Lozenge (heraldry)

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Lozenge (heraldry)

The lozenge in heraldry

Heraldry

Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of devising, granting, and blazoning Coat of arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms....
is a diamond-shaped charge

Charge (heraldry)

In heraldry and vexillology, a charge is an image occupying the field on an Escutcheon . Charge can also be a verb; for example, if an escutcheon bears three Lion s, then it is said to be charged with three lions. It is important to distinguish between divisions of the field and charges, and to note that charges can themselves be c...
(an object that can be placed on the field

Field (heraldry)

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The lozenge in heraldry

Heraldry

Charge (heraldry)

Field (heraldry)

In heraldry, the background of the shield is called the field. The field is usually composed of one or more tincture s or Heraldic furs....
of the shield), usually somewhat narrower than it is tall. It is to be distinguished in modern heraldry from the fusil, which is like the lozenge but narrower, though the distinction has not always been as fine and is not always observed even today. A mascle
Lozenge

A lozenge , colloquially known as a diamond, is a form of rhombus. The definition of lozenge is not strictly fixed, and it is sometimes used simply as a synonym for rhombus....
is a voided lozenge-- that is, a lozenge with a lozenge-shaped hole in the middle-- and the rarer rustre is a lozenge containing a circular hole. A field covered in a pattern of lozenges is described as lozengy; similar fields of mascles are masculy, and fusils, fusily.

The lozenge has for many centuries been particularly associated with women as a vehicle for the display of their coats of arms (instead of the escutcheon or shield). In modern English and Scottish, but not Canadian, heraldry, the arms of an unmarried woman and of widows are usually shown on a lozenge rather than an escutcheon, without crest

Crest (heraldry)

A crest is a component of an heraldry display, so called because it stands on top of a helmet, as the crest of a jay stands on the bird's head....
or helm

Helmet

A helmet is a form of protective gear worn on the head to protect it from injuries, a variation of the hat. The oldest use of helmets was by Ancient Greek soldiers, who wore thick leather or bronze helmets to protect the head from sword blows and arrows....
. An oval or cartouche

Cartouche (design)

A cartouche is an oval or oblong design with a slightly convex surface, typically edged with ornamental scrollwork. It is used to hold a painted or low relief design....
is occasionally also used instead of the lozenge for such women.

Married women, however, always display their arms on a shield (except peeresses in their own right, who use the lozenge for their peerage arms even during marriage).

The shield of a married woman (and the lozenge of a widow) may combine her own arms with the arms of her husband, either by impalement

Impalement (heraldry)

File:Wolsey banner.jpgIn heraldry, Impalement is the practice of joining two coats of arms side-by-side in one shield. Per pale is a vertical division in heraldry, and an impaled shield is divided straight down the middle vertically, top to bottom, with the two coats of arms arranged on each side of this division....
side by side or (in the case of an heraldic heiress

Heraldic heiress

In English heraldry an heraldic heiress is a daughter of deceased man who was entitled to a coat of arms and who carries forward the right to those arms for the benefit of her future male descendents....
in English heraldry

English heraldry

File:England COA.svgEnglish heraldry is the form of Coat of arms and other Heraldry bearings and insignia used in England. It became distinct from Welsh heraldry and Scottish heraldry from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and lies within the Heraldry#National styles....
, but not Scots) in the form of a small "escutcheon of pretence" displaying the wife's arms over a larger shield (or, in the case of a widow, lozenge) of her husband's arms.

As a result of rulings of the English Kings of Arms

King of Arms

King of Arms is the senior rank of an Officer of Arms. In many heraldry traditions, only a king of arms has the authority to grant armorial bearings....
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

College of Arms

The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is an office regulating heraldry and granting new armorial bearings for England, Wales and Northern Ireland....
in London (such as New Zealand) also have the option of using their husband's arms alone, marked with a small lozenge as a brisure

Cadency

In heraldry, cadency is any systematic way of distinguishing similar coat of arms belonging to members of the same family. Cadency is necessary in heraldic systems in which a given design may be owned by only one person at once....
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

Cadency

In heraldry, cadency is any systematic way of distinguishing similar coat of arms belonging to members of the same family. Cadency is necessary in heraldic systems in which a given design may be owned by only one person at once....
for the same reason.

Divorced women may theoretically until remarriage use their ex-husband's arms differenced with a mascle.

The lozenge shape is also used for funereal hatchment

Hatchment

A hatchment is a funeral Escutcheon or armorial shield enclosed in a black lozenge-shaped frame which used to be suspended against the wall of a deceased person's house....
s for both men and women.