Search Results for: sun

Sundial

Cylindrical sundial (Accepted)

Cylindrical sundial (Accepted)

A sundial is a timepiece, whereon a gnomon casts a shadow on a graduated surface; the position of the shadow shows the time of day.  There are many types of sundials; the exact form must be specified in the blazon.  The illustration shows a cylindrical sundial, also called a “shepherd’s dial”; the artifact was known and used from ancient Rome to Elizabethan England [Hester Higton, Sundials: An Illustrated History of Portable Dials, 2001, pp.13-18].  No form of sundial has been found in period armory.

For related charges, see quadrant.  See also astrolabe, clock, equatorium, sphere.

Manus le Dragonier bears as a badge:  A cylindrical sundial argent.

This entry was posted on June 3, 2014, in .

Sunburst

Sunburst (Period)

Sunburst (Period)

A sunburst is a group of sun’s rays, issuing from clouds.  It has been a Royal badge of England since Edward III [HB 96].  The sunburst has its rays to chief by default.

At one time, sunbursts Or were disallowed in Society armory, as being unique to the Plantagenets; but as sunbursts Or were later shown to have been used by others as well, they are now as permissible as sunbursts of other tinctures.

See also heavenly bodies.

Dag Eriksson bears:  Per pale purpure and azure, three sunbursts Or issuant from clouds argent.

John Peynter bears:  Sable, a sunburst inverted Or.

Tigranes of Bezabde bears:  Argent, a sunburst gules issuant from clouds sable, a bordure gules.

This entry was posted on June 3, 2014, in .

Sun

Sun in his splendor (Period)

Sun in his splendor (Period)

The sun is a heavenly body, the day star around which the planets revolve.  It began to be used as an heraldic charge early, in the arms of de la Hay, c.1255 [ANA2 550].  The sun is most commonly drawn as a disk with multiple rays emanating from the edge; these rays are normally drawn as alternating straight and wavy rays.  However, many period depictions (especially in early period) made all the rays straight, and showed no disk; other depictions (especially on the Continent) showed only wavy rays.  A sun is thus negligibly different from a mullet or estoile of many points.

A sun “in his splendor” or “in his glory” is depicted with a human face; this artistic nuance seems to have begun in the early 15th Century and had come into common use by Tudor times.  A “sun eclipsed” in mundane blazonry is simply a sun sable; in Society blazonry, a “sun eclipsed” is one whose center disk is another tincture than the rays, or whose center disk is obscured by a roundel.  In early Society usage, the eclipsed disk was sable by definition; current practice is to explicitly blazon the tincture of the eclipsing.  The eclipsing may be of any tincture, but eclipsing of a divided tincture is deemed a step from period practice.

Ray of the sun issuant from dexter chief (Period)

Ray of the sun issuant from dexter chief (Period)

A “ray of the sun” is a demi-sun issuant from the edge of the shield, with one ray elongated to cross the field.  The arms of Aldam, 1632 [Guillim2 120] explicitly state the ray’s direction, and this must be done in Society armory as well; the illustration shows a ray of the sun issuant from dexter chief (and therefore bendwise).

The King of Atenveldt bears:  Azure, a sun in his splendour Or within a laurel wreath argent, in chief a crown of three greater and two lesser points Or.

The Prince of Insula Draconis bears:  Per fess sable and azure, a demi-sun in splendour issuant from the line of division within a laurel wreath, in chief a crescent Or.

Wendryn Townsend bears:  Azure, a sun in glory Or.

Esteban San Buenaventura bears:  Or, three suns in splendor sable.

Kourost Bernard of the East Woods bears:  Sable, a sun eclipsed Or [i.e., a sun Or eclipsed sable].

Gairovald Eburhard bears:  Sable, issuant from dexter chief a demi-sun argent.

Pascal Brendan Merredy bears:  Vert, a ray of the sun bendwise Or, in sinister chief a chalice argent.

This entry was posted on June 3, 2014, in .

Cross: Ukrainian sun

Ukrainian sun-cross (Disallowed)

Ukrainian sun-cross (Disallowed)

The “Ukrainian sun cross” is a motif from Russian art; however, pending evidence of its use in medieval armory, it’s been disallowed from further Society use.

Vassillissa Koshkovna Nakhodchivaya bears:  Gules, a dolphin naiant contourny inverted embowed to base argent, maintaining in its mouth a leek vert, on a chief triangular argent a Ukrainian sun-cross gules.

This entry was posted on January 10, 2014, in .

Cross: Norse sun

Norse sun cross (Accepted)

Norse sun-cross (Accepted)

The “Norse sun-cross” is sometimes called an “Odin-cross” or a “sun-wheel”.  It had once been disallowed as being equivalent to the astronomical symbol for the planet Earth, but is currently permitted for Society use.

Curwinus Trevirensis bears:  Azure, a Norse sun cross within a bordure argent.

Jeane Kilmeny bears: Sable, on a fess argent three Norse sun crosses azure.

Kenneth MacQuarrie of Tobermory bears: Sable, a chevron checky argent and sable between three Norse sun crosses argent.

This entry was posted on January 10, 2014, in .

Well

Open well (Period)

Open well (Period)

Covered well (SFPP)

Covered well (SFPP)

A well is a vertical shaft sunk into the earth, from which water is drawn.  It’s usually depicted as the edifice built around the hole to prevent accidents:  a short masonwork wall.  It’s commonly round, as in the arms of Pronner von Tahlhausen, 1605 [Siebmacher 98]; but there are also period examples of square wells (in the canting arms of Hadiswell, 1586 [Bedingfeld 58]) and hexagonal wells (in the canting arms of da Fontana, mid-15th C. [Triv 149]).

Some period arms depict wells (of all shapes) with a swape, or lever arm for drawing water.

In more modern heraldry, the well is depicted with a wooden cover or roof, and a cradle for a pail and rope [Franklyn 346].  This form of well was the first form registered in the Society; while still permitted, its use is now considered a step from period practice.

Neither form of well is the Society default.  The type of well must be explicitly blazoned:  either “open” or “roofless”, or “covered” or “roofed”.

Japanese well-frame (Accepted)

Japanese well-frame (Accepted)

There is also the “Japanese well-frame” or “well-curb” (igeta), with examples dating to the 15th Century; it’s found in the 17th Century Mon of Inoue [Xavid Pretzer, O-umajirushi: A 17th Century Compendium of Samurai Heraldry, p.218; cf. Hawley 79].  The motif is formed of four laths fretted; period examples show the laths either fretted as on a delf, or as on a mascle.  The latter is the Society default.  As the Japanese well-frame could also be blazoned in Western European terms, it is not a step from period practice.

For related charges, see fountain.

Jon Blackwell bears:  Argent, a covered well sable.

Alina Meraud Bryte bears:  Per fess rayonny azure and argent, an open book argent and a roofless well gules.

Gwenllian Brighid Hertewelle bears:  Vert, in pale a stag’s head cabossed Or and a roofless stone well argent.

Kameyama Kengōro bears as a badge:  Argent, the kanji shu within a Japanese well-frame sable.

This entry was posted on June 8, 2014, in .

Wave

Wave (Disallowed)

Wave (Disallowed)

Japanese great wave (Disallowed)

Japanese great wave (Disallowed)

A wave is a crest or swell on the surface of a body of water.  Two stylizations are found in Society heraldry, one Occidental and one Oriental; neither is permitted any longer, though for different reasons.

The Occidental ocean wave may be stylized as one of the single elements of the wavy-crested line of partition; or it may be drawn naturalistically, with foam and spray.  These stylizations are considered either “landscape heraldry” or intrusively modern, and are therefore disallowed.

In Japanese Mon, the nami or Great Wave employs a different stylization, as borne by Oguri [Hawley 75]; but it cannot be described using European blazonry terms.  This brings it outside the Society’s domain; it is therefore disallowed.

The Society’s default for waves changed over the years; both dexter-facing and sinister-facing waves have been called the default.  (Dexter-facing waves have been default more often, and both the illustrated waves face dexter.)  The most recent Society practice has been to blazon the wave’s orientation explicitly.  For related charges, see stream.

Genevieve du Puits bears:  Azure, a wave reversed argent and in chief a sun sable, fimbriated argent.

Ryugen Morite bears:  Sable, a Japanese dragon’s head issuant from a Great Wave reversed issuant from sinister increscentwise argent.

This entry was posted on June 8, 2014, in .

Theow

Theow rampant (Period)

Theow rampant (Period)

The theow, or thoye, is a rare monster resembling a mastiff or wolf, but with cloven hooves and a bovine muzzle and tail.  It was used as a badge by Sir Thomas Cheney c.1560 [Dennys 161].  The theow does not seem to have a default posture; the illustration shows a theow rampant.

Fedora Phelan bears:  Pily bendy sinister vert and argent, a theow rampant pean.

Flóki refskegg bears:  Argent, a theow rampant sable collared and chained Or maintaining a grozing iron sable.

Eric of Nord Broc bears:  Pean, a theow rampant and issuant from base a demi-sun argent.

This entry was posted on June 5, 2014, in .

Sword: katana

Katana (SFPP)

Katana (SFPP)

The “katana” is a Japanese long sword, dating from the 14th Century [Stone 339]; it had a small round hand-guard (tsuba) and a curved single-edged blade.  We have no examples of its use in period heraldry or Mon; as an artifact from outside period Europe, use of the katana carries a step from period practice.

Tul Cyrdkatte bears:  Per pale azure and sable, a katana inverted Or surmounted by a death’s head facing to dexter argent between in fess a sun Or and a decrescent argent.

Yamaguchi Yukio Matsutaro Futoshii no Suo bears as a badge:  A katana fesswise reversed argent hilted sable.

This entry was posted on June 3, 2014, in .

Staff

Bourdon, or pilgrim's staff (Period)

Bourdon, or pilgrim’s staff (Period)

Ragged staff (Period)

Ragged staff (Period)

A staff is a wooden pole, which might be used as a support or a weapon.  The unmodified term is rendered in Society armory as a simple, smooth pole, also known as a “rod”; but two other forms of staff are more prevalent in period armory.

The “bourdon” or “walking staff” is drawn with a handhold on its tip.  It was frequently drawn with a hook as well, for carrying a bag of belongings, and might then be blazoned a “pilgrim’s staff” or “palmer’s staff”; the terms are essentially synonyms.  The bourdon is found in the canting arms of Burdon, c.1285 [ANA2 221].

The “ragged staff” is a thick staff with raguly sides, like a tree trunk with the side-limbs lopped off.  This form dates from c.1360, in the arms of von Lipe or Leipa [Gelre 33v], but is most famous as an element in the badge of the Earls of Warwick, 15th C. [HB 155].

Club (Period); crutch (Period)

Club (Period); crutch (Period)

Ambassador's staff (Accepted); belaying pin (Accepted)

Ambassador’s staff (Accepted); belaying pin (Accepted)

Other types of staff in period armory include the “club” (also called a “shillelagh” in the Society), a length of wood with a burl at the top, used as a cudgel; it’s found in the arms of von Keul, 1605 [Siebmacher 72].  There’s the “crutch” or “crutchstaff” (also, poetically, called a “potent”), found in the arms of di Scanci, mid-15th C. [Triv 331]; it comes in varying forms depending on era, with the illustration being typical.

Of the staves unique to Society armory, there are the “herald’s staff” or “ambassadorial staff”, a short staff with ribbons; the “belaying pin”, used on sailing ships to secure lines and quell mutinies; the “jester’s bauble”, a short stick with a miniature jester’s cap on its end; and the “wand”, a term implying a more naturalistic drawing, perhaps with a leaf or two.

Jester's bauble (Accepted); wand (Accepted)

Jester’s bauble (Accepted); wand (Accepted)

All staves are palewise by default.  Their “proper” coloration is brown, the color of wood.  (The exception is the jester’s bauble:  when blazoned “proper”, it’s shown with a Caucasian face and a brown wooden handle; the colors of the cap must be explicitly blazoned.)  For related charges, see bend (baton), caduceus, crozier, distaff, juggler’s clubs, mace, scepter, slip (branch), thyrsus, torch (firebrand).  See also golf club, pole-arm, spear.

The Ambassador of Atenveldt bears:  Per pale azure and argent, in canton a sun in his splendour Or, in sinister base two ambassadorial staves in saltire azure.

Ivan Dragonstone bears:  Purpure, on a chief erminois a rod fesswise argent.

Addison the Wanderer bears:  Potent, two palmer’s staves in saltire Or.

Bertrade Deslapins bears:  Or, two ragged staves in saltire sable.

Georgis Ker bears:  Or, a wooden club bendwise proper.

Catriona the Lame bears:  Argent, a crutch sable within a bordure azure.

Dianna Wyndalan of Kidwelly bears:  Barry wavy sable and gules, in saltire a belaying pin and a sword argent.

Quin of the Eastern Harhar bears:  Argent, a jester’s bauble gules and in chief four golpes in arc.

This entry was posted on June 3, 2014, in .