Ordinaries Ordinaries (sometimes called "
honourable ordinaries") resemble partitions
of the field, but are formally considered objects
on the field. Though there is some debate as to exactly which geometrical charges—with straight edges and running from edge to edge of the shield—constitute ordinaries, certain ones are agreed on by everyone. Except for the
chief they are central to the shield. Ordinaries should not be mixed with
Division of the field. •
Cross: a pale and a fess of equal widths conjoined (though the cross is typically thinner than this would suggest), as in the arms of the
City of London. •
Pale: a vertical stripe right down the middle of the shield. Typically to the width of the field. • A variant is the
Canadian pale, invented in 1964 for the
new Canadian national flag: it takes up half the width of the field. •
Fess: a horizontal stripe, as in the
coat of arms of Austria. Typically to the height of the field. •
Bar: a narrower fess (said in theory to occupy one-fifth of the field), sometimes reckoned as an ordinary in its own right. It is rarely borne singly. •
Bend: an oblique band from the dexter chief (the bearer's upper right, viewer's upper left) to the opposite corner, as in the
arms of the former grand duchy of
Baden. •
Bend sinister: a bend in the opposite direction (sinister chief to dexter base). •
Chevron: two diagonal bands meeting in the centre in the form of an inverted V, or like the beams of a
gable; as in the arms of
Udine, Italy, or
Trans, Switzerland. •
Saltire: a bend and a bend sinister both of equal widths conjoined to form a diagonal cross (×), as in the
Scots national banner (often referred to simply as "the Saltire"), and also known colloquially as a St Andrew's cross. •
Chief: a horizontal band right across the top of the shield, as in the arms of the
district of Lausanne (Vaud, Switzerland). •
Chief triangular begins in the corners and extends to a point that is one quarter to one third the way down the shield. It is a complex line division variant of a chief. •
Chief enarched is drawn with a concave arch •
Chief double-arched has two concavities •
Terrace in base (French:
champagne,
terrace; Italian
campagna; German
Schildfuß) •
Mount when represented in green and curved or arched, as a hill. •
Mount mounted, or
Shapournet shapourned: a
trimount.
Ordinaries or subordinaries The following are sometimes classed as ordinaries, sometimes as
subordinaries (see below): •
Bordure: the boundary of the shield; often used for
cadency •
Pile: downward pointing triangle, issuing from the top of the shield •
Pall or Pairle: a Y-shape • A variant is the
shakefork: a pall cut short of the margins, with pointed ends. It is frequent in Scotland, owing to its prominence in the armoury of
Clan Cunningham. File:Bordure dalgleish wiki.jpg|
a bordure—
Argent; an oak tree eradicated, fessways, proper, between three pheons, points upward, azure; within a bordure azure—Dalgleish of Keavil, Scotland File:Pile otley wiki.jpg|
a pile—
Argent, on a pile azure three towers, two and one, of the first, in the middle chief point two keys in saltire, wards upwards and inwards, or—Otley Urban District Council, England File:Pall dewar wiki.jpg|
a pairle or pall—
Ermine; a pairle azure charged with the crosier of St Fillan proper—Dewar, Canada* (Scots coat) File:Shakefork HMCS Discovery wiki.jpg|
a shakefork—
Azure, a
shakefork argent supporting in the
middle chief a bezant, within an
annulet enwreathed, ensigned of a
naval crown or, the
sails argent, beneath which on a
panel argent edged or is the name "Discovery" in letters
sable—HM Canadian Ship
Discovery Subordinaries Some geometric figures are not considered to be "honourable ordinaries" and are called "subordinaries". Very loosely, they are geometric or conventional charges that, unlike ordinaries, do not stretch from edge to edge of the shield. There is no definitive list or definition, but they generally include:
Fixed subordinaries Fixed subordinaries are those that have a particular place to go on a shield—or at least a very limited range of places. •
Quarter: the dexter chief quadrant of the shield •
Canton: smaller than the quarter, formally said to occupy one-ninth of the shield, though sometimes drawn smaller, but generally accepted as a square 1/3 the width of the shield. The canton is often said to be the quarter's diminutive, but perhaps it should be treated as a subordinary in its own right as it fulfils heraldic functions not fulfilled by the quarter, and behaves according to its own special rules—as for example in the case of the canton on which baronets in the UK may display the badges of their 'rank', which is very rarely shown occupying such a large area as the upper left third of the field, and is usually much less and very often shown not as square but as a rectangle with its longer side vertical. Very occasionally a 'sinister canton' is found, on the shield's other side. •
Flaunches, always borne in pairs: a circular arc emerging out of each flank of the shield. •
Fret: interlacing bendlet, bendlet sinister and mascle. •
Gore: two arcs meeting in the
fess point to form a triangular segment. •
Gyron: the lower half of a
quarter cut diagonally, said to be an old charge but rare although there are modern examples (e. g.
de Cluseau) •
Orle: A bordure separated from the outside of the shield. Like the bordure the orle takes on the shape of the shield or flag it is on. Although the orle's diminutive is the tressure, there are examples of "fillet orles" (orles narrower than usual). When a number of charges are arranged as if on a bordure, they are said to be
in orle or to form
an orle of such charges. It is often said that an orle may not have other charges charged on it, but the Scots Public Register has the coat of Norie of Noristone: 'Parted per pale argent and sable ane orle engrailed on both sydes charged with four quaterfoiules within a bordur all counterchanged'. •
Tressure: a thinner version and hence diminutive of the orle. The most famous tressure is probably the
double tressure flory counter flory in the
royal coat of arms of Scotland. Tressures with other ornamentation exist, such as with maple leaves, crescents, thistles and roses. File:Quarter demo.svg|
a quarter—Argent, a quarter gules File:Canton demo.svg|
a canton—Argent, a canton gules File:Flaunches demo.svg|
flaunches—Argent, flaunches gules File:Fret demo.svg|
a fret—Argent, a fret gules. Arms of the Blake family. File:Blason ville fr Lacroisille (Tarn).svg|
an orle—Argent, an orle azure (D'argent à l'orle d'azur—Lacroisille, Tarn, France) File:Gore.png|
a gore—Argent, a gore gules File:Gyron green wiki.jpg|
a gyron—Vert five barrulets dovetailed on the lower sides Argent, in dexter base a gyron voided of the field in sinister chief a crescent over all at centre point the sun in his splendour all Or.—Green, Scotland File:Orle norie wiki.jpg|
an orle charged—Parted per pale argent and sable; an orle engrailed on both sides charged with four quatrefoils within a bordure, all counter changed—Norie, Scotland File:Orle of sibbald wiki.jpg|
an orle of crescents and mullets—Sable; a cross moline within an orle of crescents and mullets alternately, argent—Sibbald, Scotland File:Tressure umgeni w b wiki.jpg|
a tressure—Azure, an annulet, therewithin three barrulets wavy, conjoined, all within a tressure, argent—Umgeni Water Board, RSA File:Mullet facetted wiki.jpg|
a double tressure—Azure; a facetted six pointed star [mullet] argent ensigned with a gable crown or, the whole within a double tressure argent—Langenhoven, RSA
Mobile subordinaries Other subordinaries can be placed anywhere on the field. •
Escutcheon: a shield used as a charge. File:Blason ville fr Bourigeole (Aude).svg|
an escutcheon—
Or, an escutcheon sable—Bourigeole, Aude, France File:Armoiries famille d'Abbeville.svg|
3 escutcheons—
Or, three escutcheons gules—d'Abbeville, France File:Escutcheons hay wiki.jpg|
3 escutcheons —
Argent; three escutcheons gules; within a bordure chequy gules and argent—Hay of Pitfour, Scotland File:Duke of Atholl arms.svg|
escutcheon en surtout—Arms of Murray,
Duke of Atholl, Scotland includes an escutcheon en surtout for the Chiefship of the Name of Murray and with the crown of a marquess for the Marquessate of Tullibardine :*
escutcheon of pretence or
en surtout—When one escutcheon is borne in the centre of the coat, it is sometimes called an
inescutcheon or an
escutcheon of pretence or an
escutcheon en surtout. Such centrally placed escutcheons usually have some particular significance. For example, in arms of dominion an inescutcheon typically shows the dynastic arms of the prince, whose possessions are shown in the quarters of the main shield; current examples include the arms of the
Danish royal family, with an inescutcheon of the
house of Oldenburg, and the
coat of arms of Spain, with an inescutcheon of the
house of Bourbon-Anjou. In Scots heraldry the escutcheon
en surtout serves several different purposes. This all comes under the heading of
marshalling. •
Lozenge: a rhombus with its long axis upright, resembling the
diamond of playing-cards. :*
Fusil: a thin lozenge; very much taller than it is wide. :*
Mascle: a voided lozenge (i.e. with a largish lozenge shaped hole) :*
Rustre (very rare): a lozenge pierced (i.e. with a smallish round hole) File:Blason Guillaume de Haer (selon Gelre).svg|
3 lozenges—Gules, three lozenges argent— Guillaume de Haer (according to Gelre) File:Fusil freeman wiki.jpg|
3 fusils—Per fess azure and vair ancient; three fusils in chief and a crescent in base, or; a bordure engrailed argent—Freeman of Murtle, Scotland File:Blason fam fr Rohan.svg|
9 mascles—Gules, nine mascles or—
Rohan family of France File:Rustre dalrymple wiki.jpg|
5 rustres—Argent; on a saltire gules five rustres argent, in chief a lion rampant of the second (gules)—Dalrymple of Woodhead, Scotland •
Roundel: a disc or ball, as in the arms of the
Duchy of Cornwall or of the
Medici. In the Anglophone heraldries differently coloured roundels have different names, e.g. a roundel or is called a bezant and a roundel azure is called a hurt. French heraldry solely distinguishes besants (roundels of a metal tincture) and tourteaux (roundels of a colour tincture): hence, the Canadian Francophone versions of blazons follow suit — Anglophone hurt is Francophone ''tourteau d'azur
, and Anglophone bezant is a besant d'or'' :*
Annulet: a voided roundel (i.e. with a largish round hole, resembling a ring) File:Blason ville fr Launaguet (Haute-Garonne).svg|
a hurt (roundel azure)—Or, a hurt; D'or au tourteau d'azur—
Launaguet,
Haute-Garonne, France File:Blason maison fr de Rieux 1.svg|
10 bezants (roundels or)—Azure, ten bezants in pile; D'azur à dix besants d'or—
Jean IV de Rieux, France File:Blason Mâcon.svg|
3 annulets—Gules, three annulets in pile argent; De gueules à trois annelets d'argent—
Mâcon, France •
Billet: a small rectangle, resembling a brick or a letter. Billets are normally vertical (as in the arms of the
Kingdom of the Netherlands), but can be horizontal (as in the arms of
Friesland). File:Blason-azur-10-billettes-or.svg|
10 billets—Azure, ten billets or; D'azur à dix billettes d'or— Baud, Morbihan, France == Variations ==