A
Primer on Heraldry
Containing Notes Drawn Upon
The Sources
On this 28th
Day of April
Origins:
The office of Herald had its beginning with those who announced and described the contestants in Tournaments. In time the Heralds also undertook the arrangement of the Tournaments. In the earliest days, when tournaments were small and helms did not fully hide the faces of the contestants the name, rank, and perhaps a brief description of the clothing and horse of a contestant were all that was required. All of this began to change when closed Great Helms and mail armor became the standard. The face of the contestant could no longer be seen and barded horses were just as hard to describe as fully armed men. Some other system of identification became necessary both in Tournaments and in war. Out of this need Heraldry, as we know it to day arose.
The first problem the heralds faced was who was entitled to use Coat Armor[1]. By 600 TR the various collages of heralds had adopted the custom that new Coat Armor would only be designed for those he had a Grant of Arms from a Sovereign Prince, or, in the case of Thardia, the Senate. Those who had Coat Armor at this time would retain it as an ancestral caot. After this time all knighthoods conferred by others had to be ratified before the heralds would design a coat of arms. In more recent time it has become the practice in most realms that only the King or, in Thardia, the Senate may confer knighthoods.
Obtaining and Inheriting Coat Armor:
Coats of Arms my obtained in one of two ways:
1) By Assumption.
2) By Attainment.
Arms are said to assumed when the armiger[2] inherits armorial bearings from one who has already been granted them. During the lifetime of the current holder his arms are used by his sons with marks of cadency. Upon the holder’s death the eldest son inherits the armorial bearings, his younger brothers upon being knighted must attain arms in the way described below.
The wife of an armiger and his daughters, while they remain maids, may display his arms in the fashion reserved for females below. The widow of an armiger may continue to use his arms until she remarries and his daughters until they marry.
If an armiger had only daughters then they become heraldic heiresses and may continue to use his arms thought out their lives. If they marry their husband may place their arms upon a small shield covering the center point of his own shield, which is termed an “escutcheon of pretence,” and their sons quarter their mothers arms against their own. If the eldest daughter of an armiger who had no sons should be knighted she may assume her father’s arms in the same way that his eldest son would be allowed to. These arms will pass in same way as those that came from a father to son. If a younger sister should be knighted she must attain arms in the usual way but may impale those arms with her father’s coat. These coats pass to the heirs in the usual way except that where a younger sister is a knight her eldest son may quarter his father’s arms with his mother’s quartered coat, her second son may assume his mother’s arms as a quartered coat, while younger sons quarter their attained coats with their mother’s. In the case of the eldest son of a female knight, who was her father’s eldest daughter and intitled to assume her father’s arms, he quarters his arms with his mother’s in the usually way for heraldric heiresses. The second son assumes his mother’s arms quartered against those of his father. In either event this is the only way a coat of arms obtained from the mother may be displayed in the first quarter of the shield.
An attained coat of arms is one designed for an armiger by a herald after a grant of arms. Such coats once designed are provisional for a year and a day[3] after which they become permanent. Once granted a coat of arms becomes the inheritable personal property of the armiger and remains so as long as there are any heirs, male or female. All persons who have a right to an inherited coat of arms are gentle folk.
A coat of Arms lapses only upon the death without issue of the last person entitled to inherit it or upon Attainder of the bearer. Attainder corrupts the paternal coat so that it cannot be used by the person attaindered or inherited by his heirs. Coats inherited maternally are corrupted only to the heirs of the body of the individual attaindered, others who may also have inherited such coats are not effected. If the attaindered arms could be assumed by one not effected by the attainder, such as a young brother, this may be allowed.
Display of Coat Armor:
Only those who are chevalrous[4] may bear arms upon a shield or surcoat. Gentle folk who are not chivalrous may bear arms only upon small items of jewelry, such as rings, or on small badges worn on the clothing. Servants and retainers may also wear such badges. The only exception to this rule is found in the Tabards[5] worn by heralds which show the arms the lord whom the herald is speaking and acting for. When so uniformed the herald assumes the persona of the person whose arms are used.
Persons using Coat Armor improperly are subject to judgment at Herald’s Court where they may be fined up to 10,000d and have all items showing the improper coat confiscated and turned over to the proper holder of the arms in question. If they are simple folk or villains they may also be flogged and exposed in the pillory.
Fees:
For assumption of arms: 120d
For Attainment of Arms: 1,200d
Elements of
the Design of Armorial Bearings:
The elements to be
considered:
1. The Shield
2. The Crest
3. The Supporters
4. The Helmet and its mantling
5. The motto
Elements 2 thru 5 may be shared by more then one coat of Arms. The shield alone is distinctive although all may be present in a full attainment of arms. Crests and supporters are normally used only by Sovereign Princes and great nobles such as Earls. A helmet born full faced is the mark of a Baron. A helmet facing dexter is born by a knight. The mantling may be of any form but certain patterns are reserved for the use of knightly orders.
The Shield:
The shield is where armorial insignia are displayed. It may be of any form with the exception of the Lozenge or diamond. This is the form used by females and it is reserved for them.
The Metals:
Gold, termed in heraldry or.
Silver, termed in heraldry argent.
The Colors:
Blue, termed azure.
Red, termed gules.
Black, termed sable.
Green, termed vert.
Purple, termed purpure.
Orange, termed tenne.
Dark red, termed sanguine.
The Furs:
Ermine, which consists of white field with black spots and tufts. The variations are ermines, being white on a black ground with a red hair on each side of the tufts; erminois, a golden field with black; and pean, a black field with golden spots.
Vair, a parti-colored fur of blue and silver (unless other colors are specified), in which the pieces are cut in the form of a shield. The variations are:
Counter-vair
Portent
Counter-portent
The points of the
Shield:
Numbers 2, 4, 5 (or fesse point), 6, and 8 run from top to bottom in the center of the shield. Number 1 is the dexter chief, number 3 is the sinsiter chief, number 7, is the dexter base, and number 9 is the sinister base.
The shield is always viewed and described from the point of view of the bearer. Thus, the dexter or right-hand side is to the left of the observer.
The Divisions of the
Shield:
1. Per pale, made by a perpendicular line.
2. Per fess, made by a horizontal line.
3. Per bend, made by a diagonal line.
4. Per bend sinister, made by a diagonal line starting in the sinister chief and running to the dexter base.
5. Quarterly, made by lines 1 and 2 intersecting.
6. Per Saltire, made by lines 3 and 4 intersecting.
7. Per chevron, made by the bottom part of lines 3 and 4 intersecting at the fess point of the shield (see number 5, points of the Shield).
These divisions can be repeated, i.e.:
8. Paly, a reduplication of per pale.
9. Barry, a reduplication of per fesse.
10. Bendy, a reduplication of per bend; and its reverse, from the bend sinister.
11. Chequy, or checky, a reduplication of quarterly.
12. Lozengy, a reduplication of per saltire.
13. Gyronny, a compound of quarterly and per saltier usually consisting of eight pieces but sometimes of more, formed by lines, all-intersecting at the fess point.
14. Paly-Bendy, formed from the bar and bend.
15. Chevronny, formed from the chevron.
The field may be covered with small figures, called “semee” as:
Semee-de-lys (as semee of trefoils). Other forms may be used.
Guttee, semee of drops.
Crusilly, semee of crosslets (the form of the cross should be mentioned).
Division Lines:
There are a number of irregular lines that can be used to divide a shield. These are:
1. Wavy.
2. Indented.
3. Dancette, which is a little larger variety of indented.
4. Engrailed.
5. Invected.
6. Embattled.
7. Raguly.
8. Dovetailed.
9. Nebuly.
The same lines are frequently applied to the magin of the principal ordinaries.
Charges:
The simple charges are termed Ordinaries and are:
1. The chief, occupying the upper third of the shield.
2. The fesse,[6] occupying the middle third of the shield.
3. The pale, occupying the center third perpendicularly.
4. The bend, occupying one-third of the shield diagonally.
5. The bend sinister,[7] occupying one-third of the shield diagonally.
6. The cross, being the fesse and pale conjoined, usually occupying one-fifth of the field; but when charged, one-third.
7. The saltire composed of the bend and bend-sinister.
8. The chevron, which resembles the lower half of the saltire with the upper lines brought to a point.
The ordinaries have diminutives of their own form:
1. The chief has the fillet, which is very rare.
2. The pale has the pallet of one-half, and the endorse of one-quarter size. A pale between two endorses is termed: “a pale endorsed.”
3. The fesse has no diminutive, unless it is the bar, but is often put between two bendlets, and is then termed: “a fesse cotised.”
4. The bend has the cotise, one-quarter its size; and, when between two is termed “a bend cotised.” When two bends are used, they are of half the usual sized, are termed “bendlets.”
5. The chevron has the chevronel, one-half, and the couple-close one-quarter its size. Couple-closes are always borne in pairs: when they are placed on each side of a chevron, they are termed a “chevron cotised.”
6. The bar is a diminutive of the fesse, and may be placed anywhere except absolutely in chief or base. Two small bars or barrulets used together are termed “bars gemelles.
There are several other ordinaries, which are seldom used, such as the Pile, La Pointe Chaps, La Pile Chausse, Embrasse, and Mantele. Also in this class are roundles and Flauches.
Sub-Ordinaries:
The three of major importance are:
1. The canton, a square placed in dexter chief.
2. The inescutcheon, a small shield borne as a charge centered at the fesse point.
3. The bordure, a border extending around the shield and one-fifth its width. A bordure engrailed Azure edged if need be[8] or is reserved to distinguish arms granted in Harn from those of Lythia. A similar bordure Purple edged if need be Argent is used to distinguish arms granted in Lythia from those of Harn.
Others include the Orle, Tressure, Lozenge of which there are several forms, and eleven others, which I will not bother to detail at this time.
The glossary of terms used in heraldry runs to many pages. These terms include animals both natural and fanciful, fish, fowl, plants, structures, and man made items. Almost anything that the imagination can conceive of may be used as a charge.
Blazon of Arms:
By the tem “blazon” is meant “the verbal description of coat-of-arms, so precise as to enable the reading to depict the escutcheon correctly, without other assistance.”
The rules universally adopted in such description of arms are as follows: --
1. The field is first to be described, whether of one tincture[9] or two. If of two, the form of division is to be mentioned, as per pale, per fesse, or barry, ect.; and also the division line as engrailed, wavy, etc. if it is not a straight line.
2. If semme with small charges, these must be mentioned; as also if the field be fretty.
3. The principal ordinary (except the chief) is next to be named. If there be none the principal charge, being the one nearest the fesse-point, or center of the shield; and this must be fully described, i.e., all peculiarities of form, tincture or position.
4. The remaining charges placed on the field are to be described; the center charge being described as “between,” or “surrounded by,” or “within” them. Their place must also be described, unless there are three placed, two in chief and one in base, which is regarded as the usual mode. Six of a kind are arranged, unless otherwise mentioned, three, two, and one. In the same way a greater number, as ten or fifteen, are so placed as to preserve the pyramidical shape. When a bend is between six charges of a kind the upper three placed two and one, and the lower three in a line following the curve of the shield.
5. Next the charges on the principal charge are to be given.
6. The bordure with the charges thereon are to be mentioned.
7. The canton, or chief, with all charges thereon, are to be given.
8. Lastly, the differences, or marks of cadency, and the baronet’s badge are enumerated.
The Crest, supporters, and motto are to separately blazoned after the shield, as they are not part of the shield and will be seen only in full achievement of arms.
In blazon, repetition should be avoided: The name of a tincture should not be repeated, but instead should be used the phrase, “of the first, second,” or “third,” ect., as the case may be; the numeral referring to the place of the tincture in the blazon. When two or more consecutive portions of the blazon are of the same tincture, it may be mentioned only after the last. Thus, a chevron gules between three crescents gules would blazoned, “a chevron between three crescents gules.” So also when the number of objects in different parts of the blazon is the same, the phrase “as many” is to be employed; of example, a chevron between three crescents, and in chief three crosses would be rendered “a chevron between three crescents, and in chief as many crosses.”
Marshalling Arms:
The foregoing rules apply to each shield considered by itself; but we frequently find two or more coats arranged together upon a shield. When two coats are placed side by side, they are always intended to represent the coats of a husband and a wife; the former occupying the dexter, the latter the sinister, half of the shield. This is termed “impaling.”
Every armiger has the right thus to use his wife’s family arms, even after her death: in case of a second marriage, however, it is customary to cease the use of the first wife’s arms. A wife, or a widow while remaining such, has the right to use the impaled coat, but in a lozenge.
A maid bears her paternal coat in a lozenge.
Impaling, as we have said is of universal application; but a different mode is used in one particular case. If the wife be an heiress, heraldically (i.e., if she had no brother, or he be deceased childless), the husband, instead of impaling her arms, places them upon a small shield covering the center point of his own shield, which is termed and “escutcheon of pretence.”
The other mode in which two coats are combined on one shield is termed “quartering.” Ordinarily, and armiger has no right to use his mother’s arms; that is, in case she had a brother to continue the family name, the arms descending exclusively in the male line of the posterity of the original recipient, so long as it continues. The children of an heiress, however, inasmuch as they become the representatives in blood of the last owner of the arms in their branch, have the right to use their mother’s arms by “quartering” them with their own. The shield may be divided into as many “quarters” as are necessary to hold all of the coats-of-arms thus inherited although not all will necessarily be used upon a shield carried in battle. The armiger may chose which quarterings to use provided he includes his paternal coat in the first quarter.
For Further information or assistance:
You may
contact mailto:jswatson@mailbag.com”
for further information, advice on the blazon of your personal arms, or to
register your arms with the Enclave of the Holy Oak. For an example of arms see:
[1] The Term Coat Armor refers to those Heraldic marking carried on the shield and surcoat.
[2] In this usage armiger refers to a person entitled to display armorial bearings
[3] This is to allow a Blazon of the arms to be sent to the other Collages of Heralds and check to see that the arms do not duplicate an existing coat.
[4] One who has been knighted or an esquire, who is a squire who has completed all the required training for being knighted, has the means to be a knight, and is awaiting formal knighting.
[5] A tabard is a piece of cloth worn over the clothing with a neck opening extending to the groin and open to the sides.
[6] The shield is divided horizontally into three parts. The lower base either has no name or is termed La champagne.
[7] The bend-sinister is used in some places as a mark of illegitimacy. In Kaldor the baton or bend-sinister couped (cut off) at both ends is used where the child has not been acknowledged by the father.
[8] The rules of heraldry prohibit two tincture in contact so if the shield is of a tincture the bordure will be edged to offset it from the shield.
[9] In this usage tincture means both metal and color.