Home › Glossary › Letter E

Escutcheon

Heraldic Terms
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

The central shield-shaped surface in heraldry that displays a family’s or individual’s symbolic emblems, charges, and colors.

Detailed Definition
The escutcheon is the shield itself, the central element of a coat of arms. In poetry, it represents identity, honor, and legacy, often acting as a metaphor for personal or familial history.
Example
Example in poetry:
The escutcheon, small yet central, held the soul of the family’s story; “My heart an escutcheon,” the love poem offered its blazon to the beloved; The poet traced his lineage on an imaginary escutcheon of stars; Broken but proud, the escutcheon survived the siege, bearing witness.
Additional Notes
Escutcheon is the shield itself—the primary surface on which arms are displayed; it can also refer to a smaller shield used as a charge (e.g., to bear maternal arms); in poetry, "escutcheon" often stands metonymically for honor, lineage, or reputation; note that the shape of the escutcheon varies by period and region (e.g., heater shield vs. lozenge for women).
Also Known As
Shield
Skip to main content