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In heraldry, a canton is a charge placed upon a shield. It is, by default a square in the upper dexter corner, but if in the sinister corner is blazoned ''a canton sinister''. A canton is classed by some heraldic writers as one of the honorable ordinaries; but, strictly speaking, it is a diminutive of the quarter, being two-thirds the area of that ordinary. However, in the armorial roll of Henry III, the quarter appears in several coats which in later rolls are
In heraldry, a canton is a charge placed upon a shield. It is, by default a square in the upper dexter corner, but if in the sinister corner is blazoned ''a canton sinister''. A canton is classed by some heraldic writers as one of the honorable ordinaries; but, strictly speaking, it is a diminutive of the quarter, being two-thirds the area of that ordinary. However, in the armorial roll of Henry III, the quarter appears in several coats which in later rolls are blazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The ...
ed as cantons. The canton, like the quarter, appears in early arms, and is always shown with straight lines.
The chequer, a pane of the field of chequy, can be considered a diminutive of the canton, though it cannot be a charge on its own. A ''canton sinister'' is a canton placed on the sinister side of the shield. An "enlarged sinister canton" appears in the arms of William Wilde Lotter.
A plain, uncharged canton (sometimes a canton voided is also used this way) can be used as a ''mark of distinction,'' that is, not a mark of peculiar honour, but a mark denoting that the bearer is a stranger in blood. For example, a groom who does not descend from the bride's family but who adopts the bride's last name after the marriage might, upon receipt of a Royal Licence permitting this, use the bride's family's coat of arms with an uncharged canton or canton voided.
Special cantons may be added to the coat of arms of baronet
A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...
s to indicate their rank and difference their arms from other members of the family. The canton is typically the Red Hand of Ulster (in sinister
Sinister commonly refers to:
* Evil
* Ominous
Sinister may also refer to:
Left side
* Sinister, Latin for the direction "left"
* Sinister, in heraldry, is the bearer's true left side (viewers' right side) of an escutcheon or coat of arms; see de ...
),''Debrett's Peerage'', 1968, p.1235 but Baronets of Nova Scotia use the shield of the arms of Nova Scotia as a canton.
See also
*Canton (flag)
In vexillography, the canton is a rectangular emblem placed at the top left of a flag, usually occupying up to a quarter of a flag's area. The canton of a flag may be a flag in its own right. For instance, British ensigns have the Union Jack as th ...
References
External links
* {{blazon Heraldic ordinaries