A **quartered** flag or shield is divided into four equal parts by a vertical and a horizontal line meeting at the centre, each quarter bearing its own charge or tincture. Quartering originated in medieval heraldry as a means of combining the arms of several lineages or claims into a single composition, and it survives in many royal and state flags.
**Example**: The Royal Standard of the United Kingdom is quartered, displaying the arms of England, Scotland, Ireland and again England in the four quarters.
**See also**: [dexter](/glossary/dexter/), [sinister](/glossary/sinister/), [blazoning](/glossary/blazoning/), [field](/glossary/field/)