Quartering (heraldry)

Occasionally the division is instead along both diagonals (party per saltire) again creating four parts but now at top, bottom, left, and right.

(In the royal arms as used in Scotland, the Scottish coat appears in the first and fourth quarters and the English one second.).

An example of party per saltire is the arms of the medieval Kingdom of Sicily which also consists of four sections, with top and bottom displaying the coat of the Crown of Aragon, and left and right the coat of the Sicily branch of the Hohenstaufen dynasty during their reign as Holy Roman Emperors.

However, in most traditions there is no limit on the number of divisions allowed, and the records of the College of Arms include a shield of 323 quarterings for the family of Lloyd of Stockton.

These 323 quarterings include numerous repeated attributed arms assigned to Welsh chieftains from the 9th century or earlier.

In Scotland in some cases the plain unquartered coat is the more prized, as entitlement to its use can indicate who is chief of the name and arms and holds the headship of a clan.