The husband's arms are shown in the dexter half, being the place of honour, with the wife's paternal arms in the sinister half. For this purpose alone the two halves of the impaled shield are called baron and femme, from ancient Norman-French usage. Impalement is not used when the wife is an heraldic heiress, that is to say when she has no brothers to carry on bearing her father's arms in which case her paternal arms are displayed on an escutcheon of pretence in the centre of her husband's arms, denoting that the husband is a pretender to the paternal arms of his wife, and that they will devolve upon the couple's heir as quarterings. When a husband has been married more than once, the sinister half of femme is split per fess, that is to say horizontally in half, with the paternal arms of the first wife shown in chief and those of the second wife in base. The sinister side may thus be divided more than twice in similar fashion where required. The use of impaled arms serves to identify with precision which member of the male line of a family is represented, if the identity of his wife is known, for example from a pedigree. Frequently impaled arms appear sculpted on ancient buildings, thus allowing architectural historians to identify the builder. Impaled arms also appear frequently on monuments in parish churches, and again facilitate identification of the person for whom erected. A convenient and descriptive term for "a heraldic escutcheon showing the impaled arms of a husband and wife" is "a match", and this word was used frequently by, amongst others, Tristram Risdon in his manorial history Survey of Devon. For example: "The north aisle of Swimbridge Church was built by Sir John Mules of Ernsborough, as the inscription in a window, and a proof there once fairly printed and guilded, with the arms and matches of that family, make evident". Also: " is pourtraited kneeling in his robes together with his own match and the match of some of his ancestors insculpt thereon in brass". For same-sex married couples, the College of Arms in 2014 decreed that male couples may impale their arms together but that each individual will have distinguished arms and crests of their own. Slightly different rules applies to female couples and heraldic heiresses.
Ecclesiastical
In ecclesiastical heraldry, a bishop's familial arms are impaled with those of his diocese or see, with the dexter position of greater honour being occupied by the arms of the see, and the incumbent's arms in sinister.
Academic/Civic
Heads of educational establishments, for example of Oxbridge colleges, many of whom were historically former clergymen, traditionally impaled their personal and college arms, during their term of office. Likewise, this privilege extends to senior civicoffice holders, for example Mayors, Masters of Livery Companies, etc.
Mystical
A rare use of impalement is that where a mystical union is believed to exist between the two parties. Such was the case with King Richard II who had a particular devotion to the saint King Edward the Confessor. Although the saint lived in the pre-heraldic era, his attributed arms were employed by King Richard in impaling his own royal Arms of Plantagenet, as an outward sign of such a mystical quasi-marriage. The Confessor's arms were shown in the dexter position of honour.
Tierce
A rare form of impalement which allows for the juxtaposition of three armorials is tiercing. This is occasionally used where a man has married twice. It is also used in the arms of three Oxford colleges. In the arms of Brasenose College, Oxford the principal tierce shows the personal arms of one founder William Smyth, while the second tierce shows his position as Bishop of Lincoln; the third tierce shows the personal arms of the other founder Sir Richard Sutton. The arms of Lincoln College Oxford are similar, with the first two tierces representing the founder Richard Fleming, Bishop of Lincoln, and the third tierce carrying the arms of Thomas Rotherham, a major donor who is considered as co-founder of the current college. At Corpus Christi College, Oxford the first tierce shows a pelican vulning herself representing the Body of Christ, which was adopted by the founder Richard Foxe as a personal symbol; the second tierce reflect's Foxe's position as Bishop of Winchester, while the third tierce shows the personal arms of the cofounder Hugh Oldham.
Example: institutional
The arms of Brasenose College, Oxford are: ''Tierced in pale: Argent, a chevron sable between three roses gules seeded or, barbed vert ; or, an escutcheon of the arms of the See of Lincoln, ensigned with a mitre proper; quarterly, first and fourth argent, a chevron between three bugle-horns stringed sable; second and third argent, a chevron between three crosses crosslet sable.
