Augmentation

Augmentation, in Heraldry, an additional charge in a coat-of-arms bestowed by the sovereign as a mark of honour. Augmentations have generally been granted to be borne on a canton, on an escutcheon en surtout, or on a chief. The bearings on the chiefs of augmentation bestowed on the military and naval heroes of England in the beginning of the present century, are for the most part so confused and unarmorial, that an intelligible description of them can scarcely be given in heraldic language.