Drawer-handle

Drawer-handle (Accepted, probable SFPP); slice of melon (Period, probable SFPP)

The term “drawer-handle” (kan) is a modern term for a portion of a period charge in Japanese Mon: it seems to be taken from the mokko, or “slice of melon” (Dower’s Elements of Japanese Design). While we have no examples of the drawer-handle (in the illustration, the charge in chief) in period Mon, the mokko (the charge in base) is found in the Mon of Oda Hidenobu, d.1601 [Hawley 18].

In Mon, both the drawer-handle and the melon slice are used in multiples, not singly, and conjoined in annulo.

Kimura Tetsuo bears: Sable, a plate issuant from a Japanese stream, within five drawer-handles conjoined in annulo argent.

Drawbridge

Drawbridge (Period)

A drawbridge is a type of bridge with a section of its span able to be raised or lowered. It was typically used to control access to a castle or other fortification. The drawbridge is a period charge, found in the canting arms of da Ponte, mid-15^th C. [Triv 278]. By default, it’s depicted as though seen from above. See also door, gate.

Illuminada Eugenia de Guadalupe y Godoy bears as a badge: Sable, a drawbridge Or.

Dragon

Dragon (Period)

Wyvern (Period)

The dragon is a great reptilian monster with spikes, barbs, bat-wings, and taloned feet. It is sometimes blazoned a “wyrm”, especially for the sake of a cant. A dragon “segreant” is rampant, wings addorsed; this is its default posture.

The dragon’s depiction differed over the centuries, or between countries. The earliest heraldic dragons, for instance, had feathered wings. The dragon’s tail was blunt throughout our period; the barbs at the end were not added until the 18^th Century. (This is considered artistic license, and many Society dragons have barbed tails.)

More important is the number of legs. The Society, following current British usage, defines a “dragon” as having four legs. The four-legged dragon had been a badge of North Wales c.1400; with the ascension of the Tudors, the four-legged dragon became one of England’s supporters [Dennys 191]. However, the older form of dragon had only two legs; it dates back at least to 1300, in the arms of Fulbourne [ANA2 493]. British heraldry now blazons the two-legged form a “wyvern” (Continental heralds still call it a “dragon”), and treats it as a variant of type. The wyvern’s default posture is variously blazoned “statant” or “sejant”: for wyverns, the two postures are deemed equivalent. At one point, the Society granted no difference between the four-legged dragon and the two-legged wyvern; the current policy now grants difference for type between these two.

East Asian dragon passant (SFPP)

Dûn dragon (Disallowed)

There are other variations of the dragon. The “hydra” is a multi-headed dragon; classically described with nine heads, the 16^th Century heraldic form has as few as three [de Bara 85, 143]. (The number of heads should be blazoned.) The “East Asian dragon” is wingless, and drawn in a Chinese or Japanese stylization (and sometimes specifically blazoned as “Chinese” or “Japanese”); it’s permitted in Society armory, with its use deemed a step from period practice. Finally, the “Dûn dragon” is a Society invention, with no wings, two horns, long spindly limbs, and a dopy grin; it is defined in the arms of the Shire of Anlieplic Dûn. This form is no longer used save for the Shire’s armory.

Wyverns displayed are considered a step from period practice; dragons displayed are no longer permitted. For related charges, see amphisbaena, cockatrice, griffin, lion-dragon, naga, Norse beasts, orm, pithon.

The King of the Middle bears: Argent, a pale gules, overall a dragon passant vert, in chief an ancient crown Or within a laurel wreath proper.

The Baron of Wyvernwoode bears: Vert, a wyvern passant argent, winged and bellied within a laurel wreath Or.

The Shire of Anlieplic Dûn bears: Per pale sable and argent, a laurel wreath between two Dûn dragons combattant counterchanged.

Éowyn Amberdrake bears: Azure, in pale three dragons passant Or.

Katrina Pietroff bears: Azure, a seven-headed hydra statant argent.

Joseph the Good bears as a badge: Gules, a Japanese dragon passant Or.

Dove

Dove (Period)

The dove is a bird related to the pigeon, with a soft cooing cry. It is often used as a symbol of peace, and thus is sometimes shown with an olive slip in its mouth, as in the arms of the Worshipful Company of Tallow Chandlers, 1456 [Bromley & Child 237]. In heraldic art, the dove is distinguished by a small curled tuft on top of its head. The dove’s “proper” coloration is white, with pink (some sources say gules) beak and legs; its default posture is close.

“Descending” is a special term applied to doves, equivalent to “migrant to base”. A “paraclete” is a dove portrayed as the Holy Spirit: descending and with a halo.

Francesca of Bright Angel bears: Azure, a dove displayed, head elevated argent.

Serena Fabrizio bears: Sable, three doves volant contourny argent.

James de St. Germain bears: Purpure, upon a chevron argent beneath a paraclete descending proper three crosses of Lorraine sable.

Door

Door (Period)

Open doors on stooped arch (Period)

A door is an entrance to a room or edifice. It is hinged along one side, and usually has a ringed handle or a keyhole on the other. It is left to the artist whether the hinged side is on the dexter or sinister side of the door.

The door may be drawn without a frame, as in the arms of Portinari, c.1475 [Huntington Library art collection]; however, in period emblazons, the door is more frequently found inset into an arch or wall. The canting arms of Portenau or Portnaw, c.1460 [GATD 18], with open double-doors hinged on an arch, was a common heraldic motif for doors.

See also drawbridge, gate, portcullis.

The Society Officer for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion bears: Gules, a pointed arch stooped with doors open Or.

Galen Litelpage of Redore bears: Argent masoned sable, an arched door gules, banded and handled azure.

Kenneth Underhwealf bears: Or, a wooden door proper, hinged, latched and padlocked, in base a key fesswise, wards to sinister sable.

Dome

Dome (Accepted)

A dome is an edifice, or more precisely, a portion of an edifice: a hollow hemispherical vault, supported on its outer edges by a circular wall. Domes were found from Roman times, as on the Pantheon, AD 112; by Renaissance times the dome had become a usual architectural feature of a cathedral or mosque.

As an heraldic charge, the dome appears to be unique to Society armory: in such instances, only the dome itself is depicted, with very little of its supporting building. The illustration is taken from Brunelleschi’s dome for the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence, c.1430 [EB VIII:397].

Andrew of Seldom Rest bears as a badge: Gules, on a bend Or a selle sable, a dome vert, and a rest azure.

Dolphin

Dolphin (Period)

Natural dolphin naiant (Accepted)

The dolphin was considered in medieval times the fastest and noblest of the fish. The unmodified term refers to the heraldic form of the dolphin, which is the default: a fierce fish with a spiny dorsal fin, and sometimes tusks. It’s found in the canting arms of the Dauphin of France as early as c.1370 [Gelre 46]. The dolphin’s default posture is naiant; when blazoned “proper”, it is vert detailed gules.

The cetacean dolphin, as found in nature, must be specified as such in blazon, usually as a “natural” or “bottlenosed dolphin”. When blazoned “proper”, it is colored in grey tones, and is considered equivalent to argent. For related charges, see whale.

The Order of the Dolphin of Caid bears: Azure, a dolphin embowed uriant to sinister argent.

Beatrice Delfini bears: Per chevron argent ermined gules, and azure, a dolphin haurient embowed Or.

Diantha Sylvana Galatea Athalie de Castalia bears: Per pale argent and azure, two dolphins uriant respectant counterchanged.

Angelina Nicollette de Beaumont bears: Gules, a bottlenosed dolphin embowed and in chief a sprig of three orange blossoms slipped and leaved fesswise proper.

Dolmen

Dolmen (Accepted)

A dolmen is an edifice erected by the ancient Britons and Celts, consisting of a large flat stone laid across upright stones (called “menhirs”). Modern scholars still debate as to the purpose of dolmens: suggestions include tombs, monuments, altars, or observatories (probably a combination of these). We have no examples of the dolmen in period heraldry, but as a period artifact, it’s acceptable in Society armory.

The Society’s default dolmen is a trilithon: two uprights and one crosspiece. It is occasionally so blazoned, and certainly any other number of uprights or crosspieces must be explicitly blazoned. Society armory also has examples of menhirs standing alone.

For related charges, see arch, torii. See also rock.

Cadwalladyr Stone of Stonecroft bears as a badge: Vert, a dolmen of three uprights capped by two lintels argent.

Gwyneth merch Macsen bears: Sable, a dolmen and in chief a mullet of eight points argent.

Juelda of Salisbury bears: Azure, a dolmen Or and a ford proper.

Colgrym of Avebury bears: Vert, in fess a dragon Or between two menhirs argent.

Dog

Talbot passant (Period)

The dog is a domesticated beast bred for herding, hunting, and guard duty; it was the medieval archetype of loyalty and fidelity. The most common breed of dog found in period heraldry, dating from 1285, is the floppy-eared hunting hound: this breed is variously blazoned a “kennet” (in the canting arms of Kennet c.1285 [DBA1 293]), or more famously as a “talbot” (in the canting arms of Talbot c.1450 [DBA1 202]). It might also, more simply, be blazoned a “hound”, as in the canting arms of Hondgate, temp. Henry VI [DBA2 295]. The illustration shows a talbot passant.

Greyhound courant (Period)

Alaunt statant (Period)

Another breed frequent in period heraldry is the “greyhound” or “levrier”, a fast slender breed (here shown courant). As a charge, it dates from c.1285, in the canting arms of Maleverer [ANA2 111]. (We also have a period example of the greyhound blazoned as a “gower” – i.e., a goer, a fast dog – in the canting arms of Gower, c.1460 [DBA2 295].)

Period armory also gives us the “alaunt” or “alaund”, a short-eared mastiff, in the arms of Woode c.1460 [RH]; the illustration shows an alaunt statant.

The terms “cur”, “mongrel”, &c, (and of course “dog”) may also be used, to refer to a generic dog; such terms are often chosen for the sake of a cant. In Society heraldry, while any demonstrably period breed of dog may be registered, the use of specific breeds beyond those found in period heraldry carries a step from period practice.

For related charges, see fox, hyena, wolf.

Mary of Tamar bears: Or, two levriers rampant addorsed, tails couped sable.

Otta the Terrible bears: Gules, two talbots combattant Or.

Evan Hawkins bears: Or semy of arrows gules, an alant rampant collared azure.

Distaff

Distaff (Period)

A distaff is a long staff that holds the fiber ready for spinning. It is a period charge: the illustration is taken from the civic arms of Lüdger, 1413 [Conz.Const. ccv]. The distaff is normally shown “dressed”, or with the fiber loaded in chief; it is palewise by default. See also drop-spindle, quill of yarn.

The Costumer’s Guild of An Tir bears: A distaff Or.

Gwennan nic Ailpein an Locha Seile bears: Vert, a distaff between two flaunches Or.

Þóra Grímudóttir bears as a badge: A distaff azure.

Mistholme

heraldry, illumination, and random jottings

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