Editing Cadency (section)

== Continental usages ==

===  France  ===
{{main|Capetian Armorial}}
During the Middle Ages, marks of cadency were used extensively by armigers in France.{{CN|date=November 2024}} By the eighteenth century, such marks were no longer used by the members of armigerous families, but were still used extensively by the members of the French royal family.

The French Revolution of 1789 had a profound impact on heraldry, and heraldry was abolished in 1790, to be restored in 1808 by Napoleon I. However, Napoleon's heraldic system did not use marks of cadency either; the decree of 3 March 1810 (art. 11) states: "The name, arms and livery shall pass from the father to all sons"{{citation needed |date=July 2019}} although the distinctive marks of Napoleonic titles could pass only to the sons who inherited them.

No subsequent regime in France ever promulgated any legislation regarding marks of difference in heraldry, so they remain unused (except in the heraldry of sovereign houses, such as the former royal family, as can be seen below, or the [[House of Lorraine]]).

==== The former royal house ====
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|-
| [[File:Arms_of_the_Kings_of_France_(France_Ancien).svg|80px]]
| [[File:Arms_of_the_Kings_of_France_(France_Moderne).svg|80px]]
| [[File:Arms of the capetian dauphins du Viennois.svg|80px]]
|-
| French royal arms before 1376 <br />''Azure semy-de-lys Or''
| French royal arms after [[Charles V of France|King Charles V]] simplified it in 1376 <br />''Azure, three fleurs-de-lys Or''
| Arms of the [[Dauphin of France]]
|}

Examples of cadency:
<gallery class="Center">
File:Arms of Charles de Berry.svg|
File:Arms of Charles dOrleans.svg|
File:Arms of Alexandre d'Anjou.svg|
File:Arms of Michel dEvreux.svg|
File:Arms of Hercule dAnjou.svg|
File:Arms of Jean VIII de Bourbon-Vendôme.svg|
</gallery>

==== Past usage ====
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|-
| [[File:Arms of Philippe Hurepel.svg|80px]]
| [[File:Arms of Robert dArtois.svg|80px]]
| [[File:Arms of Alphonse de Poitiers.svg|80px]]
| [[File:Arms of Charles dAnjou.svg|80px]]
|-
| Arms of [[Philip Hurepel]], Count of Clermont
| Arms of [[Robert I, Count of Artois]]
| Arms of [[Alphonse, Count of Poitiers]]
| Original arms of [[Charles I of Sicily|Charles]], <br /> before becoming Count of Anjou and Maine
|-
| [[File:Arms of Jean dAnjou.svg|80px]]
| [[File:Arms of Philippe de Valois.svg|80px]]
| [[File:Arms of Pierre dAlencon.svg|80px]]
| [[File:Arms of Robert de Clermont.svg|80px]]
|-
| Arms of [[Charles I of Sicily|Charles, Count of Anjou and Maine]]
| Arms of [[John Tristan, Count of Valois]]
| Arms of [[Peter I, Count of Alençon|Pierre, Count of Alençon]]
| Arms of [[Robert, Count of Clermont]]
|-
| [[File:Arms of Charles de Valois.svg|80px]]
| [[File:Arms of Louis dEvereux.svg|80px]]
| [[File:Arms of Philippe le Long.svg|80px]]
| [[File:Arms of Charles le Bel.svg|80px]]
|-
| Arms of [[Charles of Valois|Charles, Count of Anjou and Maine]]
| Arms of [[Louis, Count of Evreux]]
| Arms of [[Philip V of France|Philip, Count of Poitiers]]
| Arms of [[Charles IV of France|Charles, Count of La Marche]]
|}

The sons of [[Louis VIII of France|Louis VIII]] and [[Blanche of Castile]] used golden castles on a red background (derived from the arms of Castile) as charges to difference their arms: for Robert, a ''label''; for Alphonse, a [[semy]] of castles; for Charles, a ''bordure''. This initial system of differencing was dropped in favor of a longer-lasting simpler system. Charles, the youngest son of Louis VIII, changed his arms in favor of the arms of France with a plain ''label gules''.

The simpler system primarily used four marks of difference: the ''label'', the ''bordure'', the ''bend'', and the ''bordure engrailed''. The tinctures used were gules; a [[compony]] of argent and gules; and argent. They occasionally came up with more unusual forms, such as a ''bordure-label gules'' and a ''bordure gules charged with eight [[Roundel (heraldry)|plates]]''.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|-
| [[File:Arms of Charles le Bel.svg|80px]]
| [[File:Arms of Philippe le Hardi.svg|80px]]
| [[File:Arms of Charles de Berry.svg|80px]]
| [[File:Arms of Charles de Normandie.svg|80px]]
| [[File:Arms of Charles de Guyenne.svg|80px]]
|-
| Arms granted to [[Philip the Bold]] (Duke of Touraine)
| Arms of Philip the Bold as Duke of Burgundy
| Arms granted to [[Charles de Valois, Duc de Berry|Charles, Duke of Berry]], brother of Louis XI
| Arms of Charles as Duke of Normandy
| Arms of Charles as Duke of Guyenne
|}

Initially, the arms were attributed to the cadet. Thus, even when [[Philip the Bold]] exchanged his [[appanage]] of [[Touraine]] in favor of [[duchy of Burgundy|Burgundy]], he retained the arms he had received as [[Duke of Touraine]], but quartered it with the arms of Burgundy. Another example is [[Charles de Valois, Duc de Berry|Charles, Duke of Berry]], younger brother of Louis XI.

However, by the seventeenth century, arms became associated with titles. The bordure gules was associated with Anjou, and the label argent with Orléans. Thus, when a cadet exchanged his appanage, his arms changed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.heraldica.org/topics/france/frdiffer.htm|title=Marks of Difference in the French Royal Family|first=Francois|last=Velde|website=www.heraldica.org|access-date=6 April 2018}}</ref>

===  Germany  ===

German noble houses did not use cadency marks as systematically as their European peers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dr-bernhard-peter.de/Heraldik/seite38.htm|title=realtime.at – Domain gecatcht|website=www.dr-bernhard-peter.de|access-date=6 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090321004148/http://www.dr-bernhard-peter.de/Heraldik/seite38.htm|archive-date=21 March 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> The sons of noblemen often bore their father's arms, and generally there was no obligation or expectation that they be differenced.

The most common means of differencing was the use of different [[crest (heraldry)|heraldic crests]] to mark apart otherwise identical achievements borne by different branches of a family. Other, less frequent forms include counter-changing or the replacement of individual tinctures, or the addition of ordinaries. Bordures and labels were used occasionally, though not doctrinally. Perhaps the most prominent German family to adopt a system of bordures was the [[House of Hohenzollern]].

As a result of the [[Holy Roman Empire|Holy Roman Empire's]] heavy fragmentation, which form saw more prominent use and when was also influenced by general trends and geographic proximity; for example, the heraldic tradition of the [[Low Countries]] and the [[Rhineland]] saw a great deal of influence by its [[French heraldry|French]] neighbor.

===  Italy  ===

==== Former royal house====
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|-
| [[File:Arms of the House of Savoy.svg|80px]]
| [[File:Arms of the Prince of Piedmont.svg|80px]]
| [[File:Arms of the House of Savoy-Genova.svg|80px]]
| [[File:Arms of the House of Savoy-Aosta.svg|80px]]
|-
| Arms of the head of the house, former Prince of Naples (or Piedmont)
| Arms of his Heir; the Prince of Piedmont (or Naples)
| [[Duke of Genoa|Savoy-Genoa]] (extinct)
| [[Duke of Aosta|Savoy-Aosta]]<br /><ref name="Louda-p242-243">{{cite book |first1=Jiri |last1=Louda |first2=Michael |last2=Maclagan  |translator-first=Roger |translator-last=Harmignies |title=Les Dynasties d'Europe |publisher=Bordas |orig-year=1981 |year=1993 |pages=242–243 |isbn=2-04-027013-2 |language=fr}} Translated from {{cite book |first1=Jiri |last1=Louda |first2=Michael |last2=Maclagan |title=Lines of succession: heraldry of the royal families of Europe |isbn=9780856132766 |location=London  |publisher=Orbis |year=1981}}</ref>
|}

=== Denmark ===
====Royal family ====
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|-
| [[File:Royal Arms of Denmark.svg|100px]]
| [[File:Royal Arms of Denmark.svg|100px]]
| [[File:Arms of Joachim, Prince of Denmark.svg|100px]]
| [[File:Royal arms of Denmark (1948–1972).svg|100px]]
|-
| '''Arms of the [[Frederik X|King]]'''<br />
| Arms of [[Christian, Crown Prince of Denmark|Christian,<br /> Crown Prince of Denmark]],<br />these arms are identical to<br />those of the King, but the <br />external ornaments are<br /> different.
| Arms of [[Prince Joachim of Denmark|Prince Joachim]] (the King's brother),<br />identical to the arms of the<br /> King and Crown Prince,<br /> but the inescutcheon is<br />parted per pale Oldenburg<br />and Laborde de Monpezat,<br />his father's family.
| Arms of the sisters of Queen<br /> [[Margrethe II]], Princesses<br />[[Queen Anne-Marie of Greece|Anne Marie]] (formerly Queen<br />of the  Hellenes) and <br />[[Princess Benedikte of Denmark|Benedikte]]; also borne by the <br />Queen prior to her accession.<br /> These arms are the same as<br /> those of the late  [[Frederik IX of Denmark|Frederik IX]],<br /> only with differing external<br /> ornaments.
|}

=== Belgium ===

==== Royal family ====
The following heraldic system was adopted by a royal decree in 2019. Prior to this the system of royal cadency was unclear.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|-
| [[File:Arms of the King of the Belgians.svg|90px]]
| [[File:Arms of the Duchess of Brabant.svg|120px]]
| [[File:Arms of a Prince of Belgium.svg|90px]]
| [[File:Arms of a Princess of Belgium.svg|120px]]
| [[File:Arms of a Prince of the Royal House of Belgium.svg|90px]]
| [[File:Arms of a Princess of the Royal House of Belgium.svg|120px]]
|-
| Arms of King [[Philippe of Belgium|Philippe]] of Belgium
| Arms of the Duchess of Brabant, the heir apparent Princess [[Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant|Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant]]
| Arms of a prince of Belgium, a descendant of King [[Leopold I of Belgium|Leopold I]]
| Arms of a princess of Belgium
| Arms of a prince of the Royal House of Belgium
| Arms of a princess of the Royal House of Belgium
|}

=== The Netherlands ===

====Royal family====
The following heraldic system was adopted by a royal decree in 1815 and was in effect until 1907.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|-
| [[File:Royal Arms of the Netherlands (1815-1907).svg|95px]]
| [[File:Arms of the Prince of Orange (1815-1884).svg|95px]]
| [[File:Arms of the eldest son of the Prince of Orange (1815-1884).svg|95px]]
| [[File:Arms of the second son of the king of the Netherlands.svg|95px]]
| [[File:Arms of the eldest daughter of the king of the Netherlands.svg|95px]]
|-
| Monarch
| Prince of Orange {{no break|(heir apparent)}}
| Eldest son of the Prince of Orange
| Second son of the monarch
| Eldest daughter of the monarch
|}

Since 1907, the system has differed. Wilhelmina further decreed that in perpetuity her descendants should be styled "princes and princesses of Orange-Nassau" and that the name of the house would be "Orange-Nassau" (in Dutch "Oranje-Nassau"). Since then, individual members of the House of Orange-Nassau are also given their own arms by the reigning monarch, similar to the United Kingdom. This is usually the royal arms, quartered with the arms of [[Prince of Orange|the principality of Orange]], and an in escutcheon of their paternal arms.<ref>{{cite web | title = Wapens van leden van het Koninklijk Huis| work = Coats of Arms of the Dutch Royal Family, Website of the Dutch Monarchy, the Hague | publisher = Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst (RVD), the Hague, the Netherlands | url =http://www.koninklijkhuis.nl/onderwerpen/wapens/inhoud/wapens-van-leden-van-het-koninklijk-huis| access-date = 30 April 2012}}</ref>

Since 1907, there is no system to delineate individual princes and princesses via their arms.

<gallery class="center">
Image:Arms of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.svg|[[Coat of arms of the Netherlands|Arms of the King of the Netherlands]]
File:Arms of Juliana of the Netherlands.svg|[[Juliana of the Netherlands]] & Oranje-Nassau Personal Arms, (escutcheon of [[House of Mecklenburg|Mecklenburg]])
File:Arms of Beatrix of the Netherlands.svg|Arms of the children of Juliana of the Netherlands, [[Beatrix of the Netherlands]] & Oranje-Nassau and her sisters [[Princess Irene of the Netherlands|Princess Irene]], [[Princess Margriet of the Netherlands|Princess Margriet]] and [[Princess Christina of the Netherlands|Princess Christina]] (escutcheon of [[Lippe-Biesterfeld|Lippe]])
File:Arms of the children of Beatrix of the Netherlands.svg| Arms of the children of Beatrix of the Netherlands, currently used by [[Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands|Prince Constantijn]], brother of the King, and his children. These arms were borne by the King before his accession and also by [[Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau|Prince Friso]], the King's other, late brother, before his marriage. (escutcheon of [[Amsberg]])
File:Arms of the children of Wilhelm-Alexander of the Netherlands.svg|Arms for the children of King William Alexander of the Netherlands, [[Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange]], [[Princess Ariane of the Netherlands|Princess Ariane]] and [[Princess Alexia of the Netherlands|Princess Alexia]] (escutcheon of [[Queen Máxima of the Netherlands|Zorreguieta]]).
File:Arms of the children of Margriet of the Netherlands.svg|Arms for the children of Princess Margriet of the Netherlands, [[Prince Maurits of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven|Prince Maurits]], [[Prince Bernhard of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven|Prince Bernhard]], [[Prince Pieter-Christiaan of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven|Prince Pieter-Christiaan]] and [[Prince Floris of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven|Prince Floris]] of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven (escutcheon of [[Pieter van Vollenhoven|Van Vollenhoven]]).<ref>{{Cite web | last = Klaas | title = Maurits van Vollenhoven | work = Article on Maurits van Vollenhoven, 18-09-2008 10:28| publisher = klaas.punt.nl| url = http://klaas.punt.nl/content/2008/09/maurits-van-vollenhoven| access-date = 4 April 2013}}</ref>
</gallery>

=== Portugal ===
The Portuguese systems of differencing have their origins in the regulations of King [[Manuel I of Portugal|Manuel I]], who ruled Portugal from 1495 to 1521. There are two systems, one for the non-Royal families and the other for the Royal House.

==== Noble families ====
{{unclear|section|date=November 2022}}
The Portuguese system of differentiation for the noble non-Royal families is unlike any other cadency system. It is true that the brisure personalises the arms, however, since the Portuguese have an arbitrary choice of surnames, they may select any family name from the father's or mother's side of their genealogical table and a coat of arms, which does not have to coincide with it. Thus, the system of differencing only serves to show from which ancestral line the arms are derived. The head of the lineage uses the arms without a difference, but should he be the head of more than one family, the arms are combined by quartering. The heir apparent to the arms of the head of a lineage never uses a mark of difference.

==== Royal house ====
{{see|Portuguese heraldry}}

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|-
| [[File:Shield of the Kingdom of Portugal (1481-1910).png|95px]]
| [[File:Armas rainha portugal.png|95px]]
| [[File:Coat of Arms of the Prince of Portugal (1481-1910).png|95px]]
| [[File:Armas infanta portugal.png|95px]]
| [[File:Brasao-Duque-Porto.png|95px]]
|-
| Arms of the Duke of Braganza, head of the Royal house<br>
| Arms of Isabel, Duchess of Braganza, wife of the Duke of Braganza
| Arms of Don Alfonso, Prince of Beira and Duke of Barcelos, Eldest son of<br>the Duke of Braganza
| Arms of Infanta Maria Francisca, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Braganza
| Arms of Infante Dinis, Duke of Porto, younger son of the Duke of Braganza. The castle on the label is taken from the arms of his mother
|}

=== Spain ===

==== Royal family ====
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|-
| [[File:Coat of Arms of Spanish Monarch.svg|110px]]
| [[File:Coat of Arms of Leonor, Princess of Asturias.svg|110px]]
|-
| '''[[Coat of arms of the King of Spain|Arms]] of the<br />[[Felipe VI|King]]'''
| [[Coat of arms of the Prince of Asturias|Arms]] of <br />[[Leonor, Princess of Asturias|Princess Leonor]],<br />[[Heiress presumptive]]
|}

=== Sweden ===

==== Royal house ====
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|-
| [[File:Great coat of arms of Sweden (shield).svg|center|80px]]
| [[File:Coat of arms of Crown Princess Victoria, Duchess of Västergötland.svg|center|80px]]
| [[File:Coat of arms of Princess Estelle, Duchess of Östergötland.svg|center|80px]]
| [[File:Coat of arms of Prince Carl Philip, Duke of Värmland.svg|center|80px]]
| [[File:Coat of arms of Princess Madeleine, Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland.svg|center|80px]]
| [[File:Coat of arms of Princess Leonore, Duchess of Gutland.svg|center|80px]]
|-
| Arms of King '''[[Carl XVI Gustaf]]'''
| Arms of Crown [[Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden|Princess Victoria]], Duchess of Västergötland, eldest daughter of [[Carl XVI Gustaf]]
| Arms of [[Princess Estelle, Duchess of Östergötland]], daughter of  [[Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden|Princess Victoria]]
| Arms of Prince [[Prince Carl Philip, Duke of Värmland|Carl Phillip]], Duke of Värmland, only son of [[Carl XVI Gustaf]]
| Arms of [[Princess Madeleine]], Duchess of Hälsingland, younger daughter of [[Carl XVI Gustaf]]<ref name="Louda-p242-243" />
| Arms of  Princess Leonore, Duchess of Gotland, daughter of [[Princess Madeleine]]
|}