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Inheraldry, aninescutcheon is a smallerescutcheon that is placed within or superimposed over the main shield of a coat of arms, similar to acharge. This may be used in the following cases:

• as a simple mobile charge, for example as borne by the French family of Abbeville, illustrated below; these may also bear other charges upon them, as shown in the arms of the Swedish Collegium of Arms;
• inpretence (as a mark of a hereditary claim, usually by right of marriage), bearing assumed arms over one's own hereditary arms;
• in territorial claim, bearing a monarch's hereditary armsen surtout over the territorial arms of his domains.

• 
  Escutcheons as mobile charges, as borne by the French family ofAbbeville.
• 
  Simple example of incorporating anheiress's arms as an escutcheon of pretense
• 
  Anescutcheon of pretence, as borne by the French family de Champagne-La Suze.
• 
  Inherited arms borneen surtout over territorial arms. (Arms ofEric of Pomerania as monarch of theKalmar Union,c. 15th century)

Inescutcheons may appear in personal and civic armory as simple mobile charges, for example the arms of theHouse of Mortimer, theClan Hay or the noble French family of Abbeville. These mobile charges are of a particulartincture but do not necessarily bear further charges and may appear anywhere on the main escutcheon, their placement being specified in theblazon, if in doubt.

Inescutcheons may also be charged with other mobile charges, such as in the arms of theSwedish Collegium of Arms (Right) which bearsthe three crowns of Sweden, each upon its own escutcheon upon the field of the main shield. These inescutcheons serve as a basis for including other charges that do not serve as an augmentation or hereditary claim. In this case, the inescutcheonsazure allow the three crowns of Sweden to be placed upon a field, thus not only remaining clearly visible but also conforming to therule of tincture.

Inescutcheons may also be used to bear another's arms in "pretence".^[I]

InEnglish heraldry the husband of aheraldic heiress, the sole daughter and heiress of an armigerous man (i.e. a lady without any brothers), rather thanimpaling his wife's paternal arms as is usual, must place her paternal arms in anescutcheon of pretence in the centre of his own shield as aclaim ("pretence") to be the new head of his wife's family, now extinct in the male line. In the next generation the arms arequartered by the son.

A monarch's personal or hereditary arms may be borne on an inescutcheonen surtout over the territorial arms of his/her domains,^[II] as in thearms of Spain, thecoats of arms of theDanish royal family members, thegreater coat of arms of Sweden, or the arms ofOliver Cromwell as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England (1653–1659). The early Georgian kings of England bore an inescutcheon of theroyal arms of Hanover on thearms of the Stuart monarchs of Great Britain, whose territories they now ruled.

• 
  Arms of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, 1654–1655
• 
  Arms of the Commonwealth duringthe Protectorate ofOliver Cromwell, 1655–1659: Cromwell's personal arms (Sable, a lion rampant argent) appear as an inescutcheon.

• Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (1909).A Complete Guide to Heraldry: Illustrated by Nine Plates and Nearly 800 Other Designs. London: T.C. & E.C. Jack.ISBN 0-517-26643-1.LCCN 09023803.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)

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