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File:Dimidiation demo.svg, Example of two coats dimidiated
File:Impalement demo.svg, The same two coats impaled
File:Dimidiation, worse case demo.svg, When the ''dexter'' half of a ''bend sinister'' is dimidiated with the ''sinister'' half of a ''bend'', the result would look like a ''chevron''
File:Isabella of Scotland Arms.svg, ''Tressure'' does not continue down the line of impalement
File:Armes anne pisseleu.png, Coat of arms of Anne de Pisseleu, Countess of Penthièvre, Duchess of Étampes
In heraldry
Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and genealo ...
, dimidiation is a method of marshalling (heraldically combining) two coats of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic ac ...
.
For a time, dimidiation preceded the method known as impalement
Impalement, as a method of torture and execution, is the penetrating trauma, penetration of a human by an object such as a stake, pole, spear, or hook, often by the complete or partial perforation of the torso. It was particularly used in respon ...
. Whereas impalement involves placing the whole of both coats of arms side by side in the same shield, dimidiation involves placing the '' dexter'' half of one coat of arms alongside the '' sinister'' half of the other. In the case of marriage, the ''dexter'' half of the husband's arms would be placed alongside the ''sinister'' half of the wife's arms.
The practice fell out of use because the result was not always aesthetically pleasing (sometimes creating strange hybrids), and also because in some cases, it would have resulted in a shield that confusingly looked like one coat of arms rather than a combination of two. For instance, a '' bend'' combined with a ''bend sinister'' might result in a combination that simply looked like a '' chevron'', thus hiding the fact that two coats of arms had been combined.
In order to avoid these drawbacks, it became customary to use more than half of each coat of arms when combining them through dimidiation. Once this practice had begun, the logical progression was to include the whole of both coats of arms in the new shield, so that in effect, impalement replaced dimidiation as a method of combining coats of arms.
A general rule which carries over from dimidiation to impalement is that if a coat of arms with a ''bordure
In heraldry, a bordure is a band of contrasting tincture forming a border around the edge of a shield, traditionally one-sixth as wide as the shield itself. It is sometimes reckoned as an ordinary and sometimes as a subordinary.
A bordure encl ...
'' (or ''tressure
In heraldry
Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, Imperial, royal and noble ranks, r ...
'', '' orle'', etc.) is impaled, the ''bordure'' should not continue down the line of impalement.
Gallery
See also
{{commons category, Dimidiation in heraldry * Division of the field * Frisian eagleSources
* Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'' (1909), pp. 182, 523-525. Online texts at https://archive.org/details/completeguidetoh00foxduoft or http://www7b.biglobe.ne.jp/~bprince/hr/foxdavies/index.htm . Heraldry ja:マーシャリング (紋章学)