Label (heraldry)

In heraldry, a label (occasionally lambel, the French form of the word) is a charge resembling the strap crossing the horse's chest from which pendants are hung.

Differencing, or cadency, are the distinctions used to indicate the junior branches (cadets) of a family.

In British heraldry, a system of specific brisures or "marks of cadency" developed: The eldest son, during the lifetime of his father, bears the family arms with the addition of a label; the second son a crescent, the third, a mullet, the fourth, a martlet, the fifth, an annulet; the sixth, a fleur-de-lis; the seventh, a rose; the eighth, a cross moline; the ninth, a double quatrefoil.

The label appears as a charge in the coats of arms of several families and municipalities, often having begun as a mark of difference and been perpetuated.

There are also several examples of the pendants bearing charges, notably in the cadency labels of the British royal family.