broad arrow

noun2

1. •
   a metal arrowhead, comprising a tang and two barbs meeting at a point; used traditionally in heraldry, and later by the British government to mark government property and convict uniforms.

   • Their boats were manned by convicts, dressed in prison clothing, freely decorated with numbers and emblazoned all over with the ominous broad arrow. — 1887
2. •
   (historical) An arrow fitted with this arrowhead.

   • Broad arrows, frequently mentioned in Scotland as a blanche ferme, were fired from the short bow and had a swallow tail or broad head with two large barbs sloping backwards towards the shaft. — 1979