The International Association of Amateur Heralds

8 March is International Women's Day. Last year, we looked at the approaches taken by different heraldry authorities to the bearing of arms by women. This year, an interesting and possibly unique example from Canada.

These are the arms of Mme Michaëlle Jean, who was governor-general of Canada 2005-2010. They were granted in 2005 :



These are the arms of her husband, Jean-Daniel Lafond. They were granted in 2008 :



These are the arms of their daughter, Marie-Eden Lafond. Each of her parents' grants included a differenced "cadet shield" for her, and in 2009, she was granted her own motto. This emblazonment is from her 2009 patent :



Mlle Lafond has the option of
- using her maternal arms only, with a label for difference; or
- using her paternal arms only, with a bordure compony for difference; or
- quartering the two arms, in which case the marks of cadency fall away.

Presumably these options also apply to other Canadian women who are heirs to both maternal and paternal arms. However, they would probably place the paternal arms in the first and fourth quarters, whereas, in this case, the maternal arms take precedence. Presumably this is because Mme Jean, by virtue of her high office, outranks her husband.

Arthur Radburn wrote:Presumably these options also apply to other Canadian women who are heirs to both maternal and paternal arms. However, they would probably place the paternal arms in the first and fourth quarters, whereas, in this case, the maternal arms take precedence. Presumably this is because Mme Jean, by virtue of her high office, outranks her husband.

That seems to be correct - an example is the arms of Gillian Birtwistle, with her father's arms in 1st and 4th, and her mother's in 2nd and 3rd. She also uses her father's crest and motto:

This is an interesting example, Vincent. It appears from the wording of the blazon that Ms Birtwhistle's registration is a permanent quartering of the two parental arms. In that case, should a third quartering later be acquired by her, or a descendant, her arms would then become a grand-quartering.