Heraldic Rules
With the regular establishment of heraldry the need for a technical
method of describing the various bearings at once made itself felt,
and the system of Blazon was the result. Like the heraldry which it
described it was admirably adapted to its purpose, being simple,
perfectly explicit of the character, pose, and position of its subject,
without excessive minuteness in detail. In time, however, it not
only became more complicated, as was natural, but it at last became
a vehicle for the pedantry which, succeeding the artistic feeling of
the Middle Ages, expended itself in the making of unnecessary rules.
By the time the seventeenth century was reached it seemed to be
thought to show the height of heraldic knowledge to insist on every
insignificant detail, and so prevent the artist from deviating into
anything more excellent than was customary at the moment. Indeed
this pedantic affection for exactness in trifles sometimes makes one
wonder that in blazoning a maiden’s face it was not thought necessary
to mention that it included _a nose between two eyes in chief and a
mouth in base_ ppr. As a guide to the degree beyond which freedom of
treatment may not go without destroying the heraldic validity of the
subject, blazoning should be assiduously practised, however irksome and
pedantic it may appear, until a technical note of any armorials can
be written with precision and such a description be translated into a
sketch with equal certainty. After studying the system as explained
herein, I would recommend as practice the endeavouring to properly
describe the armorials in an illustrated work, a Peerage for instance,
with subsequent reference to the authentic blazon for confirmation
or correction. Conversely a sketch should be made from a blazon,
and then compared in a similar way with the illustration. For this
purpose Foster’s _Peerage and Baronetage_, 1881-3, with its beautiful
woodcuts after drawings by Dom Anselm and Forbes Nixon, will be of
admirable service, and at the same time will familiarize the student
with excellent heraldic design. The achievements in that work are
represented with great strength and directness, and have much affinity
with the spirit of the mediaeval work, and are therefore worthy of
careful study. At the same time any tendency to make a style (which
may easily become an eccentricity) into an aim rather than an incident
should be carefully avoided.
Blazon is not intended to enable two persons to depict a coat exactly
alike in petty detail, but rather that each in rendering the subject
in his own fashion may be correct in essentials, so that there can be
no question of what coat is intended. Similarly, when a Patent of Arms
refers to those “in the margin” thereof “more plainly depicted” (i.e.
more legibly than in the technically worded blazon), it is not meant
that the treatment (it may be bad) or the exact quality of tincture
(it may be discoloured) is to be copied, and this is by no means an
unnecessary warning, as experience has shown.
In naming the parts _of the field_ or general surface, it must be
remembered that the shield of arms is regarded as being held in
position in front of its bearer: the side towards the right shoulder
being called _the dexter_, and that towards the left _the sinister_. Of
these the former is “more worthy” than the latter; that is to say, a
charge that is not centrally placed would be to the dexter rather than
to the sinister side of the shield; this, it may be remembered, being
the reverse of the manner of wearing medals and orders on the breast.
The upper part of the shield is _the chief_ and the lower part _the
base_, the former naturally taking precedence over the latter. This is
important in relation to the blazon of parti-coloured fields.
[Illustration: FIG. 34.]
In order to facilitate the accurate placing of objects in their
intended positions on the field its various parts were thus named (Fig.
34):--
A. Dexter }
B. Middle } Chief.
C. Sinister }
D. The honour point, probably so named from its relative position to
that of the heart in the human body.
E. The fess point, named after the ordinary which passes through it
horizontally, as hereafter described.
F. The nombril or navel point, another fanciful allusion to the human
body.
G. Dexter }
H. Middle } Base.
I. Sinister }
Most of these terms have now become obsolete, but it is still necessary
to know them with regard to their application in old blazon.
In modern blazon when it is necessary to specify the part of the field
that is occupied, the terms _in chief_, or _in base_, _in dexter
chief_, _in sinister chief_, _in dexter base_, or _in sinister base_,
or, if in the sides of the shield, the dexter or sinister side simply,
as the case may be. It will be rarely necessary, however, to use any
other than the first two of these phrases, for the position of charges
is in most instances understood from other circumstances.
Every blazon begins by describing the field, its divisions (if any)
and colour. The partition lines by which it may be divided are named
like the ordinaries, and may therefore be most usefully considered in
connexion with them (_see_ p. 47).
Heraldic tinctures, as they are all called, consist of metals, colours
and furs. The metals and their technical names are: Or = gold, and
Argent = silver. In painting, yellow is equivalent to gold and may be
substituted for it; as white may be, and generally is, substituted for
silver. It may be noted, however, that when an animal is naturally
yellow, and is blazoned _proper_ (ppr.) it must be painted yellow and
not gold.
The colours are: Gules, signifying red; Azure for blue; Vert for
green; Purpure, purple; and Sable, black. Though the terms are more
immediately derived from Norman-French, the early language of chivalry,
some of them at least are believed to have been derived from Eastern,
probably Persian, sources. In practice they are considered to be
completely anglicized and are pronounced accordingly. This also
applies to most heraldic terms, but not to all, the practice in this
respect being somewhat arbitrary.
Tinctures are sometimes indicated by means of lines and other marks,
a system which arose in the beginning of the seventeenth century, and
was derived from the line tints which had long been used in engraving
to distinguish contiguous spaces from each other, and used in this way
they were valuable and unobjectionable because they were under control.
When, however, a colour meaning was given to the lines the designer
was no longer able to restrict their employment to where they were
artistically useful, but must use them throughout or not at all. And
the latter is, on the whole, the more satisfactory way. On flat spaces,
if the lines are sufficiently pronounced to be legible, they may lead
the eye in a direction that is not helpful to the composition, and on
modelled charges or crests they have a flattening and confusing effect
that is very disagreeable. In some instances the tincture lines have
been used only in small patches, such as in shadows, and this is least
objectionable, but is only possible in very simple cases. The signs of
the tinctures are as follows:--
Argent is shown by a plain surface.
Or is signified by spots and sometimes by slight pecks which produce
the appearance of a grain.
Gules by perpendicular lines.
Azure by horizontal lines.
Vert by oblique lines drawn downwards from dexter to sinister.
Purpure by oblique lines from sinister to dexter, and
Sable by horizontal and perpendicular lines hatched across each other
(Fig. 35).
[Illustration:
Or. Argent. Gules. Azure. Vert. Purpure. Sable.
FIG. 35.--The Tinctures.]
The tinctures are usually contracted into arg., gu., az., vt., purp.,
and sa. for convenience.
It will probably be found that errors of memory are most likely to
occur from confusing the direction of the lines which signify blue and
red respectively; this may be avoided to some extent by connecting the
letters H.B., which distinguish what is perhaps the most used grade of
lead-pencil, with the fact to be remembered: Horizontal = Blue. Also
the fact that objects on the horizon are blue may assist the memory.
[Illustration: FIG. 36.]
The furs are as follows: Ermine, it is hardly necessary to say, is
white with black spots (Fig. 36). Ermines is black with white spots,
and is probably a purely heraldic inversion of ermine. Erminois is
ermine with a gold ground instead of white, and Pean, which is inverted
erminois, has a black ground spotted with gold. The actual ermine
being composed of many small skins sewn together, the black-tipped
tails formed a regular powdering of spots. These, however, have from
the earliest heraldic times been represented by conventional forms of
immense variety, which usually consist of a divided central portion
with the addition of three spots above, the latter being sometimes
embellished with diverging lines. The conventional version of ermine
was even used in costume, being painted on the material which was used
by those to whom the wearing of real ermine was forbidden by sumptuary
law. It will be observed that the body of the spot has become turned
upside down in its transition from the form of the natural tail.
[Illustration: FIG. 37.]
[Illustration: FIG. 38.]
[Illustration: FIG. 39.]
By a similar combination of small skins, in this case grey and white,
_Vair_ was formed (Fig. 37), and this fur also acquired a generally
conventionalized shape, which became, in its late variety, somewhat
like a series of the hideous eared shields of the eighteenth century.
Vair is understood to be argent and azure in alternate spaces, the
blue representing the grey part of the natural fur, and it is only
when other tinctures are employed that they need to be mentioned in
the blazon. In the latter case the term changes to vairy, or vairé, of
such and such tinctures. One of the older forms of vair was made with
undulating lines alternating with straight ones (Fig. 38), and is
obviously better than the modern form. Another early variety carried
the curved lines up to the straight ones, and was drawn somewhat as
though the angles of the modern vair were rounded into curves, the
result being a pleasant form that is shown in Fig. 39. Vair may be of
three tinctures or even more, and instances are mentioned, by Gerard
Leigh for example, but such cases are very rare.
Potent is a fur similarly built up whose skins are in the shape of
crutch-heads, and it is subject to the same colour conditions as vair
(Fig. 40).
[Illustration: FIG. 40.]
[Illustration: FIG. 41.]
[Illustration: FIG. 42.]
Counter-vair and Counter-potent have pieces of the same colour opposed
to each other, as in the example of counter-vair (Fig. 41), and it will
be noticed that these variations of the simpler furs are inferior to
them in that they lose the completeness of the counter-change. In both
vair and potent the colour pieces are more frequently than not placed
point upwards in relation to the metal ones, but there is no definite
rule about this. An ancient form of vair which somewhat resembles
potent is Fig. 42.
[Illustration: FIG. 43.]
[Illustration: FIG. 44.]
[Illustration: FIG. 45.]
[Illustration: FIG. 46.]
[Illustration: FIG. 47.]
[Illustration: FIG. 48.]
[Illustration: FIG. 49.]
[Illustration: FIG. 50.]
Having described the tinctures it will now be convenient to return to
divisions of the field, the simplest possible variation from a plain
shield. A surface is _party per pale_ (Fig. 43) when it is divided by
a perpendicular line into two halves, _party per fess_ (Fig. 44) when
the line which equally divides the shield is a horizontal one, _party
per bend_ (Fig. 45) when it goes diagonally downwards from dexter to
sinister, and _party per bend-sinister_ when the diagonal is reversed.
The word _party_, however, has now fallen into disuse, and the terms
_per fess_, _per pale_ and so forth are considered sufficient. _Per
chevron_, _per saltire_ and _quarterly_ are as represented (Figs. 46,
47, 48). _Gyronny_ (Fig. 49) is a combination of the two last named,
and the number of its pieces being normally eight, any variation from
that number must be expressly mentioned. _Barry_ (Fig. 50) is composed
of repeated horizontal lines, which are odd in number, so that the
spaces begin and end with different tinctures. _Paly_ (Fig. 51) and
_Bendy_ (Fig. 52) are similarly composed of perpendicular and oblique
lines respectively. _Chequey_ (Fig. 53) is, of course, made into
squares by perpendicular and horizontal lines, and _Lozengy_ (Fig. 54)
similarly results from crossing oblique ones. Varieties of the latter
form arise from a combination of perpendicular with oblique lines,
called _paly bendy_, and of horizontal with oblique, which is called
_barry bendy_. Both are of rare occurrence and perhaps resulted from
bad drawing of lozengy.
[Illustration: FIG. 51.]
[Illustration: FIG. 52.]
[Illustration: FIG. 53.]
[Illustration: FIG. 54.]
The field being the first part of a coat of arms to be described, the
character of its division, if any, precedes the mention of its colour.
For example: per pale Or and Gules. Here it may be noted that a field
may be party of two metals or of two colours, for the general rule
against colour being placed upon colour or metal on metal does not
apply in these cases, the spaces being but divisions of one plane and
not parts that are superposed one on the other. Nor does it apply to
objects that are charged on a _party_ field, for in that case it is
inevitable that the tincture of the charge must interfere with one or
other of the tinctures of the field. Nevertheless, when confusion
would be very pronounced counter-change is resorted to, as for example
(Fig. 55): per pale arg. and az. three roses counter-changed.
[Illustration: FIG. 55.]
In blazoning party fields the tinctures count from the dexter side
when the divisions are perpendicular, and from the chief when they are
horizontal. In cases of diagonal division it must be remembered that
the chief has precedence over the dexter side, and therefore in a field
“per bend or and gules,” for instance, the space above the diagonal
counts first and is therefore or. If this point is kept in mind, the
difficulties that are frequently experienced in such blazon disappear.
Thus in _per saltire_ the divisions count from the uppermost space, and
in _gyronny_, this space being again divided by the perpendicular line,
the alternation begins with that part of the chief which is nearest the
dexter, or in other words, the first quarter of the shield is per bend.
In bendy the space next above the middle diagonal may be taken for the
first tincture as the key to the alternation.
Barry, Paly and Bendy are each understood to be composed of six pieces
unless it is otherwise mentioned.
When chequey is applied to ordinaries, at least three rows or _tracks_
are considered essential; so that when there is but one row it is
called Gobony or Compony, and is Counter-compony when there are two.
The two latter varieties occur most frequently in bordures.
The objects that are borne on the shield are divided into two main
groups that are respectively called Ordinaries and Charges.
Ordinaries comprise those simple flat figures which are in most
cases formed by divisions of the shield and generally extend to its
edges. They are the Fess, the Bend, the Chief, the Pale, the Chevron,
the Cross and the Saltire. Some of these have diminutives, similar
figures drawn distinctly smaller and having separate names, and these
will be found under their principals. Other forms, sometimes called
sub-ordinaries are the Pile, Quarter, Canton, Gyron, Bordure, Orle,
Tressure and Flanches.
Other objects, animals, flowers, trees, anything depictable, animate or
inanimate, may be borne as Charges on the field, on ordinaries, or on
each other.
The Fess (Fig. 56) is drawn horizontally across the shield and occupies
the middle of it from side to side, and the blazon might be, for
example, Or, a fess gules, i.e. a red fess on a golden shield. Where
more than one occurs in the same coat they are necessarily smaller and
are called Bars, e.g. Argent three bars sable.
When bars are distinctly arranged in pairs each pair is called a
Bar-gemelle, thus Az. three bars-gemelles Or, means three pairs of bars.
The proportion of the ordinaries to their fields varies very
considerably, and this for many reasons. When the ordinary is alone,
when it is between charges or where it is itself charged, the
proportion will change with the conditions. The character of such
charges and therefore their weight in the composition must also be
taken into account, for the adequate display of all the constituents of
the coat is the object in view.
As an approximate proportion the width of an ordinary may be taken as
somewhat less than one-third of the field when neither, or both, are
charged; as a full third when itself charged and on a plain field; and
as rather more than one-fifth when the field only is charged.
By similar niceties of design the sense of lightness or weight may be
conveyed, so that for decorative purposes the shield may be brought
into due relation with the character of surrounding ornament. Colour
also will affect the apparent proportion, a dark object on a light
ground appearing smaller than it really is, and vice versa, and this
requires careful attention in the counter-change which occur in
heraldry as in other forms of design.
[Illustration: FIG. 56.]
[Illustration: FIG. 57.]
[Illustration: FIG. 58.]
[Illustration: FIG. 59.]
The Bend is drawn from the dexter chief to the sinister base (Fig.
57), and is sometimes accompanied by a smaller bend on either side,
when it is said to be _cotised_ and must so be distinctly described,
as arg. a bend cotised sa.; if, however, the cotises were of another
tincture to the bend the blazon would be, for instance, arg. a bend sa.
cotised gu., that is, a black bend between two smaller red ones on a
white shield. The word cotise is also used for other diminutives that
accompany their ordinaries on either side, and there are instances of
shields being said to be cotised by their supporters. Where two or
more bends of equal width occur they are called bendlets, and when they
are raised above their normal position as in the Arms of Byron and of
Birmingham they are said to be _enhanced_.
The Bend-sinister is a bend reversed; that is to say, descending from
the sinister chief to the opposite base; indeed, it sometimes occurs in
wood-carving merely by reason of the carver having inadvertently turned
his tracing over. The bend-sinister is sometimes used as a mark of
illegitimacy. One of its diminutives, the Baton (a small bend-sinister,
whose ends stop considerably short of the edges of the shield), is
especially used with this intention. A bend-sinister is not necessarily
a mark of illegitimacy. The old heralds indeed do not seem to have
marked a coat in this way in order to hold up its bearer to obloquy,
but simply employed the ordinary as a difference.
A diminutive of the bend called a Ribbon occurs in the Arms of
Abernethy--Or a lion rampant gules, debruised, i.e. passed over by a
ribbon sable.
The Chief occupies the top of the shield from side to side and has no
diminutive (Fig. 58).
The Pale is drawn perpendicularly down the centre of the coat (Fig.
59), and when one of a number is called a Pallet, which again is
sometimes called an Endorse when it accompanies the pale as the cotise
does the bend.
The Chevron (Fig. 60), usually drawn as a right angle, may be varied
to a very large extent as conditions of space require; it becomes
unpleasant, however, when more obtuse than a right angle. In later
French and Italian heraldry it is frequently drawn remarkably acute,
its point often extending to the top of the shield, and this form is
usually found associated with very small and weakly drawn charges. When
more chevrons than one are used together they are called Chevronels.
[Illustration: FIG. 60.]
[Illustration: FIG. 61.]
[Illustration: FIG. 62.]
The Cross (Fig. 61) and its diagonal variety the Saltire (Fig. 62) are
sometimes _voided_, as in Fig. 63, so that the field shows through,
and may also be interlaced, as arg. a cross voided and interlaced sa
(Fig. 64). _Parted and fretty_ is an equivalent term. Its proportion,
even in shields of which it was the only bearing, was much narrower in
mediaeval times than later.
[Illustration: FIG. 63.]
[Illustration: FIG. 64.]
The great variety of its form as a charge is referred to under that
head, and some of its less usual forms as an ordinary are: Fig. 65, a
cross quarter pierced; Fig. 66, a cross quadrate; Fig. 67, a cross
nowy; and Fig. 68, a cross couped.
[Illustration: FIG. 65.]
[Illustration: FIG. 66.]
[Illustration: FIG. 67.]
[Illustration: FIG. 68.]
The Pile is represented in Fig. 69. When more than one occur they point
towards the base, unless their position is otherwise specified, and
their points may either be in a line perpendicular to their widest part
or they may converge towards the centre; in the latter position they
are blazoned “piles in point.” Sometimes three piles are alternated so
that there are “two in chief and one in base,” the latter, of course,
being point upwards between the other two.
[Illustration: FIG. 69.]
With the important exception of the chief all the foregoing ordinaries,
as bearings occupying the principal parts of the shield, are mentioned
in blazon immediately after the field and before the charges, if any,
as: Argent a bend between two fleurs-de-lis Gules, for example. The
chief, on the other hand, is not blazoned until after the rest of the
shield has been fully described.
Ordinaries may themselves be charged, and in that case the sequence in
the blazon is: (1) the field; (2) the objects immediately on it; and
lastly, the charges with which the latter are charged. For example: Az.
_on a_ chevron between three roses Or, as many fleurs-de-lis of the
field. It will be noticed that the fact that the ordinary is charged is
mentioned early in the blazon, though the description of the charges
is left till later in accordance with the sequence already stated.
Also that the chevron and roses being of the same tinctures the word
_Or_ only follows the last of the objects to which it refers. Another
point that is here exemplified is the avoidance of tautology by the use
of the words “as many” instead of the repetition of the number three,
and again in describing the fleurs-de-lis by tincturing them “of the
field” instead of repeating az. This extreme objection to tautology is
very characteristic of heraldic language, and where it is impossible to
otherwise avoid repeating a tincture the ordinary word will be used in
place of the technical one, as Gold in place of Or.
[Illustration: FIG. 70.]
Having proceeded so far with the subject of blazon, two very convenient
methods of noting heraldic facts may now be described. That which is
called a “trick” is a slight sketch, in which simplification is carried
to the ultimate extent by indicating with numbers the charges which
are repeated. As an instance, the coat blazoned above would appear in
trick thus (Fig. 70). In the other method, which is a sort of heraldic
shorthand, the blazon would be written: Az. on a [Shape 1] bet 3 [Shape
2] Or 3 [Shape 3] Az., the niceties of ordinary blazon in avoiding
repetition being ignored.
VARIOUS LINES.--The lines with which simple objects are drawn and
fields divided are, normally, plain ones; but various others are also
employed, and constitute important differences between one coat and
another. Those in ordinary use are as follows (Fig. 71):--
[Illustration: Engrailed
Invected
Wavy
Nebulée
Indented
Dancettée
Embattled
Raguly
Dovetailed
Potenty
Rompu
Fig. 71.]
Engrailed may be drawn with cusps of any suitable size or quality of
curvature. Its points must turn outwards from an ordinary, and when
used as a party line they point to the dexter in per pale and upwards
in per fess and per chevron.
All lines other than plain ones must be mentioned in the blazon in
immediate connexion with the objects to which they refer and before
the tincture, as, Gules a bordure engrailed Or. As the only party line
that appears to face in one direction, engrailed follows the general
heraldic feeling in turning its point to the dexter or to the chief
unless there is special reason to the contrary.
Invected is engrailed reversed, so that the points turn inward. Its use
is comparatively rare and the effect is not very pleasing.
In wavy any form of regular undulation may be employed so long as there
is no possibility of confusion with nebulée.
Nebulée is usually drawn in some modification of the two forms given
above, but there is an old and interesting treatment in which a nearer,
though still conventional, suggestion of clouds covers the ordinary,
as in Fig. 72. This is a bordure nebuly equally with that drawn in the
ordinary way.
[Illustration: FIG. 72.]
Indented is composed of small serrations, while Dancettée usually
consists of not more than three chevrons which, in the case of a fess,
for instance, may be complete, or the series may begin and end with a
half chevron as in the example. In early instances the angles are very
acute, and in the case of party lines extend well across the field. In
such a case the line should begin on one side of the shield and finish
on the other in order to equalize the direction of the points.
Embattled, when applied to fesses and chevrons, is confined to
the upper line unless the ordinary is blazoned “embattled counter
embattled,” in which case both lines are similarly treated. When
applied to a chevron the sides of the crenellations are usually kept
vertical, as though in the wall of a sloping way, rather than at right
angles to the ordinary, though the latter form also occurs.
Raguly, especially when applied to a fess or a pale, is suggestive of
stumps of branches that have been lopped from the parent stem, and this
probably indicates its origin. Thus the projections on both sides of
the ordinary slope the same way, and, in many examples, they alternate.
In the case of a cross they point along the limbs outwards from the
centre.
Many of the heraldic lines are of very ancient usage, and the popular
idea that they are signs of modernity is quite an erroneous one, some
of them occurring as early as the reign of Edward I.
A line is Rompu when it is interrupted as in Fig. 62, and an instance
of this occurs in the Arms of Allen, which is per bend rompu.
SUB-ORDINARIES.--The Canton, Gyron, Inescutcheon, Orle, Tressure,
Bordure and Flanches are classed as Sub-ordinaries. The fusil or
lozenge (_q.v._) and some others are also sometimes included in this
division, but classification of this kind is of little practical
importance.
The Canton (Fig. 73) is frequently a means of displaying an
augmentation, a special distinction added to a previously existing
coat, as in the arms of the family of Lane and others. It is drawn
of any convenient size short of being possibly confused with the
Quarter, the latter occupying the proportion of the shield that its
name implies. The fact that even in modern coats the canton partially
covers, if necessary, a charge near the same part of the shield
suggests that it was in its origin an added mark of honour; and also
because like the chief, it is mentioned in the blazon only after the
main part of the shield has been described.
The Orle (Fig. 69) becomes a Tressure (Fig. 70) by the addition
of fleurs-de-lis, and when doubled and decorated with alternating
fleurs-de-lis on both sides the beautiful “double tressure flory
counterflory” of the Royal arms of Scotland is formed.
[Illustration: FIG. 73.]
[Illustration: FIG. 74.]
[Illustration: FIG. 75.]
[Illustration: FIG. 76.]
Other ordinaries may also be made flory in a similar way, and a
partition line may be flory counterflory, so that each division of the
field interpenetrates the other in a very beautiful counter-change.
The Bordure (Fig. 71) was extensively used in the Middle Ages as an
addition to the arms of a family by which to distinguish its individual
members from each other, as it still is in Scotland, and in its
application to historic personages is a subject of great interest; for
example, the shield of John of Eltham bore the arms of his father,
Edward II, the lions of England, differenced with a bordure charged
with fleurs-de-lis, in allusion to his mother, Isabella of France. The
shield (Fig. 77) appears on the tomb of his nephew, Prince Edmund, at
Kings Langley, but a much finer example is that from Prince John’s own
monument in Westminster Abbey, at p. 77. This part of the subject will
well repay pursuit, though space forbids its further consideration here.
[Illustration: FIG. 77.
Arms of Prince John of Eltham. From the Monument to Prince Edmund of
Langley at Kings Langley.]
It should be noted that when a chief or a canton occurs in the same
arms with a bordure it surmounts the latter, or rather the bordure
stops when it touches the other, for both are usually represented as
in the same plane. Also, when a coat with a bordure is impaled with
another, as in the arms of husband and wife, the bordure stops at the
junction with the other coat. Nevertheless, the charges on the bordure,
if any, and of specified number, remain, with the rest of the arms,
unaffected by its diminution.
The fact that the chief surmounts a bordure lends probability to the
assertion that chiefs like cantons were at first honorific additions to
pre-existing arms.
Flanches are represented in Fig. 78, and their diminutives, Flasques
and Voiders, are sometimes met with in old works.
[Illustration: FIG. 78.]
A shield of arms is said to be _charged_ with the figures upon it, but
the term charge is usually understood to mean some object other than
the ordinaries just described.
Before proceeding further, however, it will be well to consider the
various ways in which charges may be arranged with regard to the
shield, to the ordinary and to each other.
A single charge whose position is not otherwise fixed by the blazon
naturally occupies the whole shield, but when charges are repeated the
arrangement is, of course, more complex.
The most usual number of repeated charges in a coat of arms is three,
two in chief and one in base, an arrangement obviously suggested by
the space available on a pointed shield, and in blazoning they are
said to be _two and one_. As a rule, however, this distribution is
assumed to exist unless another is specified. When the charges are more
than three their disposition must always be mentioned, as: Gules six
horse-shoes, three two a one, Arg. and so on for ten or more, counting
always from the chief or top of the shield.
An indefinite number of charges equally distributed over a surface,
whether of field, ordinary or charge, is said to be Semée, as in the
Arms of France that were assumed by Edward III and his successors, az.
semée-de-lis or. As in this instance, a field semée of anything was
depicted as though cut from a large surface similarly decorated, so
that here and there at the edges a part only of the figures remained.
This early method has been relinquished in favour of what was anciently
called Geratting, by so arranging the powdering of charges that they do
not touch the sides of the shield or any other object with which they
are associated. Considerable management is required to so arrange them
that they shall be equally distributed, and care must be taken that
they do not appear to be _in orle_, as is explained below.
[Illustration: FIG. 79.]
Somewhat similar to semée is what is known as guttée or gouttee (Fig.
79), a means of covering a field or other object by means of a kind
of semée of drops, which have different names according to their
tinctures. Thus when they are gold they are gouttés d’or; when argent,
gouttés d’eau; when gules, gouttés de sang; azure, gouttés de larmes;
sable they are gouttés de poix; and gouttés d’olive are vert.
It is quite permissible to blazon them by their tincture; thus “arg.
gouttée de sang,” would be equally correctly written, arg. guttée gules.
The direction of the ordinaries affords another excellent means of
placing charges; thus, objects in a horizontal line across the middle
of the shield are _in fess_, when at the top they are _in chief_, and
so forth.
Similarly, charges one above the other are blazoned _in pale_. Here
it should be noted that in pale and in fess do not mean occupying the
_space_ of a pale or of a fess, but merely that they are disposed in
the indicated direction. Thus the lions of England are _in pale_, but
should, of course, be drawn right across their field, and in a similar
manner charges in fess extend from chief to base when their character
admits of the extension.
In some instances a number of charges are placed on the field between
others, as: three roses in bend between two roundles; but the result
can rarely be made satisfactory as design, such a coat seeming to need
the steadying effect of the lines of an ordinary.
Charges that are ranged round the field, as in the enamelled shield of
William de Valence at Westminster, p. 176, are _in orle_; if the number
of martlets were specified, the blazon would be so many martlets in
orle; but if the number were indefinite, the term would be an orle of
martlets.
[Illustration: FIG. 80.--Arms of the Grocers Company of London. Cartoon
for mural decoration. Geo. W. Eve.]
When a fess or a chevron is between three charges the latter naturally
fall into the position of two in chief and one in base, and that is
the most usual number and arrangement. Instances of greater numbers
so disposed are rare among ancient examples, for in designing them the
pointed shield seems to have been kept always in view with the notable
exception of Berkeley, Gu. a chevron ermine between ten crosses pattée
Ar; but these adapt themselves perfectly to the shield and chevron,
being balanced by the large number above, as also do the cloves of the
Grocers Company that are similarly arranged. Fig. 80 shows a rendering
of the last-mentioned arms as designed to accompany work of the
eighteenth century.