Achievement (heraldry)

[2] An achievement comprises not only the arms displayed on the escutcheon, the central element, but also the following elements surrounding it (from top to bottom): Sometimes the term "coat of arms" is used to refer to the full achievement, but this usage is incorrect in the strict sense of heraldic terminology, as a coat of arms refers to a garment with the escutcheon or armorial achievement embroidered on it.

[3][4] The ancient term used in place of "achievement" was "hatchment", deriving (through such historic forms as atcheament, achement, hathement, etc.)

from the French achèvement,[5] from the French verb achever, a contraction of à chef venir ("to come to a head"), ultimately from Latin ad caput venire, "to come to a head",[6] thus: "to reach a conclusion, accomplish, achieve".

The word "hatchment" in its historical usage is thus identical in meaning and origin to the English heraldic term "achievement".

It is agreed that every knyght within the yere of his stallation shall cause to be made a scauchon of his armes and hachementis in a plate of metall suche as shall please him and that it shall be surely sett upon the back of his stall.This heraldry-related article is a stub.

Heraldic achievement forming the Garter stall plate of John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset (d. 1444), KG , St. George's Chapel, Windsor. The earliest garter plate with supporters. [ 1 ] It includes the badge of an ostrich feather, here shown as a pair, blazoned: feather argent pen gobonne argent and azure
Garter stall plate of John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford ( c. 1485 –1554/5), installed as a Knight of the Garter 18 May 1539, showing his "achievement", at that time termed "hatchment"