Teach Yourself Heraldry Module 5

The Language of Heraldry – 1

Ordinaries and Sub-Ordinaries

Although introduced in Module 1 these are repeated here as you’ll need them.

Examples of Simple Blazoning

Three Important Points

A Hybrid Language
Many of the words used in heraldry come from Norman-French, and you will have noted that adjectives describing tinctures are written in the French way, after the noun they are describing. So a red chief becomes a chief gules. Otherwise we still use English, so it’s gules two bendlets argent not gules deux bendlets argent. Note also that tinctures are not repeated unnecessarily. A tincture relates to everything preceding it until, going backwards, you reach another tincture. See the blazon of the arms below.

Or a fess between two chevrons sable

Repeated Tinctures
It frequently happens that the same tincture appears more than once in the blazon of a coat of arms. Traditionally we have a strong reluctance to repeat the name of the tincture if we can avoid it. One way is to number the tinctures as they occur. If the second tincture occurs again later, we can then refer to it by speaking, for instance, of a bordure of the second.

In this course, for simplicity, we’ll avoid this approach, and actually repeat the names of the tinctures where necessary. However, where the tincture of a plain field is repeated later, we may just say that a charge is of the field. Where a number is repeated we may use the term as many on the second occasion.

As mentioned earlier, a bend between two lozenges gules tells us that both the bend and the lozenges are gules. There are occasions, however, when it is clearer to repeat the same tincture, in which case we may say of the same.

An Important Convention
When creating a coat of arms, a metal is not placed on top of a metal, and a colour is not placed on top of a colour. So while argent a bend azure is fine, neither argent a bend or nor gules a bend azure are ‘acceptable’. There are many exceptions.

Exploring Ordinaries and Sub-Ordinaries

Note
The coats of arms used in each of the following sections are chosen to illustrate the specific meanings or usage described in that section. However, these coats of arms will usually contain things that you haven’t met yet. All of these will be introduced systematically at a later time, but it will be worthwhile to spend time trying to understand each blazon. The more you study blazons, the more understandable they become.

Chief

1. As indicated above, the top, bottom, left and right parts of a shield are known as the chief, base, sinister and dexter. Any charge placed near the top of the shield is said to be in chief.
2. The same word chief is used for the ordinary which is a horizontal band starting at the very top of the shield and extending down for, sometimes, as much as a quarter of the shield.

Fess and Bars

1. A horizontal band across the centre of a shield is called a fess, but a horizontal band above or below the centre is called a bar.
2. Multiple bars can occur, but the field must show both above and below the bars as well as between them.
3. A pair of narrow bars placed close together are called bars gemelles. Sometimes bars gemelles occur in pairs, or more.
4. If a number of small charges are placed side by side across the middle of a shield, they are said to be placed in fess.
5. If a charge, such as an arrow or a key, is placed horizontally at any point on a shield, it is said to be placed fesswise or barwise.

Bends and Batons

1. A bend is a diagonal band running from dexter chief to sinister base.
2. Multiple bends can occur, but they are called bendlets. The field must show both above and below the bendlets as well as between them.
3. If a bend, or other ordinary, has a border of a different tincture it is said to be fimbriated.
4. If a bend is bounded on both sides by a bendlet, it is said to be cotised
5. If a number of charges are placed in a diagonal line from dexter chief to sinister base, they are said to be placed in bend.
6. If a charge, such as an arrow or a key, is placed diagonally, from dexter chief to sinister base, it is said to be placed bendwise. A stave, or bendlet that is cut off at both ends is called a baton.
7. Charges placed on a bend are oriented bendwise by default, but there are exceptions.
8. A bend sinister is a diagonal band running from sinister chief to dexter base. All the statements made about bends, in points 1 to 5 above, can equally well be applied to bends sinister. A baton sinister is often used to denote bastardy.

Pale, Chevron, Saltire & Lozenges
Most of the various usages described above for fesses and bends can be equally applied to pales, chevrons, saltires etc. so there is no need to repeat them here.

Cross
By default, the cross is the one shown in the list of  ordinaries earlier. It has straight sides and extends to the edge of the shield on all four sides. It may be couped, and then it doesn’t reach the edge of the shield. Additionally there is a large collection of special designs for crosses. These may appear as single charges, or several may occur on a shield at once. Some of the most common crosses will be described later.

Escutcheon, Inescutcheon and Bordure
A simple shield shape is called an Escutcheon. Sometimes termed Inescutcheons they can appear as ordinary charges on a shield, or as ‘extras’ added to an existing coat of arms. like escutcheons of pretence, or augmentations of honour. 

Bordures are narrow borders round the edge of a shield. Unless the border is quite narrow, it can sometimes be difficult to decide whether the shield is, say, argent a bordure gules or gules an inescutcheon argent.

Canton
By default, a canton covers any other charges already in its position on the field – see example opposite.

Label
As you know, in England, only the head of a family is officially allowed to display the family arms. Sons have to difference their arms in some way, and one of the early methods of doing this was to place a label across the top of the shield. By the 16th century the label was reserved, as a difference mark, for the eldest son. Although these labels were usually temporary additions, in some cases they have become part of the main shield.

Pile
An ordinary not introduced earlier is the pile. It is a triangular shape and by default it is ‘issuant’ from the chief. That means that one side is along the top of the shield and it reduces to a point near the base. Piles can also be issuant from the base or either side.

Three Final Things

Three Identical Charges

When three identical charges are placed on a plain shield they are arranged, by default, with two side-by-side and the other one beneath. If the charges are arranged in this way it is not necessary to mention it. So the blazon azure three fleurs-de-lis or implies that the fleur-de-lis are arranged in that way. The same default arrangement is used for three identical charges where the coat of arms also has a fess, a chevron or a chief. For any other collection of identical charges, the arrangement must be specified – eg six are frequently arranged 3, 2, 1.

Heraldic Tinctures in Black and White

To overcome the challenge of representing coloured coats of arms in black-and-white, a standard system of shading was developed. Although largely redundant today, examples can often be found in church monuments or in old books, so it is useful to have the key.

Study Exercise 1

Blazon these simple coats of arms. Everything you need is on the reminder sheet.

Answers to Exercise 1  ☛☛

Study Exercise 2

Trick each of the following coats of arms from their blazons. Some of them have been slightly simplified. If you are not sure, have a guess!

Answers to Exercise 2  ☛☛

Study Exercise 3

Have a go at blazoning these coats of arms. Some are quite straightforward but others are more challenging. Do what you can.

Answers to Exercise 3  ☛☛

End of Module 5 – Return