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Symbolism > quarter

quarter

The quarter alone is not particularly common. It is a square in the right corner of the shield (or the left to the observer) that theoretically occupies 1/4 the shield’s surface area, though it is usually slightly smaller than this. Of course it often occurs, though, as a division of a field blazoned quarterly, which is divided into four quarters. A canton is the diminutive of a quarter and occupies 1/9 of the field. It superimposes all other charges or ordinaries on a field and unless it is an original charge, and not added later, it need not conform to the rule forbidding color on color, or metal on metal. It is sometimes used as an augmentation of honor and it is also a mark used to distinguish the arms of one branch of a family from another, or that the name and arms of a family have been assumed where there is no blood descent. A canton in the left corner of the shield may be used as a mark of illegitimacy.

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