Cadency, MARK OF, in Heraldry, an addition to, or variation from, the original coat-armorial of a family, adopted for the purpose of distinguishing a cadet from the head of the house. The term is occasionally restricted to those small figures—the label (1), crescent (2), mullet (3), martlet (4), annulet (5), fleur-de-lis (6), &c.—first introduced into English heraldry in the reign of Henry VII., used to distinguish the eldest, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, &c. sons respectively, and often adopted as hereditary marks of particular junior branches of a family. Other modes of differencing cadets have been and still are used, especially in Scotland, where they form a separate branch of the study of heraldry, which is the subject of a treatise by the Scottish herald, Nisbet. See HERALDRY.