escutcheon.svg|Two engrailed top, 19th century File:CoA dames 220x300.svg|Oval or "Iberian" shape File:CoA demoiselles 226x300.svg|Lozenge shape (see
Lozenge section) File:Italian Escutcheon.svg|Italian, or horsehead, shape
Lozenge 's coat of arms (granted 2011), based on those of her father. This
lozenge version, supported by a blue ribbon, denotes an unmarried woman. , London. In
English heraldry, the
lozenge has been used by women since the 13th century 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 or
helm. For the practical purpose of categorisation the lozenge may be treated as a variety of heraldic escutcheon. Traditionally, very limited categories of women 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 peeresses, who may display their own arms alone on a lozenge even if married. In general a woman was represented by her paternal arms
impaled by the arms of her husband on an escutcheon as a form of
marshalling. In modern Canadian heraldry, and certain other modern heraldic jurisdictions, women may be granted their own arms and display these on an escutcheon. Life peeresses in England display their arms on a lozenge. An oval or
cartouche is occasionally also used instead of the lozenge for armigerous women. As a result of rulings of the English
Kings of Arms dated 7 April 1995 and 6 November 1997, 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 to show that the arms are displayed for the wife and not the husband; or of using their own personal arms alone, marked with a small shield as a
brisure for the same reason. Divorced women may theoretically until remarriage use their ex-husband's arms differenced with a
mascle. 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. 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. ==Points==