Camail (Period)
The camail is fesswise by default. The illustration is taken from Montague’s standard, c.1510 [Walden 179]. See also armor.
The King of the East bears as a badge: A camail argent.
Kristoff Karlsson bears: Vert, a camail and in chief a pair of smith’s tongs fesswise Or.
Calygreyhound rampant guardant (Period)
This monster has a cat’s face, a tufted body and tail, eagle’s forelegs, and frond-like horns. It is period, dating from the mid-15th Century, as a badge of the de Veres, Earls of Oxford [Dennys 153].
The calygreyhound does not appear to have a default posture; the illustration shows a calygreyhound rampant guardant.
The Baron of Rivenoak bears: Quarterly Or and argent, a calygreyhound rampant to sinister between three laurel wreaths sable.
Arin Sturrock of Appin bears: Bendy of six argent and azure, a calygreyhound rampant guardant Or.
Eowyn Feemaister bears: Or, two calygreyhounds combattant guardant sable.
Caltrap (Period)
A caltrap, or caltrop, is an iron device with four spikes; caltraps were strewn before enemy horsemen to hinder their progress. The spikes are so arranged that, no matter how the caltrap lands, one spike is always vertical. In heraldry, the caltrap thus has a point to chief by default. It’s found in the arms of Creston, c.1520 [DBA2 222], and the canting arms of Trappe, 1563 [Woodward 353]. See also mullet.
Selena of the Northern Woods bears: Sable, a caltrap Or.
Toen Fitzwilliam bears: Vert semy of caltrops argent.
Fiona nic Kineth bears: Per pale gules and argent, two caltraps counterchanged.
Caldera gringolada (Period)
A caldera gringolada is a charge from Iberian armory, consisting of a stylized cauldron with multiple serpents’ heads issuant from the opening (or the ends of the bail). (The name derives from the same root as the cross gringoly.) It’s a period charge, found in the arms of Pacheco, c.1540 [Nobreza xvii], and appears to be uniquely Iberian.
As an artistic variant, the Society grants no difference between a standard cauldron and a caldera gringolada. For related charges, see pot.
Selene Colfox bears as a badge: A caldera gringolada barry sable and Or, the serpents Or.
Esmeria de Rus bears: Purpure, a caldera gringolada barry Or and sable, the serpents argent.
Calamarie (Accepted)
Polypus (Accepted)
The calamarie is a water-dwelling mollusc, its body pointed at one end and with multiple tentacles (usually ten) at the other end. In period, it was also called a “cuttle-fish”; its modern name is the squid. Though known in period, no examples of the calamarie have been found in period armory. The calamarie has its tentacles to chief by Society default.
The calamarie has been used as the modern interpretation of a sea monster from Norse legend, known as the “kraken”, which would grab passing ships and break them apart. At one point in the Society’s history, the calamarie was blazoned as a “kraken”. However, given the lack of evidence that the mythical kraken was ever depicted as a giant squid in any art predating the 18th Century, the term is no longer used. (There are a handful of Society blazons still using the term, mostly for canting purposes.)
Similar to the calamarie is the “polypus”, distinguished by its rounded head and eight tentacles; it’s known modernly as the octopus. Again, though known in period, no examples of the polypus have been found in period armory. The polypus has its tentacles to base by Society default.
Both the calamarie and the polypus should be drawn so their tentacles may be clearly distinguished; they should mostly occupy the space opposite the head, with less than half recurving back to the midsection of the creature and none going past its head. See also fish.
The Order of the Kraken, of Atlantia, bears: A kraken Or.
Jon Searider bears: Barry wavy argent and azure, a calamarie sable.
Alphonse d’Ayr bears: Vert, a polypus argent orbed azure wearing a skull-cap gules, a chief invected ermine.
Caduceus (Period)
A caduceus is a winged rod, with two serpents entwined about it; it was the token of the Greek god Hermes (or Mercury, to the Romans). In period it was considered a merchant’s symbol; in modern America, it has become the symbol of the physician. The caduceus is a period charge, found in the allusive arms of Mercurio or Mercurius, c.1555 [BSB Cod.Icon 267:781].
Rod of Aesculapius (Accepted)
A similar charge is the “rod of Aesculapius”, also called “Aaron’s rod”: this is a stick or staff, entwined with a single serpent. It, not the caduceus, is more correctly a symbol of the medical profession. When blazoned “proper” in Society armory, the staff is brown and the serpent green.
At one time, Society armory reserved both the caduceus and the rod of Aesculapius to medical professionals. Currently, there are no restrictions on either charge. For related charges, see staff, thyrsus.
Carlina Vincenzi bears: Azure, three caducei Or.
Vitale Sagace bears: Argent, a caduceus sable its serpents vert.
Merfyn Gareth ap Mouric bears: Sable, an Aaron’s rod argent.
Mary Teresa Hathaway bears: Azure, a rod of Aesculapius and in chief three roses slipped and leaved fesswise argent.
Rose bush (Period)
A bush is a low-growing plant, with many branches spreading close from the ground. The most common form of bush in heraldry is the rose bush (as in the illustration), but other varieties are also found; they are depicted with exaggerated branches, flowers and leaves. The bush is a period charge, found in the arms of von Roschach, 1413 [Conz.Const. clxxiii] and di Ancius, mid-15th C. [Triv 39]. For related charges, see tree.
Arianwen ferch Edenewen bears: Sable, a rose bush eradicated Or.
Gareth Thorne bears: Vert, a thornbush couped between four arrows conjoined as a mascle Or.
Colin Blackthorn bears: Argent, a pall cotised between three blackthorn bushes eradicated sable.
Burnisher (Accepted)
A burnisher is an artist’s tool, used for rubbing and polishing gold leaf on vellum. It consists of a head or rubbing surface, made of polished ivory or hematite, mounted on a wooden handle. It is a period artifact: its construction, in this form, is described in Cennini’s Libro dell’Arte, 1437. However, it doesn’t appear to have been used in armory. The burnishing head is to chief by Society default.
The Order of Gilder, of the East, bears: A burnisher Or.
Gabriella Maddelena Pisano bears: Argent, on a pile purpure between two common blue irises slipped and leaved proper, a houndstooth burnisher argent.
Bull passant (Period)
This beast is the male bovine, noted for its size, strength, and temper. The term here includes such bovines as the “ox”, the “steer”, and the “bison” or “buffalo”; though the buffalo is usually drawn with larger horns (as in the arms of Desenberch or Wezenborg, d.1393 [Gelre 53]), the exact term is often chosen for the sake of a cant. As a charge, the bull dates from at least c.1370, in the arms of von Plessen [Gelre 100v]; in mundane armory, it is often drawn with a ring through its nose, even when this is not explicitly blazoned.
There is also the “cow”, the female bovine, drawn with prominent udders; and the “calf”, the young bovine, drawn without horns (as in the canting arms of Vele, 1275 [ANA2 166]). Finally, Society armory includes the “yak”, the hairy wild bull of Asia.
None of the bovine family seems to have a default posture; the illustration shows a bull passant. See also pelt.
The Baron of Stierbach bears: Per fess embattled argent and gules, three bulls courant counterchanged, that in base within a laurel wreath argent.
Eadmund de Tonge of Arkengarth bears: Pean, a bull passant to sinister argent.
Angus Murdoch Stewart bears: Argent, a cow rampant purpure within a bordure gules.
Clifford of York bears: Or, a yak statant guardant sable armed argent.
Arming buckle (Period); round buckle (Period)
A buckle is a clasp for use on straps, belts, &c. It is one of the oldest of heraldic charges; in early blazons it is called a “fermail”, as in the canting arms of Malet, c.1275 [ANA2 223]. The buckle may be lozenge-shaped (in which form it is also called an “arming buckle”), round, square, or oval; the exact shape should be specified. (The most common forms in mundane heraldry seem to be round or lozenge-shaped, as in the illustration.) The position of the tongue is left to the artist. For related charges, see brooch.
Medb Liath bears: Azure, six round buckles Or.
Meriadoc Gam bears: Per saltire gules and argent, four arming buckles counterchanged.
Sláine ní Chiaráin bears: Per pale vert and gules, two round buckles argent.