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 ...
, 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 an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...
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 14th ...
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),
[''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)
References
External links
*
{{blazon
Heraldic ordinaries