In heraldry, impalement is the combination of two coats of arms side-by-side in one shield. An impaled shield is bisected by a vertical line.

Impalement is used in heraldry to denote union, most often that of a husband and wife; the husband's arms are shown in the dexter half (on the right hand of someone standing behind the shield; the viewer's left), and the wife's in the sinister half. In ecclesiastical heraldry, a bishop's arms are impaled with those of his diocese or see: the arms of the office to dexter, and the incumbent's arms to sinister.

See also

• Dimidiation (historically earlier method of combining two coats of arms)
• Division of the field