Shield

Kite shield (Accepted); round shield (Period)

Escutcheon (Period)

A shield is a piece of defensive armor, generally carried in one hand, freeing the other hand for a sword. As an heraldic charge, the most common form of shield is the escutcheon or heater shield.

Another type is the “buckler” or round shield; also called a “targe” or “target”, it’s found as an heraldic charge as early as 1312, in the arms of Bosun [ANA2 359].

Madu (Probable SFPP)

Other types of shield found in Society heraldry include the “madu” or “madhu”, an Indian shield with horns projecting from either side [Stone 423]; the “kite shield”, depicted in this form in the Bayeux Tapestry, c.1070; and the “shield of David”, another name for the star of David. See also roundel.

Edwin Bersark bears: Gules, a roundel so drawn as to represent a round shield battered in long and honorable service argent.

Umbar in Harchiral Dandachi bears: Argent, chaussé ployé cotised and in chief a kindjal dagger palewise inverted sable surmounted by a madu shield fesswise gules.

Shell

Snail shell (Period)

Whelk (Period)

A shell is the hard outer covering used by some molluscs and fish for protection. The most common heraldic shell is the escallop, but others are also found: the “whelk”, with its opening to chief by default, found in the canting arms of Shelley, 1526 [Wagner 93]; and the “snail shell”, with its opening to dexter by default, found in the canting arms (German Schnecke) of Schneckhaus, 1605 [Siebmacher 72]. These are drawn in a somewhat stylized manner. Society armory also has instances of other sea-shells, such as the “nautilus shell”, “cowrie shell” and the “sand-dollar”, which are emblazoned more naturalistically.

Period heralds seem to have used whelks and escallops interchangeably; therefore, Society armory grants no difference between the various types of shell. See also snail.

Hallveig Sigrúnardóttir bears: Vert, three whelks argent.

Ealasaid an Dubhghlais bears: Gules, a fess checky sable and Or between four snail shells argent.

Ia of the Sea bears: Vert scaly argent, a nautilus shell, opening to dexter chief Or.

Amina of Songhay bears: Or, a bald Mooress’s head cabossed and on a chief sable three cowrie shells fesswise argent.

Sheep

Ram rampant (Period)

Paschal lamb passant reguardant (Period)

The sheep is a wooly, grazing beast famed for its placidity, yea, stupidity. It’s found in the arms of Schafli, c.1340 [Zurich 389].

The category includes the “ram”, the male sheep, a symbol of virility, distinguished by his spiral horns, found in the canting arms of Ramsberg c.1370 [Gelre 40]; and the “lamb”, the young sheep, a symbol of meek innocence, found in the canting arms (Latin agnus) of Agnis, 1286 [DBA1 295]. Ovines are often found statant or rampant, but there doesn’t seem to be a default posture common to all; but in general, rams are more often rampant, and sheep more often statant. The illustration shows a ram rampant.

There is also the “Paschal lamb”, a reference to the Lamb of God: he bears a banner over his shoulder, and is passant by default. (He is often shown reguardant as well, as in the illustration, but that fact is always blazoned.) When blazoned “proper”, the Paschal lamb is argent, haloed Or (sometimes with a red cross on the halo), and his banner is argent with a red cross. It’s found as an heraldic charge as early as 1304, in the arms of Barbitonsor [DBA1 205].

The Society currently grants difference between sheep and goats. For related charges, see fleece, goat, musimon. See also vegetable lamb.

The King of Gleann Abhann bears: Per pale gules and sable, a ram rampant within a laurel wreath, in chief a coronet argent.

Ælfhelm se Reade bears: Vert, three sheep statant argent.

Robert MacNair bears: Erminois, three rams rampant sable.

Karl Skarpi bears: Gules, a Paschal lamb passant proper between three crosses crosslet Or.

Shears; Scissors

Pair of shears (Period)

Pair of scissors (Period)

Shears (more fully a “pair of shears”) is a cutting instrument with a pair of opposing blades joined by a spring. Medievally, they came in several sizes, from large shears the height of a man (used to shear the wool from sheepskin) to small hand-held shears used by seamstresses in sewing; the latter are also called “snips”. The blades might have either pointed or rectangular ends; rectangular ends are perhaps more common in mundane heraldry (as in the arms of Gennip or Gennep, c.1370, [Gelre 88v]), but the triangular blades are also found (Langen, 1605 [Siebmacher 181]). The latter are more popular in the Society.

Shears have their blades to base, slightly open, by Society default.

Related to shears is the “scissors” or “pair of scissors”: the opposing blades pivot on a bolt, and have handles on the other end to open and close them. Scissors are likewise a period charge, found in the arms of Jungingen, c.1340 [Zurich 196], and the Guild of Tailors of Basel, 1415 [Volborth 184]; the handles should not be drawn in the modern ergonomic design. Society heraldry distinguishes between the shears and the scissors, though little heraldic difference is granted. The scissors’ default orientation is with points opened to chief, but that fact is frequently blazoned explicitly.

Blanking shears (Accepted)

In Society armory, we find “blanking shears”, which despite the name, are actually like scissors in design: they’re made for cutting metal blanks, as for coins. As with scissors, their default orientation is with the blades to chief; the illustration is taken from a woodcut by Hans Burgkmair the Elder, c.1500.

Agnes Cresewyke bears: Gules, three pairs of shears Or.

Carlos Blanco el Barbero bears: Per chevron azure and gules, a pair of scissors argent.

Ian Cnulle bears as a badge: Argent, a pair of open blanking shears, handles interlaced with a hammer fesswise reversed, all between three roundels sable.

Sheaf

Sheaf of three spears (Period)

A sheaf is a bundle or cluster of objects. The unmodified term is normally considered equivalent to a garb, and this is sometimes made explicit (e.g., “a sheaf of wheat”). But in blazonry, the term also refers to a group of three charges, two in saltire surmounted by another palewise. The term is most often used with arrows: a “sheaf of (three) arrows” is a common motif, found in the arms of Joskyn, c.1435 [DBA1 11]. But the term has also been used in mundane blazons for charges other than arrows [Franklyn 302], and it has been adopted for use in Society blazons as well. (It thus replaces older, more awkward neologisms, such as “in estoile” or “in gyronny”).

The illustration shows a sheaf of three spears. It is also possible to have more than three charges in a sheaf, but such cases must be explicitly blazoned.

Sten Stensson bears: Vert, three sheaves of arrows argent.

Conaire Anluan MacMurchadha bears: Vert, a sheaf of three spears argent within a bordure checky vert and Or.

Kilic ibn Sungur ibn al-Kazganci al-Turhani bears: Sable, a sheaf of five swords argent within an orle Or.

Shave, currier’s

Currier’s shave (Period)

A currier’s shave is a long single-edged knife with a handle on either end, used to scrape the hair and fat off a cow’s hide before tanning. It may also be termed a “tanner’s shave” or a “currier’s knife”. The illustration is taken from the arms of the Worshipful Company of Curriers, 1583 [Bromley & Child 62]. The shave is fesswise, edge to base, by default. For related charges, see drawknife. See also tools.

Jeremea Gerber bears: Vair, on a fess azure a two-handled currier’s knife argent.

Shackle

Shackle (Period)

Shacklebolt (Period)

A shackle is a lockable restraint for the wrist (where it may also be called a “manacle”) or for the ankle (where it may also be called a “cuff”). A single shackle (manetta in Italian) is a period charge, found in the canting arms of de Manetis, mid-15^th C. [Triv 218]. In English armory, there is also the “shacklebolt”, a pair of shackles joined by a short solid bar; it was the badge of Percy, Earl of Northumberland, d.1527 [Walden 258; HB 129], and found in the arms of Fenrother, Sheriff of London, 1513 [DBA2 496].

In Society armory, the shackle is frequently shown with a short length of chain dependent, to promote ready identification. When blazoned “a pair of shackles (or manacles)”, the chain is understood to connect the two cuffs. For related charges, see collar, fetterlock, padlock.

Thomas Shackle bears: Azure, a broken shackle, dependent therefrom a broken chain of four links Or.

Maucolum de Duueglas bears: Sable, three manacles and on a chief argent, a sword sable.

Hans the Gentle bears: Or, a feather, on a chief gules a pair of manacles Or.

Ariana Elia Del Rosario bears: Vert, three shacklebolts argent.

Serpent

Serpent erect (Period)

The serpent is a cunning reptile, the embodiment of sin to the early Christian fathers. It is also blazoned as a “viper”, or more modernly, simply a “snake”. Its most famous example is in the canting arms (Italian biscia) of Visconti, Dukes of Milan, dating at least to 1413 [Conz.Const. cxlviiº].

The standard heraldic form is of a non-descript venomous serpent, but sometimes an exact species is mentioned: the “adder” and “asp” are specified in mundane armory, while the “cobra”, the “rattlesnake”, and the “natural python” (among others) are found in Society armory. (These latter, not being found in period Europe, carry a step from period practice.) Early depictions of the serpent (still seen in the Visconti arms) give its head a wyvern-like crest.

Serpent nowed (Period)

Serpent involved (Period)

In period armory, serpents may be found “erect”, as in the above cited arms of Visconti; “nowed”, or knotted, as in the arms of von Löfitz, 1605 [Siebmacher 156]; and “glissant”, or gliding forward, as in the arms of von Elchingen, c.1450 [Scheibler 93]. When glissant or erect, the serpent’s body is frequently drawn wavy, sometimes exaggeratedly so.

In the Society, we have examples of serpents in annulo, head biting the tail; this posture is variously blazoned as a serpent “in annulo”, “in annulo vorant of its own tail”, or “involved in annulo”. This latter usage, with “involved”, doesn’t match that of period heraldry: there, a serpent involved is coiled in a spiral, head outside and in chief, as in the arms of Throckmorton, d.1570 [Woodcock & Robinson, Heraldry in Historic Houses of Great Britain, p.74; cf. Parker 529]. None of these postures seem to be the default; the serpent’s posture must be explicitly blazoned.

Due to the fame of the Visconti arms, and the fact that its main charge was used to show allegiance to the Ducal House of Visconti, the serpent depicted therein – a serpent glissant palewise, either azure or vert, vorant of a demi-human – is not permitted in Society armory.

For related charges, see eel, man-serpent, naga, Norse beast, pithon, sea-serpent.

Þorfinna gráfeldr bears: Argent, three serpents nowed gules.

Ragnachar Radagaist bears: Vert, a serpent in annulo argent.

Fiora Forte bears: Vert, two serpents erect respectant and entwined, the dexter argent and the sinister Or.

Matheus le Vaus bears: Quarterly argent and azure, a serpent glissant palewise counterchanged.

Lillias Dubh bears: Argent, a serpent involved sable.

Senmurv

Senmurv (SFPP)

The senmurv is an ancient Persian monster with the front half of a dog and the wings and rear body of a bird. It dates from 7^th Century legends [Ernst and Johanna Lehner, A Fantastic Bestiary], but no examples have been found in period armory. As a motif from outside Europe, the use of the senmurv is a step from period practice.

The senmurv has its forelegs extended, and wings elevated and addorsed, by Society default. See also simurgh.

Bahram the Resplendent bears: Sable, a senmurv within an annulet of roundels Or.

Artemisia Lacebrayder bears: Gules, a senmurv between three lace-making bobbins Or.

Gaston de Lurs bears: Azure chaussé, a senmurv argent.

Semy

Semy of roundels (Period)

A semy field is one strewn or powdered with many small, identical charges. In medieval usage, any number greater than six could be blazoned “semy”. (Strictly speaking, “semy” is an adjective, not a noun: it’s from the French semée, “strewn”.)

Semy charges on the field may be drawn as whole charges, placed to fit as best they can; or as an orderly array of charges, cut off by the edges of the shield. Both depictions are period, and either may be used. While semy charges are not a field treatment, in many ways they act as though they were: e.g., semy charges on a field are always blazoned immediately after the field tincture.

Charges may themselves be charged with semy charges (e.g., a bordure mullety). In those cases, the semy charges are not cut off at the edges, but are always whole.

Semy charges may only themselves be charged if the tertiary charges remain identifiable; even then, the usage is deemed a step from period practice.

The illustration is semy of roundels. Semy fields may always simply be blazoned “semy of [charges]”, but some charges have special terms when semy. “Crusilly” is semy of crosses crosslet; “semy-de-lys” is semy of fleurs-de-lys; “goutty” is semy of gouts. In like manner, “bezanty” is semy of bezants, “billety” is of billets, “mullety” is of mullets, &c.

Astra Christiana Benedict bears: Per fess azure mullety of eight points Or and purpure crusilly Or.

Gwenlliana Clutterbooke bears: Gules semy of open books Or.

Marie de Lyon bears: Or semy of suns azure.

Kosa Korotkaia bears: Argent semy of fish gules.

Nicolas de Beaumont bears: Azure semy of garbs Or.

Mistholme

heraldry, illumination, and random jottings

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