Page "Heraldry" Paragraph 37

The third common mode of marshalling is with an inescutcheon, a small shield placed in front of the main shield.

In Britain this is most often an " escutcheon of pretence " indicating, in the arms of a married couple, that the wife is an heraldic heiress ( i. e., she inherits a coat of arms because she has no brothers ).

In continental Europe an inescutcheon ( sometimes called a " heart shield ") usually carries the ancestral arms of a monarch or noble whose domains are represented by the quarters of the main shield.