Impalement (heraldry)

The use of impaled arms serves to identify with precision which member of the male line of a family is represented, if the identity of his wife is known, for example from a pedigree.

Frequently impaled arms appear sculpted on ancient buildings, thus allowing architectural historians to identify the builder.

A convenient and descriptive term for "a heraldic escutcheon showing the impaled arms of a husband and wife" is "a match", and this word was used frequently by, amongst others, Tristram Risdon (d.1640) in his manorial history Survey of Devon.

For example: "The north aisle of Swimbridge Church was built by Sir John Mules of Ernsborough, as the inscription in a window, and a proof there once fairly printed and guilded, with the arms and matches of that family, make evident".

Likewise, this privilege extends to senior civic office holders, for example Mayors, Masters of Livery Companies, etc.

The arms of Lincoln College, Oxford are similar, with the dexter and middle tierces representing the founder Richard Fleming, Bishop of Lincoln, and the sinister tierce carrying the arms of Thomas Rotherham, a major donor who is considered as co-founder of the current college.

At Corpus Christi College, Oxford the dexter tierce shows a pelican vulning herself representing the Body of Christ (Latin: Corpus Christi), which was adopted by the founder Richard Foxe as his coat of arms; the middle tierce shows the arms of the See of Winchester, reflecting Foxe's position as Bishop of Winchester, while the sinister tierce shows the personal arms of the co-founder Hugh Oldham.