Armoured surcoat

The armoured surcoat was a thirteenth-century precursor to the coat of plates. It was constructed in the same way, but formed part of the surcoat itself.

A series of armoured plates (initially hardened leather and increasingly metal) were attached to the surcoat, usually with a leather or fabric backing. The coat of plates was sometimes called a "pair of plates" ("pair" in its sense of "a set of" rather than "two").

An armoured surcoat should follow a similar design to the early coat of plates, though with a conventional heraldic surcoat forming the front.