A tomoe is a charge unique to Japanese Mon, a comma-shaped motif intended to represent a whirlpool in water. Tomoe are period charges, found in the Mon of Bessho Nagaharu, general and daimyo, d.1580 [Hawley 77].
The period examples of tomoe show them used in multiples, three being by far most common; always in annulo; and with no other charges in the design. This attested pattern, as in the illustration, has been accepted for Society use.
The tierce is an heraldic ordinary, a vertical band issuant from the dexter side of the shield. As the name implies, it is usually drawn one-third the width of the shield; this proportion may vary, depending on the presence of other charges, or on complex lines of division. The tierce may also be called a “side”; it has no diminutives in Society heraldry.
The tierce may also issue from the sinister, which case is always specified. (Indeed, the dexter tierce is often explicitly blazoned, as well.) The tierce is subject to the normal treatments – embattled, wavy, &c – but like the chief and other single-sided ordinaries, the tierce may not be cotised, voided, dancetty or fimbriated.
Because charging a plain tierce can result in the appearance of impaled armory, plain tierces may not be charged in Society heraldry. Tierces with complex lines may be charged, though the usage is deemed a step from period practice. Tierces, both plain and complex, may be used with other charges on the field with no penalty.
The King of Ansteorra bears as his battle flag: Or, a sinister tierce embattled gules, in canton a mullet of five greater and five lesser points sable.
Charles the Grey of Mooneschadowe bears: Or, a tierce gules.
Diarmait mac Domnaill bears: Bendy sinister azure and argent, a tierce azure.
A thyrsus is a staff entwined with leafy vines, and topped with a pine cone; in classical Greek art, it was the token of the god Dionysos. No examples of its use have been found in period armory. In Society armory, the thyrsus is palewise by default; its “proper” tincture is brown, with green vines. See also caduceus.
Kathern Thomas Gyelle Spence bears: Sable, a unicorn’s head erased and on a gore argent a thyrsus bendwise proper.
Daria Fuentes bears: Ermine, a thyrsus proper.
Malyna Perceval bears: Vert, a thyrsus Or between flaunches argent.
A thunderbolt is a winged, swirling pillar of flame, thrown from the hand of God or the gods. It may be shown with lightning bolts behind it, crossed in saltire; the pillar is palewise by default. The thunderbolt is described in de Bara’s Blason des Armoiries, 1581 [128], and Guillim’s Display of Heraldrie, 1610 [99]; we have a example of its actual use in the arms granted in 1590 by Philip II of Spain to the family of Balthasar Gerards, the assassin of William the Silent.
Sextus Calpurnius Bestia bears: Gules, a thunderbolt argent.
Caris Maniske bears: Per fess argent and purpure, a thunderbolt counterchanged.
Huldah von Jal bears: Per bend sinister sable and gules, a thunderbolt Or.
Marcus Marius Leontius Britannicus bears: Gules, a thunderbolt and a chief embattled Or.
The thistle is a prickly flower with a poofy blossom; it is most strongly associated with Scotland. Unlike most flowers, the thistle is shown in profile by default. In Scots armory, the thistle’s “proper” coloration is with green ball, stem and leaves, and a red bloom; Society armory more frequently makes the bloom purple. A crowned thistle, as the Royal badge of Scotland [HB 141], is not registerable in the Society.
The thistle is slipped and leaved by default, although this is frequently blazoned. A “thistle head” is the ball and bloom alone, without the stem and leaves; we find an example of the charge in the Recueil d’armoiries peintes, a 15th Century roll of arms, in the attributed arms of Sir Griflet, Knight of the Round Table.
A thimble is a small bit of metal or leather, worn on the fingertip to protect it from needles’ ends. A common medieval form, dating from the 14th Century, was a pitted brass dome; this form of thimble has been accepted for Society use. Such thimbles are shown being made in the Hausbuch der Mendelschen, c.1480 [Geoff Egan, The Medieval Household: Daily Living c.1150-c.1450, 1998, p.264]; but no examples of their heraldic use have been found. The thimble opens to base by Society default.
Kerry RanAurora bears: Per fess Or and azure, atop a thimble argent a frog sejant affronty gules.
Anastasie de Lamoure bears: Azure, three thimbles and on a chief argent a needle fesswise azure.
Victoria Piera Rosselli bears: Sable, three thimbles argent.
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.
A tennis racquet, or racket, is used in the game of tennis to swat the ball across the court. It consists of a round frame on a short handle, with a mesh stretched across the frame. It is a period artifact: the illustration is based on an example from 1583 [Gianni Clerici, The Ultimate Tennis Book: 500 years of the sport, fig.11]. Unremarkably, the tennis racquet doesn’t seem to have been used in period armory. The handle is to base by Society default.
Bertrand du Beaumanoir bears: Vert, two tennis rackets in saltire, a bordure embattled Or.
The teazel, or teasel, is a spiny flower used in dressing or fulling cloth; it is sometimes more fully blazoned a “fuller’s teazel” for that reason. It is a period charge, found in the arms of the Worshipful Company of Fullers, 1510 (later incorporated into the Clothworkers, 1530) [Bromley & Child 48]. Unlike most flowers, the teazel is shown in profile by default.
The teazel could either be blazoned “slipped and leaved”, as shown as in the illustration; or only the head might be shown, blazoned a “teazel’s cob” or “teazel’s head”. For related charges, see thistle.
Liadan Chu bears: Argent, three teasels slipped and leaved vert, between two flaunches purpure each charged with a triquetra fesswise one point outward Or.
Anne la Trouvere bears: Vert, a teazel slipped and leaved and on a chief Or three lozenges azure.
Beatrix Elizabeth de Lara bears: Quarterly azure and argent, in bend sinister a teazel head and a Catherine’s wheel sable within a bordure counterchanged.
A tassel is a bundle of threads, loose at the bottom and bound into a knob at the top. Medieval tassels were used to ornament clothing and other items such as cushions. However, the tassel was also used as an heraldic charge in its own right: e.g., in the arms of de Novedrate, mid-15th C. [Triv 248], and of John or Johns, c.1520 [DBA2 401]. See also knot.
The Order of the Scarlet Guard, of Æthelmearc, bears: A tassel per pale gules and argent.
Theodora Bryennissa bears: Argent, a tassel and a chief engrailed azure, a bordure sable.
Adalyde de Sardaigne bears as a badge: Gules, a tassel bendwise sinister Or.
