Tincture (heraldry)
Information about Tincture (heraldry)
In heraldry, tinctures are the colours used to blazon a coat of arms.
There are seven principal tinctures, consisting of two metals (light tinctures) and five colours (dark tinctures).
The patterns illustrated are occasionally used to depict arms in a monochromatic context, such as a "hatching" (sketch) or engraving.
Sometimes the word gold is used for Or in blazon, either to prevent repetition of the word Or, or because this substitution was the fashion in a particular period, or, more rarely, because it is the preference of an officer of arms. Regardless, Or is much more frequently used.
Sometimes Or and yellow are different colours, like at the 1502 crest of the city Kassa (wings per fess of yellow and azure a fleur-de-lys Or).
An unusual case is in the colonial arms of Algiers, in which the boulet on which the lion rests his paw is stated to be the same "proper" [au naturel] as the lion.
Some consider it bad form to depict too many charges as "proper", especially when those charges create a landscape. This experienced a vogue during the Victorian period, but came to be deprecated as being excessively difficult to draw from blazon, and somewhat contrary to the spirit of heraldry as favouring bold, clear, and unmistakable designs.
Other colours, particularly those used in Europe, include:
These are rare – the seven primary tinctures are the most common ones. Rarer still are other such Continental colours as "Brunâtre," the extremely unusual occurrences of which are almost entirely limited to "details" of charges that might be blazoned as "proper," with exceptions such as the brown lion rampant in the arms of Simón Bolívar. A field Brunâtre almost never occurs. It is blazoned "Braun" in German heraldry. In German heraldry there are also the colours "grey", "Eisen" (iron) and "water colour," though there are unique appearances of "grey" in the heraldry of South Africa[4] and the United States[5]. (It is unclear how "water colour" should be depicted.[6]) "Earth colour" appears not only occasionally in German heraldry, but there is at least one appearance of "earth colour" in English blazon, in the arms of the Royal Miners' Company[7], and in the arms of Santiago de Cali, Colombia.[8] The colour "amaranth" or "columbine" was used "in a coat granted to a Bohemian knight in 1701".[9]
The arms of the Jewish Autonomous Region in Russia have a field of aquamarine, which is emblazoned more as a kind of dark green than a true aquamarine colour.
The fess on the arms of the Republic of Colombia is blazoned as of the colour of platinum.[10]
In 1997 the colour rose and the metal copper appeared in Canada, the former in the arms of Prime Minister Kim Campbell. In South African heraldry, the arms of the University of Transkei provide an example of ochre[11] and the national arms of red ochre.[12]
In the heraldry of the United States Army the shades of colours and metals are often parenthetically specified, though this is far from in keeping with normal heraldic practice. The Institute of Heraldry has also introduced the colours buff[5] (though this is often employed like a metal) and horizon blue[13] have appeared, and silver gray has appeared in the heraldry of the Army[14] and Air Force.[15] There seems to be some confusion about the colour crimson as it exists in blazon sometimes as a separate tincture and sometimes as a "definition" of the shade of gules to be employed by the artist.[16] Bronze makes appearances in the arms of the Special Troops Battalion of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division (there seeming to be a colour rather than a novel metal)[17] and those of Tumaco, Colombia.[18]
(Although the name "sable" comes from a kind of fur, the colour sable is usually not considered a heraldic fur.)
Ermine represents the winter coat of the stoat, white with a black tail; many skins would be sewn together to make a luxurious garment, producing a pattern of small black objects on a white ground. The conventional representation of the tails (usually called ermine spots) is part of the tincture itself, rather than a pattern of charges, though the ermine spot is occasionally used as a single charge (often as a difference mark). The ermine spot has had a wide variety of shapes over the centuries; its most usual representation has three tufts at the end, converges to a point at the root (top), and is attached by three studs.
On a bend ermine the tails follow the line of the bend. In the arms of William John Uncles, the field ermine is cut into bendlike strips by the three bendlets azure, so the ermine tails are (unusually) placed bendwise.
Ermines is the reverse of ermine – a field sable semé of ermine-spots argent. It is occasionally called counter-ermine, especially by SCA heralds.
Erminois is ermine with a field Or instead of argent, and pean is the reverse of erminois.
Erminites is supposed to be the "same as ermine, except that the two lateral hairs of each spot are red."[6] James Parker mentions it,[7] as does Pimbley,[8] though by the former's admission this is of doubtful existence. Arthur Charles Fox-Davies describes it as a "silly [invention] of former heraldic writers."[9]
Other colours may be obtained, but they must be blazoned as, for example, gules, semé of ermine-spots Or.
Basic vair consists of rows of small bell-like shapes of alternating blue and white, nowadays usually drawn with straight edges. The bells on the next row down are placed with their bottoms facing the bottoms of the bells on the row above, and so forth down.
The old depictions of vair are similar in appearance to bars of azure and argent divided by alternating straight and wavy lines. (An excellent example is the lining of the cloak of Geoffrey Plantagenet as represented on his tomb.) In the past this would simply be blazoned "vair", but nowadays this is usually (though not always) blazoned vair ancient.
The arms of Jean II de Condet, in the Armorial de Gelre, provide an example of "vair in chevron."
Potent is like vair, except using a T-shaped item instead of the vair bell. (The word "potent" means crutch; it is thought to derive from badly-drawn vair.) It is subject to all the subvarieties of vair, thus counter-potent and so on.
Other tinctures may be used, described as vairy, counter-vairy, potenty, or counter-potenty of (say) Or and gules. In extremely rare circumstances there is vairy of four colours, but apparently vairy is always either of two or four colours.
The height of a row of vair is not strictly specified, but is typically about one-fifth that of the shield. (Occasionally in French heraldry the number of rows are specified.) Where there are more than six rows, the term menu-vair may be used (outside British heraldry). This is the origin of the English word "miniver", which was the general word for the fur lining used for robes of state.
Vair of fewer than four rows is sometimes called beffroi (a French word cognate to belfry), probably from the resemblance of a piece of vair to a church tower. The word derives from Old French berfroi and Old High German bergfrid, "that which guards the peace". Originally, a beffroi was a wheeled tower which was used for scaling the walls of a besieged city, and which was a similar shape as the pieces of vair. Later, it became used for a watchtower, and then for any tower where a bell was hung.
Vair of two rows, called gros-vair, is occasionally seen.
Plumeté is a feather-like pattern of exceptionally rare appearance which is, strangely, nevertheless placed under the heading of furs. It can be used essentially (though not technically) as a type of patterned field.[11]
The first rule of heraldry is the rule of tincture: metal must never be placed upon metal, nor colour upon colour, for the sake of contrast.
The main duty of a heraldic device is to be recognized, and the dark colours or light metals are supposed to be too difficult to distinguish if they are placed on top of other dark or light colours, particularly in poor light. Though this is the practical genesis of the rule, the rule is technical and appearance is not used in determining whether arms conform to the rule. Another reason sometimes given to justify this rule is that it was difficult to paint with enamel (colour) over enamel, or with metal over metal.
This rule is so closely followed that arms that violate it are called armes fausses (false arms) or armes à enquérir (arms of enquiry); any violation is presumed to be intentional, to the point that one is supposed to enquire how it came to pass. One of the most famous armes à enquérir (often said to be the only example) was the shield of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, which had gold crosses on silver. This use of metal on metal, that is to say white and gold together, is seen on the Arms of the King of Jerusalem, the flag and Arms of the Vatican, and the Bishop's mitre in the Arms of Andorra. It indicates the exceptional holy and special status of the Coat of Arms. (In the case of Jerusalem, this may also emphasize the Arab techniques gained in the Levant). An example of "colour on colour" is the arms of Albania, with its sable two-headed eagle on a gules field.
The rule of tincture has had an influence reaching far beyond heraldry. It has been imposed on flags, or perhaps it should be put, applied to the design of flags, so that the flag of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach was modified to conform to the rule.[20] The rule of tincture has also influenced World Wide Web design with respect to what colour font should be placed on what colour background. Almost all license plates and traffic signs, intentionally or unintentionally, follow it.
The custom in English blazon is to reduce redundancy by only referring to a particular colour once in the blazon.
For example, instead of saying Gules, on a fess Or a rose gules seeded Or, one would say, Gules, on a fess Or a rose of the field, seeded of the second. However, this practice has recently been abandoned by the College of Arms because of the difficulty some have had in counting which number a tincture is.
Likewise, instead of Vert, a fess Or between two lions passant Or, one would say, Vert, a fess between two lions passant Or, as all items in blazon appearing after a given tincture are of the tincture next to be named. Given this, the Institute of Heraldry practice of often using the phrase "of the like" in a similar context[12][21] is out of harmony with the usual heraldic practice and completely unnecessary.
This means that the charge is divided the same way as the field it is placed upon, with the colours reversed.
A shield which is green on the upper half and silver on the lower, charged at the centre with a lion whose upper half is silver and lower half green, would be blazoned: Per fess vert and argent, a lion counterchanged.
In Scots heraldry, a charge may be blazoned as counterchanged of different colours from the field; e.g. Per fess gules and azure, a sun in splendour counterchanged Or and of the first. In English heraldry, this would be described as Per fess gules and azure, a sun in splendour per fess Or and of the first.
Basic tinctures
) Table of the tinctures and furs |
| Tincture | Heraldic name |
|---|---|
| Metals | |
| Gold/Yellow | Or |
| Silver/White | Argent |
| Colours | |
| Blue | Azure |
| Red | Gules |
| Purple | Purpure |
| Black | Sable |
| Green | Vert |
Tincture nomenclature
The names of the tinctures mainly come to us from Norman French:- Azure is from the Arabic lazward meaning lapis lazuli.
- Sable is named for the fur of the sable marten.
- Gules may be from the French gueules, which is thought to refer to animal's red throats.
The patterns illustrated are occasionally used to depict arms in a monochromatic context, such as a "hatching" (sketch) or engraving.
Argent and white
Arthur Charles Fox-Davies has argued that in extremely rare circumstances, white can be a heraldic colour different from argent.[1] He bases this in part on the "white labels" used to difference the arms of members of the British Royal Family. However, it has been argued that these could be regarded as "white labels proper", thus rendering white not a heraldic tincture.[2] In Portuguese heraldry, white seems to be regarded as a tincture different from argent, as evidenced by the arms of the Município de Santiago do Cacém [3] in Portugal, in which the white of the fallen Moor's clothing and the knight's horse is distinguished from the argent of the distant castle, and in the arms of the Logistical and Administrative Command of the Portuguese Air Force.Or
Or is usually spelt with a capital letter (e.g. Gules, a fess Or) so as not to confuse it with the conjunction or.Sometimes the word gold is used for Or in blazon, either to prevent repetition of the word Or, or because this substitution was the fashion in a particular period, or, more rarely, because it is the preference of an officer of arms. Regardless, Or is much more frequently used.
Sometimes Or and yellow are different colours, like at the 1502 crest of the city Kassa (wings per fess of yellow and azure a fleur-de-lys Or).
Proper
Objects may also be depicted in their natural colours (though in some cases what are considered the "natural colours" are determined by convention rather than observation in the wild; for instance, a tiger proper is red, not orange and white with black stripes). In this case, they are described as "proper". Sometimes when "proper" alone would not give adequate information as to the appearance a colour must also then be given (e.g. a white horse proper). Proper is considered to be a tincture distinct from whatever heraldic tincture the depiction of the item or being in question would most closely approximate.An unusual case is in the colonial arms of Algiers, in which the boulet on which the lion rests his paw is stated to be the same "proper" [au naturel] as the lion.
Some consider it bad form to depict too many charges as "proper", especially when those charges create a landscape. This experienced a vogue during the Victorian period, but came to be deprecated as being excessively difficult to draw from blazon, and somewhat contrary to the spirit of heraldry as favouring bold, clear, and unmistakable designs.
Later tinctures
Later heraldry introduced some more colours. Only three are of more than exceptional use in British heraldry: murrey (mulberry-coloured), sanguine (blood-red) and tenné (orange or tan, though in continental heraldry orange is regarded as different, and South African blazons mention both "orange" and "tenné," though how these are shown are apparently interchangeable[4]). These were sometimes called stainand colours (or "stains"), as some rebatements of honour were said to be blazoned of these colours.Other colours, particularly those used in Europe, include:
- carnation (the colour of European human skin – most common in France),
- bleu celeste (also ciel or celeste – sky-blue),
- cendrée (dark grey)
These are rare – the seven primary tinctures are the most common ones. Rarer still are other such Continental colours as "Brunâtre," the extremely unusual occurrences of which are almost entirely limited to "details" of charges that might be blazoned as "proper," with exceptions such as the brown lion rampant in the arms of Simón Bolívar. A field Brunâtre almost never occurs. It is blazoned "Braun" in German heraldry. In German heraldry there are also the colours "grey", "Eisen" (iron) and "water colour," though there are unique appearances of "grey" in the heraldry of South Africa[4] and the United States[5]. (It is unclear how "water colour" should be depicted.[6]) "Earth colour" appears not only occasionally in German heraldry, but there is at least one appearance of "earth colour" in English blazon, in the arms of the Royal Miners' Company[7], and in the arms of Santiago de Cali, Colombia.[8] The colour "amaranth" or "columbine" was used "in a coat granted to a Bohemian knight in 1701".[9]
The arms of the Jewish Autonomous Region in Russia have a field of aquamarine, which is emblazoned more as a kind of dark green than a true aquamarine colour.
The fess on the arms of the Republic of Colombia is blazoned as of the colour of platinum.[10]
In 1997 the colour rose and the metal copper appeared in Canada, the former in the arms of Prime Minister Kim Campbell. In South African heraldry, the arms of the University of Transkei provide an example of ochre[11] and the national arms of red ochre.[12]
In the heraldry of the United States Army the shades of colours and metals are often parenthetically specified, though this is far from in keeping with normal heraldic practice. The Institute of Heraldry has also introduced the colours buff[5] (though this is often employed like a metal) and horizon blue[13] have appeared, and silver gray has appeared in the heraldry of the Army[14] and Air Force.[15] There seems to be some confusion about the colour crimson as it exists in blazon sometimes as a separate tincture and sometimes as a "definition" of the shade of gules to be employed by the artist.[16] Bronze makes appearances in the arms of the Special Troops Battalion of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division (there seeming to be a colour rather than a novel metal)[17] and those of Tumaco, Colombia.[18]
Furs
Furs, such as ermine, vair, and their variants, are regular patterns that represent actual fur. Any charge may be of a fur. (In German heraldry, "fur proper" is sometimes used, but this is rare in the extreme.)(Although the name "sable" comes from a kind of fur, the colour sable is usually not considered a heraldic fur.)
Ermine and its variants
Ermine represents the winter coat of the stoat, white with a black tail; many skins would be sewn together to make a luxurious garment, producing a pattern of small black objects on a white ground. The conventional representation of the tails (usually called ermine spots) is part of the tincture itself, rather than a pattern of charges, though the ermine spot is occasionally used as a single charge (often as a difference mark). The ermine spot has had a wide variety of shapes over the centuries; its most usual representation has three tufts at the end, converges to a point at the root (top), and is attached by three studs.
On a bend ermine the tails follow the line of the bend. In the arms of William John Uncles, the field ermine is cut into bendlike strips by the three bendlets azure, so the ermine tails are (unusually) placed bendwise.
Ermines is the reverse of ermine – a field sable semé of ermine-spots argent. It is occasionally called counter-ermine, especially by SCA heralds.
Erminois is ermine with a field Or instead of argent, and pean is the reverse of erminois.
Erminites is supposed to be the "same as ermine, except that the two lateral hairs of each spot are red."[6] James Parker mentions it,[7] as does Pimbley,[8] though by the former's admission this is of doubtful existence. Arthur Charles Fox-Davies describes it as a "silly [invention] of former heraldic writers."[9]
Other colours may be obtained, but they must be blazoned as, for example, gules, semé of ermine-spots Or.
Vair and its variants
Vair is thought to originate from the fur of a species of squirrel with blue-grey back and white belly, sewn together alternately. The term "vair" may have originally been cognate with “varied”, and was certainly used to describe horses of a mottled or spotted pattern.Basic vair consists of rows of small bell-like shapes of alternating blue and white, nowadays usually drawn with straight edges. The bells on the next row down are placed with their bottoms facing the bottoms of the bells on the row above, and so forth down.
The old depictions of vair are similar in appearance to bars of azure and argent divided by alternating straight and wavy lines. (An excellent example is the lining of the cloak of Geoffrey Plantagenet as represented on his tomb.) In the past this would simply be blazoned "vair", but nowadays this is usually (though not always) blazoned vair ancient.
- Counter-vair is like vair, except that bells with their bottoms facing have the same tincture. The effect is one of vertical columns of bells of the same colour, alternately upside-down and right side up.
- Vair en pointe has the "upward" bells alternate color in each row, in such a way as to form waves so that the overall effect is similar to barry wavy. Vairy en pointe can be seen in the arms of Dr. Malcolm Robert Golin.[10]
- Vair in pale has bells of each tincture lined up in columns rather than alternating, so that the flat end of each white bell meets the narrow point of another in the next row.
The arms of Jean II de Condet, in the Armorial de Gelre, provide an example of "vair in chevron."
Potent is like vair, except using a T-shaped item instead of the vair bell. (The word "potent" means crutch; it is thought to derive from badly-drawn vair.) It is subject to all the subvarieties of vair, thus counter-potent and so on.
Other tinctures may be used, described as vairy, counter-vairy, potenty, or counter-potenty of (say) Or and gules. In extremely rare circumstances there is vairy of four colours, but apparently vairy is always either of two or four colours.
The height of a row of vair is not strictly specified, but is typically about one-fifth that of the shield. (Occasionally in French heraldry the number of rows are specified.) Where there are more than six rows, the term menu-vair may be used (outside British heraldry). This is the origin of the English word "miniver", which was the general word for the fur lining used for robes of state.
Vair of fewer than four rows is sometimes called beffroi (a French word cognate to belfry), probably from the resemblance of a piece of vair to a church tower. The word derives from Old French berfroi and Old High German bergfrid, "that which guards the peace". Originally, a beffroi was a wheeled tower which was used for scaling the walls of a besieged city, and which was a similar shape as the pieces of vair. Later, it became used for a watchtower, and then for any tower where a bell was hung.
Vair of two rows, called gros-vair, is occasionally seen.
Other furs
German heraldry recognizes a fur called Kursch; this is said to be drawn brown and hairy, and there are occasional references in English to "vair bellies", which may be the same thing.Plumeté is a feather-like pattern of exceptionally rare appearance which is, strangely, nevertheless placed under the heading of furs. It can be used essentially (though not technically) as a type of patterned field.[11]
The rule of tincture
The first rule of heraldry is the rule of tincture: metal must never be placed upon metal, nor colour upon colour, for the sake of contrast.
The main duty of a heraldic device is to be recognized, and the dark colours or light metals are supposed to be too difficult to distinguish if they are placed on top of other dark or light colours, particularly in poor light. Though this is the practical genesis of the rule, the rule is technical and appearance is not used in determining whether arms conform to the rule. Another reason sometimes given to justify this rule is that it was difficult to paint with enamel (colour) over enamel, or with metal over metal.
This rule is so closely followed that arms that violate it are called armes fausses (false arms) or armes à enquérir (arms of enquiry); any violation is presumed to be intentional, to the point that one is supposed to enquire how it came to pass. One of the most famous armes à enquérir (often said to be the only example) was the shield of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, which had gold crosses on silver. This use of metal on metal, that is to say white and gold together, is seen on the Arms of the King of Jerusalem, the flag and Arms of the Vatican, and the Bishop's mitre in the Arms of Andorra. It indicates the exceptional holy and special status of the Coat of Arms. (In the case of Jerusalem, this may also emphasize the Arab techniques gained in the Levant). An example of "colour on colour" is the arms of Albania, with its sable two-headed eagle on a gules field.
The rule of tincture has had an influence reaching far beyond heraldry. It has been imposed on flags, or perhaps it should be put, applied to the design of flags, so that the flag of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach was modified to conform to the rule.[20] The rule of tincture has also influenced World Wide Web design with respect to what colour font should be placed on what colour background. Almost all license plates and traffic signs, intentionally or unintentionally, follow it.
Blazon
- See main article: Blazon.
The custom in English blazon is to reduce redundancy by only referring to a particular colour once in the blazon.
For example, instead of saying Gules, on a fess Or a rose gules seeded Or, one would say, Gules, on a fess Or a rose of the field, seeded of the second. However, this practice has recently been abandoned by the College of Arms because of the difficulty some have had in counting which number a tincture is.
Likewise, instead of Vert, a fess Or between two lions passant Or, one would say, Vert, a fess between two lions passant Or, as all items in blazon appearing after a given tincture are of the tincture next to be named. Given this, the Institute of Heraldry practice of often using the phrase "of the like" in a similar context[12][21] is out of harmony with the usual heraldic practice and completely unnecessary.
Counterchanging
When a charge is placed across a division line, variation, or ordinary, it may be blazoned counterchanged. However, some patterns, such as chequy, do not permit charges over them to be treated this way.This means that the charge is divided the same way as the field it is placed upon, with the colours reversed.
A shield which is green on the upper half and silver on the lower, charged at the centre with a lion whose upper half is silver and lower half green, would be blazoned: Per fess vert and argent, a lion counterchanged.
In Scots heraldry, a charge may be blazoned as counterchanged of different colours from the field; e.g. Per fess gules and azure, a sun in splendour counterchanged Or and of the first. In English heraldry, this would be described as Per fess gules and azure, a sun in splendour per fess Or and of the first.
Gemstone / planet blazoning
During the late medieval period and Renaissance, there was an occasional practice of blazoning tinctures by gemstones, or by references to the seven classical "planets" (including Sun and Moon), as summarized in the tables below:[13]
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Notes
1. ^ Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (2004). A Complete Guide to Heraldry. Kessenger Publishing, 70. ISBN 1417906308.
2. ^ Heraldry Society of Scotland.
3. ^ Município de Santiago do Cacém. Retrieved on 2007-06-15.
4. ^ American Heraldry Society.
5. ^ 11th Transportation Battalion Insignia Page, The Institute of Heraldry. Retrieved on 2007-08-14.
6. ^ Pimbley's Dictionary of Heraldry.
7. ^ James Parker. A GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED IN HERALDRY.
8. ^ Pimbley's Dictionary of Heraldry.
9. ^ fox-davies, Arthur Charles (1904). The Art of Heraldry: An Encyclopædia of Armory. Benjamin Blom, Inc., 49.
10. ^ White Lion Society.
11. ^ The Public Register of Arms, Flags and Badges of Canada - Heraldry: Leslie Graham Cairns MILLIN.
12. ^ SPECIAL TROOPS BATTALION, 1ST BRIGADE COMBAT TEAM, 101ST AIRBORNE DIVISION.
13. ^ A Complete Guide to Heraldry by A.C. Fox-Davies and J.P. Brook-Little (1969 edition), page 61.
2. ^ Heraldry Society of Scotland.
3. ^ Município de Santiago do Cacém. Retrieved on 2007-06-15.
4. ^ American Heraldry Society.
5. ^ 11th Transportation Battalion Insignia Page, The Institute of Heraldry. Retrieved on 2007-08-14.
6. ^ Pimbley's Dictionary of Heraldry.
7. ^ James Parker. A GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED IN HERALDRY.
8. ^ Pimbley's Dictionary of Heraldry.
9. ^ fox-davies, Arthur Charles (1904). The Art of Heraldry: An Encyclopædia of Armory. Benjamin Blom, Inc., 49.
10. ^ White Lion Society.
11. ^ The Public Register of Arms, Flags and Badges of Canada - Heraldry: Leslie Graham Cairns MILLIN.
12. ^ SPECIAL TROOPS BATTALION, 1ST BRIGADE COMBAT TEAM, 101ST AIRBORNE DIVISION.
13. ^ A Complete Guide to Heraldry by A.C. Fox-Davies and J.P. Brook-Little (1969 edition), page 61.
- Entry "Tincture" in A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry by James Parker (1894). (text online)
- Entry "Tincture" in Pimbley's Dictionary of Heraldry: An Authoritative Guide to the Terminology of Heraldry by Arthur Francis Pimbley (1908) (text online)
- Precious Peers and Planetary Princes
The Blazon Series |
|---|
| Charge • Divisions • Field • Lines • Ordinary • Tincture Bend • Canton • Chevron • Chief • Cross • Fess • Flaunch • Pall • Pale • Saltire |
The Heraldic Tincture Series | |
|---|---|
| Rule of Tincture | |
| Metals | Argent • Or |
| Colours | Azure • Gules • Purpure • Sable • Vert |
| Furs | Ermine • Vair • Potent |
| Stains | Murrey • Tenn • Sanguine |
| Other | Bleu celeste • Carnation • Cendre • Orange |
Heraldry in its most general sense encompasses all matters relating to the duties and responsibilities of officers of arms.[1] To most, though, heraldry is the practice of designing, displaying, describing, and recording coats of arms and badges.
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blazon is a formal description of, most often, a coat of arms or flag, which enables a person to construct or reconstruct the appropriate image. A coat of arms or flag is therefore not primarily defined by a picture, but rather by the wording of its blazon (though often flags are
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coat of arms or armorial bearings (often just arms for short), in European tradition, is a design belonging to a particular person (or group of people) and used by them in a wide variety of ways.
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In heraldry, or (from the French word for gold) is the tincture of gold, and belongs to the class of light tinctures, called "metals". In engravings and line drawings, it may be represented using a pattern of dots.
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In heraldry, argent is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures, called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it.
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azure is the tincture with the colour blue, and belongs to the class of tinctures called "colours". In engraving, it is sometimes depicted as a region of horizontal lines or else marked with either az. or b. as an abbreviation.
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gules (pronounced with a hard 'g') is the tincture with the colour red, and belongs to the class of dark tinctures called "colours". In engraving, it is sometimes depicted as a region of vertical lines or else marked with gu. as an abbreviation.
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In heraldry, purpure is a tincture, more or less the equivalent of the colour "purple", and is one of the five main or most usually used colours (as opposed to metals).
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sable is the tincture black, and belongs to the class of dark tinctures, called "colours". In engravings and line drawings, it is sometimes depicted as a region of crossed horizontal and vertical lines or else marked with sa. as an abbreviation.
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vert is the name of a tincture roughly equivalent to the colour "green". It is one of the five dark tinctures (colours). Vert is portrayed in black and white engravings by lines at a 45 degree angle from upper left to lower right, or indicated by the use of vt.
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Norman}}}
Writing system: Latin (French variant)
Language codes
ISO 639-1: none
ISO 639-2: roa
ISO 639-3: nrm
Areas where the Norman language is strongest include Jersey, Guernsey, the Cotentin and the Pays de Caux.
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Writing system: Latin (French variant)
Language codes
ISO 639-1: none
ISO 639-2: roa
ISO 639-3: nrm
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al-‘Arabiyyah in written Arabic (Kufic script):
Pronunciation: /alˌʕa.raˈbij.ja/
Spoken in: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman,
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Pronunciation: /alˌʕa.raˈbij.ja/
Spoken in: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman,
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Lapis lazuli (sometimes abbreviated to lapis) is a semi-precious stone prized since antiquity for its intense blue colour.
Lapis lazuli has been mined in the Badakhshan province of Afghanistan for 6,500 years, and trade in the stone is ancient enough for lapis
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Lapis lazuli has been mined in the Badakhshan province of Afghanistan for 6,500 years, and trade in the stone is ancient enough for lapis
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M. zibellina
Binomial name
Martes zibellina
Linnaeus, 1758
The Sable (Martes zibellina
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Binomial name
Martes zibellina
Linnaeus, 1758
The Sable (Martes zibellina
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sinople, also called vert, is a green or dark green color. In engravings, sinople is represented by diagonal lines from the field or figure's top right to bottom left (that is, from the observer's left to right).
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hatching and tricking. Hatching, i. e. exertion of lines and dots, is the most common method to designate colours on uncoloured surfaces, like printings, seals, and coins.
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Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold or steel are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing
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In heraldry, argent is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures, called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it.
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Portuguese heraldry has been in use at least since the 10th century. The national Portuguese coat of arms has it's roots in a coat of arms made in 1143.
White seems to be regarded as a different tincture from argent in Portuguese heraldry, as evidenced by the arms of
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White seems to be regarded as a different tincture from argent in Portuguese heraldry, as evidenced by the arms of
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Anthem
"A Portuguesa"
Capital
(and largest city) Lisbon5
Official languages Portuguese1
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"A Portuguesa"
Capital
(and largest city) Lisbon5
Official languages Portuguese1
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Kassa can either mean:
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- Košice a town in Slovakia
- Kassa (television program) A Dutch consumer protection TV program
- Kassa (mansa) an African ruler
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original research or unverifiable claims.
* It needs additional references or sources for verification.
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* It needs additional references or sources for verification.
* Its tone or style may not be appropriate for Wikipedia.
* It may require general cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
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Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837, and the first Empress of India from 1 May 1876, until her death on 22 January 1901.
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In heraldry, murrey is a "stain", a rarely used tincture, supposedly the colour of mulberries, somewhere between gules (red) and purpure (violet), almost like a maroonish colour.
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Sanguine is a tincture in heraldry, otherwise one of the "staynard colours" (stains). In the past it was sometimes taken to be equivalent to murrey, but they are now definitely considered two distinct tinctures. It is a brownish red, the colour of arterial blood.
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In heraldry, tenné or tawny is a "stain", a rarely used tincture, an orangish brown colour. Some authors (particularly in England) consider it the same as orange, but that is not the case in continental heraldry.
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abatement, in heraldry, is a modification of the shield or coat of arms that supposedly can be imposed by authority (in England supposedly by the Court of Chivalry) for misconduct.
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carnation is a tincture, the colour of European human skin (i.e., pale pink). It is not used in English heraldry but quite frequent on the continent, in France in particular, derived from widespread use in German heraldry.
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Bleu celeste ("sky blue") is a rarely-occurring tincture in heraldry (not being one of the seven main colours or metals or the three "staynard colours"). This tincture is sometimes also called ciel or simply celeste.
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In heraldry, cendrée is a tincture, the colour of Iron and Walls (i.e., gray). It is not used in English heraldry but is quite frequent in the rest of Europe. In France in particular derived from widespread use in German Heraldry.
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