Search Results for: eagle

Panther

Panther rampant guardant (Period)

Continental panther rampant (Period)

The unmodified term “panther” refers to a kindly monster, described in medieval bestiaries as beautiful and amiable, whose sweet breath drives away evil. Heraldically, the panther comes in two widely differing forms; current Society practice grants heraldic difference between them.

In English armory, the panther is depicted as a maneless lion, “incensed”, i.e., with flames spewing from its mouth and ears (a misrendering of its “sweet breath”), and the coat strewn with roundels (frequently multi-colored). This form is usually found guardant in period armory, as with the badge of Henry VI, d.1471 [HB 110]; the illustration shows a panther rampant guardant. This is considered the default panther in Society armory.

In Continental armory, the panther is depicted with a lion’s body and an eagle’s forelimbs; it usually has the head of a horse or bull, and occasionally has horns as well. Like the English form, it is incensed. In Society armory, this form is blazoned a “Continental panther” or “German panther”; the illustration shows a Continental panther rampant. As an heraldic charge, it dates from c.1340, in the arms of Styria [Zurich 31]. Some authors speculate that it might have been the precursor of the monster now called a “male griffin” or “keythong”.

Over the years, the Society has changed its default postures for panthers, of both sorts. Current practice is that both types of panther are not guardant by default; the guardant English panther can be so blazoned.

When blazoned a “natural panther”, the term refers to the great feline beast as found in nature; it may also be blazoned by the period term “ounce”, or the Society term “catamount”.

Elspeth Colquhoun bears: Purpure, in pale two panthers passant counter-passant guardant argent spotted of diverse tinctures and incensed proper.

Talon the Bastard bears: Pean, two panthers rampant addorsed Or spotted sable.

Alrick von Baeker bears: Or, a Continental panther passant bendwise azure incensed gules.

William the Silent bears: Or, a natural panther passant guardant sable.

Opinicus

Opinicus statant (Period)

The opinicus is a chimerical monster with the head and wings of an eagle, the body and legs of a lion, mammalian ears, and the tail of a camel or bear. It is very similar to the griffin, evidently a later variant form: the illustration is taken from the grant to the Worshipful Company of Barbers, 1561 [Bromley & Child 14].

The opinicus does not seem to have a default posture; the illustration shows an opinicus statant. For related charges, see hippogriff.

Fiammeta Attavanti bears: Gyronny azure and Or, an opinicus statant gules.

Leopold von Haskenberg bears: Azure, an opinicus sejant maintaining in its dexter upraised forepaw a goblet Or.

Christina Moncreife bears: Per pale vert and purpure, an opinicus statant within a bordure argent.

Martlet

Martlet (Period)

The martlet is an heraldic bird, in many ways a stylized and generic bird. Blazoned as a merle, merlette, or merlotte (“blackbird”), it was found in French armory as early as c.1185, in the canting arms of Mello [Pastoureau 150]. In English armory, the French term quickly became conflated with the martinet, a type of swallow or swift [Brault 241], and soon became highly stylized in form. The martlet is found as early as c.1244, in the arms of the Earls of Pembroke [ANA2 210]. It remained a popular charge through the end of our period: of the birds, only the eagle was more frequently used.

While the martlet’s exact form varied throughout period, by far the most common trait was its lack of legs: small tufts of feathers take their place. (This is due to the legend that the martlet was always airborne, never lighting on the ground.) For purposes of Society blazonry, this lack of legs is the martlet’s defining characteristic. The martlet was sometimes drawn without a beak (especially in France); post-period depictions (especially in England) gave it the forked tail of the swallow. The illustration is taken from the arms of Sir Geoffrey Luttrell, in the Luttrell Psalter, mid-14^th C.

In the English system of cadency, the martlet is the brisure of the fourth son. The martlet is close by default.

Éadaoin na Slebhte bears: Gules, three martlets Or.

Tamsin Wylde bears: Barry vert and argent, six martlets Or.

Lie de Camurac bears: Per chevron vert and azure, three martlets argent.

Leg; Foot

Leg couped (Period)

Legs are the limbs used for locomotion. Any legged creature may contribute a leg to heraldry; legs from humans, eagles, lions, bears, deer and horses are found in period armory.

The default leg is the human leg. The human leg is severed well above the knee; it should be specified whether the leg is couped (as in the illustration) or erased. By default, the human leg is shown bare; if blazoned “proper”, it follows the same Society blazon conventions as full humans proper, as described under human figure. The human leg may also be clothed in men’s hosen, as in the canting arms of de la Hose c.1275 [ANA2 550], or be shod in sandals or shoes.

Lion’s jambe erased (Period)

Eagle’s leg couped à la quise (Period)

Some animals’ legs have special terms in blazonry. A lion’s leg may be called its “gambe” or “jambe”; as a charge, it dates from at least 1413, in the arms of von Litaw [Conz.Const. cliiii]. (A dragon’s leg may also be called its “jambe”.) Birds’ legs may be severed “à la quise”, at the thigh; this usage is found c.1480, in the arms of Lancaster [DBA2 383]. Lions’ and dragons’ jambes are erect by default, with their claws to chief; humans’ and birds’ legs are foot down by default. The illustrations show a lion’s jambe erased and an eagle’s leg couped à la quise.

Foot couped (Period)

Bird’s foot bendwise erased (Period)

A “foot” is the section of the leg below the knee. Human feet are found, dating from c.1295 in the arms of Shrigley [ANA2 453]; they are detached from their legs at the ankle, and have their toes to dexter by default.

Of animals’ feet, the most confusion has arisen with birds’ feet: a common mistake is to blazon the foot as a “claw” or “talon”, which properly refers only to the toenail. The bird’s foot is a period charge, as found in the arms of von Grünau, 1605 [Siebmacher 58]; it includes no part of the thigh, but only the unfeathered portion below the joint. The illustration shows a bird’s foot bendwise.

The majority of beasts’ and birds’ feet (as distinct from legs) are erect by default, with the claws to chief; only human feet seem to go downwards by default. For related charges, see claw (crab’s), sole, triskelion. See also ham.

The Order of the Jambe de Lion, of An Tir, bears: Checky Or and argent, a lion’s jambe bendwise inverted erased sable.

Pascal Foljambe bears: Azure, a leg couped Or.

Anlaug Dalesdotter bears: Or, three armored legs azure.

Emma Barfoot bears: Sable, a foot couped and in chief a bar argent.

Lothar von Katzenellenbogen bears: Or, in saltire five lion’s jambes couped at the shoulder gules.

Rauðbjorn Ágeirsson bears: Azure, three bear’s jambes erased Or.

Cett Donegal bears: Gules, three eagle’s jambes erased à la quise contourny argent.

Wulfwen atte Belle bears as a badge: In pale a tentacle vert issuant from a boot sable and maintaining a spoon fesswise reversed Or.

Hrassvelg monster

Hrassvelg monster rampant guardant (Disallowed)

The Hrassvelg monster is a chimerical monster unique to the Society, with the head of a cobra, the fore and hind legs of an eagle, the wings of a bat, and the body and tail of a lion. It is defined in the following arms.

Elriin of Hrassvelg bears: Azure, the dexter tierce gules, overall a Hrassvelg monster salient guardant argent.

Harpy; Frauenadler

Harpy guardant (Period)

Frauenadler (Period)

The harpy is a monster from Greek myth, where it’s defined as a vulture with the head and breast of a woman, whose reputation is for bloodthirst. The harpy is found as a charge in the arms of Entyrdene or Tenterden, c.1460 [RH; also Dennys 127]; frequently, only the woman’s head is shown, not the breasts. The harpy’s default posture seems to be close and guardant, but this is frequently made explicit.

Two other woman-bird monsters are usually classed as harpies, though their connotations differ. Like the harpy, they have the head and breast of a woman. The “frauenadler” has the body of an eagle; it’s a German charge, found in the arms of Rysdorfer or Rysdorp, c.1370 [Gelre 98], and more famously in the civic arms of Nürnberg, early 16^th Century [Dennys 129]. Its default posture seems to be displayed and guardant, but again, this is frequently made explicit.

The “sirin harpy” is a charge unique to the Society: a benign creature from Russian legend, with the body of a partridge. Its “proper” coloration is with Caucasian human parts, the plumage a mix of brown, grey and purple, with no one color predominating. Like the standard harpy, the sirin harpy seems to be close by default.

Szabó Éva Mária bears: Sable, a harpy and on a chief argent two roses gules.

Kazimira Suchenko bears: Argent, a frauenadler azure, face and breast proper.

Clea de Húnedoara bears as a badge: Argent, a brunette sirin harpy statant guardant to sinister proper within a bordure engrailed purpure.

Hand

Hand (Period)

Fist (Period)

A hand is a human appendage used for grasping and holding; it is found in the canting arms (French main) of Malmains, c.1275 [ANA2 469]. The default hand is the dexter hand, the default posture is apaumy and couped. Sinister hands are very frequently found in period armory, as well. While Society armory grants no difference between left and right hands, current practice is to explicitly blazon the handedness.

The hand is unclothed by default; sometimes it is found issuant from a cuff, which fact is blazoned. In period blazon, a “hand proper” was assumed to be Caucasian (pink or white) unless otherwise specified; Society blazon had once followed this, but is now more inclusive. Hands proper now follow the same Society blazon conventions as full humans proper, as described under human figure.

Hands are found in other postures besides apaumy. The hand may be “clenched”, forming a fist; indeed, this form may be simply blazoned a “fist”, as in the canting arms (German Faust) of Fausten, 1605 [Siebmacher 211]. A variant of this form is a fist with the index finger extended, as in the arms of Angiolini, c.1550 [BSB Cod.Icon 278:273].

Pair of hands in birkat kohanim (Period)

Hand of benediction (Period)

A pair of hands “in birkat kohanim” has the hands slightly tilted towards each other, the fingers spread but with the index and middle fingers together, as well as the ring and little fingers. This hand gesture is used as a Jewish blessing. The motif is found in period armory, in the arms of Rabbi Abraham Menachem Rapoport, d.1596 [Nathan Ausubel, Pictorial History of the Jewish People].

Similarly, a “hand of benediction” is a gesture used in Christian blessing: the hand is apaumy, with the thumb and two fingers upright, the other fingers curled into the palm. It’s quite frequent in books of hours, and is depicted in modern heraldry texts [Guide 131], but makes very few appearances in period armory: e.g., the crest of Boyd, 1582 [Dunvegan Armorial, fo.253], or the attributed arms of Prester John, c.1530 [BSB Cod.Icon 391:55]. A vested arm ending in a hand of benediction is found in the episcopal arms of Sechau or Seckaw, 1605 [Siebmacher 12].

Hand of Fatima (Disallowed); hand of glory (Disallowed)

The “hand of Fatima” (hamsa) is a stylization from North Africa and the Middle East. Though we have examples of the motif dating from the 12^th Century, there was wide variation in its depiction. Most particularly, the modern depiction of the hand of Fatima, symmetrical and with two “thumbs” curving outward, has no period support as of this writing, and is no longer registerable. A hand drawn as a period hamsa is still permitted, if identifiable as a hand; the style of depiction is left unblazoned.

The “hand aversant” is the opposite of the hand apaumy, with the back of the hand to the viewer. Peculiar to the Society is the “hand of glory”, a hand enflamed, which is no longer permitted in Society heraldry.

In British heraldry, a sinister hand apaumy gules is used as the augmentation for baronets; and the “hand of Ulster”, a dexter hand apaumy gules, is a reserved charge in Irish heraldry. For these reasons, Society armory disallows the use of red hands apaumy on white backgrounds, when they appear to be in the form of an augmentation.

For related charges, see arm, foi, gauntlet. See also glove-puppet.

Mia Sperling bears: Sable, a hand ermine.

Molly Gill Brae bears: Argent, a hand fesswise vert.

Chrystofer Larchmont bears: Gyronny vert and Or, a dexter fist erased gules.

Iaenbryht Græghar bears: Per pale gules and vert, in chief a hand in benediction argent.

Hadrardus Blach bears: Gules, on a bend argent a sinister fist and a dexter fist both fesswise with index fingers extended sable, in chief a compass rose bendwise argent.

Sulima ibn Jafar bears: Azure, a hand of Fatima couped between three goblets argent.

Jethro Stille bears as a badge: Per fess azure and Or, two hands in birkat kohanim and a double-headed eagle counterchanged.

Griffin; Keythong

Griffin (Period)

Keythong rampant (Period)

The griffin, or gryphon, is a classical monster, with the head, wings and forefeet of an eagle, the hindquarters of a lion, and mammalian ears; period emblazons sometimes show it bearded as well. Its default posture is rampant, which when applied to griffins may be termed “segreant”. The griffin is one of the earliest heraldic monsters, dating from c.1280 in the arms of Montagu [ANA2 492].

The griffin has several variant forms, as might be expected for a monster of such antiquity. The form found in ancient Assyria, for example, has a lion’s forelegs instead of an eagle’s forelegs; no heraldic difference is granted for this artistic variation.

There is also what later texts call the “male griffin”: this differs from the standard griffin by a lack of wings, and by sharp spikes radiating from its body. (The term “male griffin” is a misnomer: both forms were shown with male members in period art.) This same creature was termed a “keythong” in a roll of badges, 1475 [Dennys CoA]; it was certainly considered a separate monster in period. Some authors have suggested that it developed from the German form of the heraldic panther, with the spikes meant as the panther’s flames. “Male griffin” is the more common term for this monster, but “keythong” is coming into use as well. The illustration shows a keythong rampant.

For related charges, see dragon, hippogriff, opinicus.

The King of Avacal bears: Quarterly argent and Or, a griffin rampant, on a point pointed gules a crown within a laurel wreath Or.

Alfonso de Castile bears: Or, a griffin segreant sable.

John ap Griffin bears: Vert, a griffin segreant contourny Or.

Maureen ha-Ivriah bears: Azure, an Assyrian griffin couchant, gazing to chief, wings displayed argent.

Gruffydd ap Idwallon bears: Ermine, a keythong rampant contourny reguardant vert.

Flag

Flag (Accepted)

A flag is a piece of cloth attached to a pole, allowed to fly in the breeze. Flags are normally found as artistic details on castles, ships, &c; they’re usually termed “pennons” in such cases. However, flags are sometimes found as charges in their own right. Flags typically stream to dexter (i.e., the pole is in sinister), but the detail is worth no difference and may safely be left unblazoned.

Banner bendwise (Period)

Gonfanon (Period)

There are some other special terms for different types of flags: A “banner” is a square or rectangular flag on a staff, as in the civic arms of Würtzburg, 1413 [Conz.Const. cvi]. A “gonfanon” is a rectangular or heater-shaped flag, hung from ropes at its top corners, as in the arms of the Counts of Auvergne, c.1275 [Asp2 220]. A “wyn” is a stiff triangular vane; it is mostly used for the sake of a cant.

Vexillum (Accepted)

In Society armory we find the “vexillum”, a standard borne by maniples of the Roman army; it denoted lesser rank than the aquila or eagle standard.

Flags are considered a medium for heraldic display. Thus when used as a charge in Society heraldry, the design on a flag is also checked for conflict. An uncharged flag is not considered presumptuous.

Falcon

Falcon (Period)

The falcon is a raptor, a bird of prey, which can be domesticated for use by hunters. It is found as early as c.1295, in the canting arms of Fauconer [ANA2 204]. Heraldically, the falcon category includes “hawks”; there is considerable overlap in their attributes, though, strictly speaking, falcons and hawks are of differing species. In any event, the terms are considered interchangeable in heraldry.

The falcon is close by mundane and Society default (though Society blazons often specify the posture, nonetheless); when blazoned “proper” (and no species is specified), it is understood to be brown.

Falcons are often depicted as “belled and jessed”, with thongs and bells tied to the legs in the traditional falconer’s manner; this may be done even when not explicitly blazoned, as in the illustration. Falcons are also sometimes found “hooded”, with a leather hood over the head; this fact is always blazoned. A few period armories show the falcon atop a perch, as in the arms of Weele, 1610 [Guillim1 161]. The falcon may be found “preying” or “trussing” upon a smaller beast or bird, holding it in its talons while ripping it with its beak. For related charges, see eagle.

Joseph Hawk bears: Per fess embattled sable and argent, three hawks counterchanged.

Eliane Duran bears: Azure, a falcon ermine belled and jessed Or.

Estienne de Condé bears: Argent, three falcons vert.

Mistholme

heraldry, illumination, and random jottings