Supporters have at present no defined status, they indicate no rank; but the tendency now is to restrict their use, and it is quite probable that some day they will become actual evidences of Peerage rank, as they probably originally were. No list of English Heraldic Supporters has yet been published.
Mottoes largely derive from War-cries. In England they are not mentioned in grants of arms, and very rarely in visitation books. Mottoes are not hereditary, but can be changed at the will of any armigerous person. Officers of arms will record mottoes by request, provided they do not infringe any existing rights.
In Scotland, however, mottoes are recognised officially; they are subject to grant, and their position with regard to the coat-of-arms or crest to which they belong is specified. Heraldic mottoes appear to have been used in England in the sixteenth century; they show on some of the Garter Plates at Windsor. Mottoes often accompanied badges, and in many cases they may have been transferred from them to the coat-of-arms or to the crest.
The motto "Dieu et Mon Droit" was adopted by Edward III., in allusion to his claim to the Throne of France. In 1801, on the Legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland, the title of King of France, as well as the coat-of-arms of France which had appeared on the English coat-of-arms ever since the time of Edward III., was discontinued, but the motto has been retained and is still used. Useful lists of English mottoes are given in several editions of Burke's Peerage, and in the 1905 edition of Fairbairn's Crests.
Some elementary knowledge of heraldic terms and bearings must be acquired before it is possible to use any of the ordinaries, or lists of coats-of-arms, arranged according to the divisions of shields and the bearings upon them.
Fortunately the primary and, at the same time, the most important divisions of a shield are few and easily learnt. They had originally a structural origin, and although I begin with a line in my analysis, it is likely that the charges were originally first; for instance, a red scarf tied across the top of a shield would develop heraldically into "a chief gu." In the same way a red scarf tied from top to bottom of an iron shield would become heraldically "sa., a pale gu." and so on. There are now proper proportions for all these charges, but in practice they are not strictly adhered to.
A large number of coats are not divided up at all, but are simply charged with bearings that may be easily identified if the colours are known; such coats have frequently animal forms upon them, a Lion rampant or an Eagle displayed, or more than one animal arranged in a certain order. Such coats can generally be easily found in an Ordinary, but the colour in old seals and on old books is seldom given, and this often makes any unsupported identification very doubtful.
The shield may be divided by a centre perpendicular line from top to bottom; this is called division per Pale, and when the dividing line is thickened it becomes a charge, and is described "a Pale." A husband impales his wife's coat with his own, on the sinister side, except when the lady is an heraldic heiress, when her coat will be found on an escutcheon of Pretence in the centre of her husband's shield. Children of such a marriage are entitled to quarter their mother's coat with their paternal coat. They can also use any ancestral quarterings to which their mother was entitled.