Search Results for: canton

Ordinaries

Ordinaries are among the oldest and most common heraldic charges, being simple geometric shapes bounded by straight lines (or semi-circular curves, for some). Their shapes may have been derived from the reinforcing bands of a shield. There is disagreement in heraldry texts over the distinction (if any) between an ordinary and a sub-ordinary, and which charges fall into which categories. The general Society usage refers to the central ordinaries, which cross the center of the field – the bend, chevron, chief-pale, cross, fess, pale, pall, pile, and saltire – and the peripheral ordinaries, which lie on the field’s edge – the base, bordure, canton, chief, flaunches, gore, orle, and tierce.

In general, ordinaries are drawn so as to take up one-fourth to one-third the width of the shield; the bordure and the orle are typically somewhat narrower. These are rules of thumb only, not precise divisions; the exact proportions will vary, depending on the composition of the armory. If the ordinary is surrounded by secondary charges, it will be drawn somewhat narrower; if the ordinary is itself charged, or if it has a complex line of division, it will be somewhat wider.

When more than one of a given ordinary is used in armory, they must necessarily be drawn narrower; these are called the “diminutives” of that ordinary. Special terms may be used in those cases: the diminutive of the fess is the “bar”, the diminutive of the bend is the “bendlet”, &c. The diminutive term should not be applied to single ordinaries, but only when there are two or more of them (or, rarely, when the visual importance of the ordinary is in some way reduced: a “bendlet enhanced”, for instance).

More than a single type of ordinary may be used in one armory, though there are limitations. In general, the use of two or more peripheral ordinaries is considered poor style. A central ordinary may usually be used with a peripheral ordinary (a fess and a bordure, for instance). Continental armory had some special names for certain combinations of ordinaries, treating them as charges in their own right: e.g., the chief-pale, combining a pale and a chief.

Ordinaries are subject to the complex lines of division: indented, wavy, &c. Only the double-sided ordinaries, however, may be dancetty, voided, fimbriated, or cotised; and except for the fess, ordinaries nowed are considered a step from period practice. Peripheral ordinaries flory (e.g., a “bordure flory”, with demi-fleurs issuant into the field but not into the bordure) are likewise deemed a step from period practice. For more information, see the entries for the individual ordinaries. See also cotising, gemel.

Alia fitz Garanhir bears: Argent, a fess conjoined in chief with a demi-pale between three mullets of six points gules.

Daria Tayt bears: Gules, a pale and a chief Or.

Naga

Five-headed naga glissant (SFPP)

The naga is a mythical creature of Asia, depicted in various forms depending on the region. As accepted for Society use, the naga is a monster drawn as a serpent with multiple stylized heads; this is the form found in Thailand, as described by a Portuguese Jesuit, Fernão Mendes Pinto, in 1569 (papers published posthumously in 1614).

Like the serpent, the naga has no default posture in Society armory; likewise, the number of heads is explicitly blazoned. The illustration shows a five-headed naga glissant. The use of the naga, as a motif from outside period Europe, carries a step from period practice. For related charges, see dragon (hydra).

The Canton of Golden Playne bears: Vert, a five-headed naga glissant contourny Or within a laurel wreath argent.

Munokhoi Kiyan bears: Or, a three-headed naga glissant within an orle sable.

Humanoid monsters

This category of monster consists of those whose forms are basically human, but with additions or mutations. There does not seem to be a default posture common to all of them. When blazoned “proper”, period practice would assume the human parts to be Caucasian (pink or white) unless otherwise specified; Society blazon had once followed this, but is now more inclusive. The human portions of these monsters now follow the same Society blazon conventions as human figures (q.v.).

Angel (Period)

Standing seraph (Accepted)

The “angel” is a human with a pair of wings on its back; it’s a period charge, found in the canting arms of von Engelhoffer c.1450 [Ingeram 140; also Siebmacher 97]. Its default posture is statant affronty, wings displayed (frequently displayed inverted) [Parker 10]. A specific variant of this is the Archangel Michael, so named in blazon: winged and haloed, but armed and armor-clad (and frequently depicted vanquishing a dragon underfoot).

A Society variant of the angel is the “standing seraph”, with six wings: two with tips up, two with tips down, and two covering the body. Like the angel, it’s statant affronty by default. (These are not to be confused with the “cherub” and the “seraph”, which are winged heads; these may be found under (human) head.)

Fury statant affronty, wings displayed (Accepted)

Satyr maintaining a panpipe (Period)

The “fury” is a creature from Greek myth, a winged woman with serpents for hair. It appears to be unique to Society heraldry.

The “satyr” or “pan” is also from Greek myth; it combines the torso of a human with the hindquarters of a goat. It is horned, and may be shown playing a panpipe. The satyr is found as an heraldic charge in the arms of Arcos, c.1540 [Nobreza xl]; though cantingly armed with a bow, and blazoned as a “sagittary”, the creature has two feet, not four, and they are cloven.

Troll (Period)

Demon (Disallowed)

The “troll” is a charge from Scandinavian heraldry, found in the canting arms of Trolle, c.1440 [Raneke 412-413]. (It is sometimes, erroneously, blazoned a “devil” outside Scandinavia.) The heraldic troll is distinguished by having no head: its face is embedded in its torso. It has clawed hands and feet, and a tail; by default, it is shown passant, with the head in full view, and one hand holding the tail.

Finally, there is the “demon” or “gargoyle”, like the satyr in having a beast’s hindquarters, but with the addition of bat-wings, a barbed tail, and sometimes talons. Unfortunately, its best-known heraldic use, in the arms of the City of Brussels, dates only to the early 19^th Century. Demons depicted in period books of hours vary too widely in appearance to be reproducible; therefore, pending evidence of their use in period armory, demons are no longer permitted in Society armory.

For specific entries of other monsters with human parts, see: centaur, harpy, lamia, man-serpent, manticore, man-tyger, mermaid, silkie, sphinx, tarasque.

The Baron of the Angels bears: Gules, a standing seraph affronty proper, winged Or, haloed of a laurel wreath proper.

The Canton of Trollhaven bears: Argent, a troll within a laurel wreath vert and on a chief azure a three-arched bridge Or.

Francesca d’Angelo le Noir bears: Argent, a brunette angel proper, winged and vested sable.

Rhys Gethin bears: Vert semy-de-lys Or, the Archangel Michael argent haloed Or.

Jason the Blue bears: Or, a four-armed demon azure, winged gules.

Marta as-tu Mika-Mysliwy bears: Per chevron vert and Or, in base a satyr dancing and piping proper.

Megara di Alessandra bears: Sable, a Fury rampant affronty, sinister hand lowered, proper vested argent, winged Or, maintaining in the dexter hand a torch bendwise sinister enflamed proper.

Hops

Hop cone slipped and leaved (Period)

Hops are the fruit of the hop vine; they may also be termed “hop cones”, and perhaps the term is more readily understood. Hops are added to beer to give it bitterness, being first added in the 11^th Century; hops were cultivated by twining the vines around poles. Hops are found in the rebus badge of Elizabeth Hopton, d.1498 [Marks & Payne 40]. The “hop vine” and the “hop pole” (a staff palewise with a hop vine entwined around its length) have likewise been used in Society armory.

Hops, like most fruit, have their stems to chief by Society default. The illustration shows a hop slipped and leaved. For related charges, see thyrsus. See also pine cone.

The Canton of Humalasalo bears as a badge: Gules, a hop pole between three tankards Or.

Carson Brewer bears: Per bend sable and argent, a hop cone slipped and leaved argent.

Ilona von Neunhoff bears: Gules, a hop vine palewise Or fructed argent, a bordure compony azure, semy of towers argent, and Or.

Iylla Rethelsson bears: Azure, in bend two stalks of barley bendwise sinister embowed Or surmounted by two hop cones conjoined in fess argent.

Grillage

Grillage (Period)

Grillage consists of a set of pallets interlaced with a set of barrulets; it is essentially a fretty field set crosswise. Strangways’ Book, c.1450, blazons it as “square fretty” and assigns it to the arms of Sir John Mandeville [H. Stanford London, Some Medieval Treatises on English Heraldry, 1953, p.178].

Like fretty, while grillage has some of the characteristics of a field treatment, it acts as a charge: charges overlying grillage must have good contrast with the underlying field.

The Canton of Forestgate bears: Vert, a bear rampant sustaining a key within a laurel wreath Or and a chief Or grillage sable.

Avisa of Dun Carraig bears: Azure grillage Or, on a bend sinister argent two forget-me-not sprigs stems to center azure slipped and leaved vert.

Cristoffel Muller bears: Azure grillage Or, on a chief argent two castles gules.

Cross: Stellata

Crux stellata (Accepted)

The “crux stellata” (literally “starred cross”) appears to be a Victorian invention (perhaps of Australian origin); no examples have been found in period armory.

The Shire of Southkeep bears: Azure, a tower issuant from a base embattled or, in canton a crux stellata argent, in base a laurel wreath vert.

Cross: Ermine spots

Cross of four ermine spots (Period)

The “cross of four ermine spots” is found as a charge c.1460, in the arms of Hurston or Hurleston [RH; also Legh 36v]. It is sometimes blazoned a “cross erminée” in mundane heraldry; the former blazon should be used, however, to avoid confusion with a “cross ermine” (i.e., an ordinary tinctured of a fur).

Maurya Etain Sableswan bears: Argent, a cross of four ermine spots within a bordure sable.

Mariana Francisco bears: Per bend sinister azure and gules, in canton a cross of four ermine spots argent, a bordure Or.

Cross: Barby

Cross barby (Disallowed)

The “cross barby” is named for the barbs on the ends of its limbs. Parker [159] cites only modern examples of its use; therefore, the cross barby may not be registered until period examples are adduced.

Jessica the Steadfast bears: Quarterly argent and gules, a cross barby throughout counterchanged, in canton a garden rose gules slipped and leaved vert.

Wulf de Langhemerc bears: Argent, a cross barby sable and a chief checky sable and argent.

Cross

Cross (Period)

The cross is an heraldic ordinary, a vertical lath conjoined to a horizontal lath. As an ordinary, it is throughout by default, and subject to all the usual treatments – e.g., embattled, wavy, voided, cotised – but as the symbol of Christianity, it was elaborated and varied by the medievals more often than any other charge. Medieval heralds were familiar with roughly twenty types of cross, according to Brault [Coat of Arms, I(90), Summer 74, pp.54-64]; more than three hundred types may be found in Victorian heraldry books.

Of these latter, some were distinctions made only after period, which medievally were considered simple artistic variants (e.g., cross crosslet vs. cross bottony). Others were constructed of other charges, conjoined in the shape of a cross (e.g., cross of ermine spots); this was a period method of construction. Most of the crosses in Victorian texts, however, were never actually used in armory, but were the invention of heraldic writers.

The term “crusilly” refers to a field or charge semy of crosses crosslet. If another type of semy cross is desired, it must be specified, e.g., “crusilly couped” or “crusilly Maltese”.

The crosses illustrated in the following entries are all found in Society heraldry. Some were used medievally; some were constructed from four or five other charges; some were taken from Victorian texts, before those were deemed untrustworthy; some are taken from other contexts, such as jewelry; and some are Society inventions. Though the cross is normally throughout as an ordinary, most of its “discrete” forms are not throughout unless specifically blazoned so. Some variations can be combined in simple cases: e.g., a “cross flory nowy pierced” would combine those three treatments into a single cross.

Crosses that were found in period include:

cross of annulets braced, cross annulety, cross avellane, cross bottony, cross of Calatrava, cross of Calvary, cross clechy, cross couped, cross crescenty, cross crosslet, cross doubly pommeled, cross of ermine spots, cross fitchy, cross flory, cross formy, cross fouchetty, cross fourchy, cross of fusils, cross glandular, cross gringoly, cross of Jerusalem, key cross, Latin cross, Maltese cross, cross moline, cross parted and fretted, cross patonce, cross patriarchal, cross pomelly, cross portate, cross potent, cross quarter-pierced, cross rayonnant, cross of Santiago, cross swallowtailed, tau cross, cross of Toulouse, cross tripartite and fretted.

Crosses that are accepted in the Society, as of this writing:

Bowen cross, cross of Canterbury, Celtic cross, cross of Coldharbour, Coptic cross, cross estoile, cross humetty, cross of lozenges, cross of mascles, Norse sun cross, cross of pheons, cross pointed, cross quadrate, Russian Orthodox cross, cross of Samildanach, crux stellata.

Crosses which carry a step from period practice:

ankh, cross arrondi, cross nowy, cross of Saint Brigid.

Crosses which have been disallowed:

cross alisee, cross barby, cross of Cerdana, fillet cross, cross of flames, fylfot, cross gurgity, Non cross, Papal cross, star cross, Ukrainian sun cross.

For related charges, see chi-rho, crucifix, saltire. See also cypher charges, knot.

The King of Lochac bears: Quarterly azure and argent, on a cross gules a crown between four mullets of six points, in canton a laurel wreath argent.

Rulff Sørensøn bears: Gyronny azure and Or, a cross vert.

Elizabeth Feythe bears: Azure, a cross engrailed erminois.

Giovanni di Milano bears: Ermine, a cross cotised purpure.

Cornetto

Cornetto (Period)

Bass cornetto (Accepted)

The cornetto is a musical instrument which combines a wooden body with finger holes (like the recorder) with the mouthpiece of a trumpet. It was, indeed, sometimes an alternate depiction of the trumpet, as in the emblazon of Trumpington in the Heralds Roll, c.1280 [ANA1 78]. The cornetto is curved in form, ranging from the default form in the first illustration, to the so-called “bass cornetto” or “Serpent” in the second illustration.

The Society has the cornetto following the default orientation for other woodwinds: with the mouthpiece to chief. For related charges, see horn.

The Master of the King’s Musick of Atenveldt bears: Per pale azure and argent, in canton a sun in his splendour Or, in sinister a bass cornetto sable.

Dunstan Stonehill bears: Or, a bass cornetto and on a chief sable three bezants.

Mistholme

heraldry, illumination, and random jottings