The Art of Heraldry

This information was originally extracted by Mike Simpson for his Pendragon campaign, "Turn to Stone". I've converted it to HTML and made it publicly available because it's an excellent set of basic guidelines, more than good enough for the purposes of most games.

Reference: Boutell, Charles. Boutell's Heraldry, revised by C.W. Scott-Giles and J.P. Brook-Little. Frederick Warne & Co., Ltd., London, 1963.

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Table of Contents

  1. Heraldic Language
  2. Tinctures, Lines, and Fields
  3. Ordinaries, Subordinaries, and Charges
  4. Differencing and Cadency
  5. Advanced Heraldry

Heraldic Language

The shield and the devices thereon are known as the "armorial bearings". A complete display of the armorial bearings is termed an "achievement of arms", and includes: All heraldic figures, born upon shields or otherwise, are termed Charges, and every shield or other object is said to be "charged" with any device placed upon it.

A stylized verbal description of an achievement is known as a Blazon. In blazoning, the features of a shield of arms are described as follows:

A quick black and white sketch of a shield is called a Trick.

The different parts and points of a heraldic shield are distinguished and entitled as follows:

The shield of arms was also normally displayed on a garment worn over the armor. Names and styles vary with the date, but for game purposes any style is allowed:

Tinctures, Lines, and Fields

The tinctures of heraldry comprise two metals, seven colours, and various furs (stylized repetitive patterns). The following are the tinctures, with their heraldic names and the abbreviations permissible in blazon: The lines used in dividing a shield into parts, or in outlining the figures placed upon the shield, may be plain or ornamental. It is assumed that a line is plain unless the contrary is stated in the blazon. If a line is other than plain, its precise form must be specified (see BH pg. 30-31 for illustrations):
  1. Engrailed (curved incisions points outwards)
  2. Invected (curved incisions points inwards)
  3. Wavy/Undy (wave-shaped)
  4. Nebuly (nob-shaped)
  5. Indented (zig-zag shaped)
  6. Dancetty (bold indented)
  7. Embattled (shaped as a castle battlement)
  8. Raguly (embatted slanted)
  9. Dovetailed (see illus.)
  10. Potenty (see illus.)
  11. Angled (see illus.)
  12. Bevilled (see illus.)
  13. Escartelly (see illus.)
  14. Nowy (see illus.)
  15. Battled Embattled (see illus.)
  16. Enarched (arched upwards)
  17. Double-arched (double enarched)
  18. Urdy (see illus.)
  19. Rayony (flame-shaped)
The fhield of a shield, or of any charge thereon, may be simply divided by a line or lines into two, three, or four parts, the parts being differently tinctured. Such fields are said to be party or parted, and the direction of the partition lines is indicated by terms which are related to the corresponding ordinaries (see BH pg. 32):
  1. Per fess (parted horizontally)
  2. Per pale (parted vertically)
  3. Per bend (parted diagonally, from dexter chief to sinister base)
  4. Per bend sinister (opposite of per bend)
  5. Per chevron (with a pointed arch upwards)
  6. Per pall (parted in three, as by the letter 'Y')
  7. Per saltire (parted in four by two diagonal lines)
  8. Per cross or Quarterly (parted in four crosswise)
Fields of a more complex character, termed varied fields, may be produced by further division (see BH pg. 33-34):
  1. Barry (horizontal bands)
  2. Bendy (diagonal bends)
  3. Bendy-sinister
  4. Paly (vertical bands)
  5. Chevronny (bands of chevrons)
  6. Checky (checkerboard pattern)
  7. Compony (alternate squares bendwise)
  8. Counter-compony
  9. Lozengy (diamonds)
  10. Fusily (see illus.)
  11. Barry-bendy (see illus.)
  12. Paly-bendy (see illus.)
  13. Gyronny (octagonal sections)
  14. Per pale and barry (see illus.)
  15. Barry dancetty (see illus.)
  16. Paly wavy (see illus.)
A field is countercharged when there is a reciprocal exchange of the tinctures. A field is said to be "seme" or "poudre" when a charge is repeated in it so as to form a pattern. A field of fleur-de-lis is said to be floretty. A field seme of billets is billety, of crosslets, crusily, of bezants, bezanty, and so on. A field scattered with drops of liquid is termed goutte, with special terms for each color (BH pg. 36).

Ordinaries, Subordinaries, and Charges

The process of banding the shield with certain simple forms began early on in heraldry, and on account of their common usage, these have come to be called ordinaries. The classification of ordinaries is arbitrary, but here it is taken to embrace:
  1. the Chief (horizontal band containing the top of the shield)
  2. the Fess (horizontal band containing the middle of the shield)
  3. the Bar (a narrow fess, seldom found singly)
  4. the Pale (vertical band containing the middle of the shield)
  5. the Bend (diagonal band)
  6. the Bend Sinister (opposing diagonal band)
  7. the Chevron (angled band point upwards)
  8. the Pile (wedge-shaped band point downwards)
  9. the Pall ('Y' shaped band)
  10. the Saltire ('X' shaped band)
  11. the Cross (cross-shaped band -- many variations, BH pg. 47-53)
Each ordinary has associated with it a diminutive, or small form, which usually occur in odd-numbered groups., All of the ordinaries and their dimunitives are illustrated in BH pg. 40-44.

Note that charges (objects placed on the shield) may either rest on top of an ordinary (which is then said to be "charged" with the object) or may be placed on the field in a pattern similar to the ordinary, and identified likewise. Thus, three diamonds placed in a horizontal band across the top of the shield are termed, "three diamonds in chief," whereas three diamonds placed on top of a chief are termed, "a chief charged with three diamonds" (see BH pg. 44-45 for illus.).

A number of secondary devices of a simple character are classified as subordinaries. This is, again, an arbitrary classication, subject to change. The subordinaries are:

  1. the Bordure (border around the perimeter of the shield)
  2. the Eschutcheon (smaller shield on the surface of the shield)
  3. the Orle (an eschutcheon with the cneter voided)
  4. the Tressure (a narrow orle, usually doubled)
  5. the Canton (a small rectangle, always dexter or sinister chief)
  6. the Gyron (the lower half of a canton, divided diagonally)
  7. Flanches (the "flanks" of the shield, always in pairs)
  8. the Lozenge (a diamond-shaped figure)
  9. the Fusil (a narrow lozenge)
  10. the Mascle (a voided lozenge)
  11. the Rustre (a lozenge pierced with a circular hole)
  12. Fretty (bendlets dexter and sinister, interlaced)
  13. the Fret (a modification of the fretty)
  14. the Billet (an oblong figure placed upright)
  15. Roundels (circular objects, classified by color):
  16. the Annulet (ring-shaped object)
  17. Gemel (consisting of several interlaced annulets)
Note that a field scattered with roundels may be termed seme of the appropriate type. All these subordinaries are shown in BH pg. 55-59.

Anything which is capable of being depicted or symbolized in form and tincture may be termed a Charge. For convenience, charges can be grouped into divine and human beings, the lion, the deer, other creatures, monsters, natural objects, and inanimate objects. The immense number of charges and their appropriate terms are defined in BH pg. 60-102.

Differencing and Cadency

As the number of men using armorial insignia increased throughout history, it became necessary to supplement the ordinaries, subordinaries, and charges to create new arms while avoiding duplication. Differencing (the addition of small but relevant charges to a coat of arms to create a group of similar but distinct new arms) became a common practice. There are two main reasons for a group of people to bear differenced arms: feudal allegiance, or familial bloodlines. Thus, all the sons of Margawse (Gawaine and his brothers) bear the two-headed eagle of Lothian on their shields, but in different positions, different tinctures, and with other smaller charges added to distinguish them.

A subcategory of differencing which became highly codified was the marking of cadency, rendering the position of the bearer in relation to the head of the family. The standardized marks of cadency (actually deriving from the 16th c.) are as such (BH pg. 117):

  1. eldest son (during his father's lifetime), a label.
  2. second son, a crescent.
  3. third son, a molet.
  4. fourth son, a marlet.
  5. fifth son, an annulet.
  6. sixth son, a fleur-de-lis.
  7. seventh son, a rose.
  8. eight son, a cross moline.
  9. ninth son, a double quatrefoil.
There are many other methods of cadency described in BH pg. 108-123.

Advanced Heraldry

There are many further complications to a shield of arms, none of which really need concern us here. All are given in exhausting detail in the remainder of BH. Some of them are:
  1. Augmentations (Chapter 11)
  2. Marshalling (Chapter 12)
  3. the Heraldry of the Crest (Chapter 13)
  4. Badges and Knots (Chapter 14)
  5. Mottoes (Chapter 15)
  6. Supporters (Chapter 16)
  7. Crowns and Coronets (Chapter 17)
  8. Orders of Knigthood and Insignia of Honour (Chapter 18)
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Lydia Leong / lwl@digex.net / December 15th, 1995