Knot of four loops and four tassels (Accepted)

The “knot of four loops and four tassels” is a generic knot, whose blazon is a simple description.  It is defined for Society use in the following armory.

Charles O’Connor bears:  Gules, a knot of four loops and four tassels argent.

Fidelis knot (Disallowed)

The Fidelis knot is a Society invention, as defined in the example armory.  It is no longer permitted to be registered.

Macsen Fidelis bears:  Per bend argent and vert, a black swan’s head erased at the neck proper and a Fidelis knot argent.

Donnelly knot (Disallowed)

The Donnelly knot is a Society invention, as defined in the example armory.  It is no longer permitted to be registered.

Liosliath of Donnelly bears:  Purpure, a Donnelly knot Or.

Cavendish (or Savoy) knot (Period)

The “Cavendish knot” or “Savoy knot” was used as a badge by the House of Savoy since 1362; but it is better known as the badge of Cavendish, Dukes of Devonshire [Woodcock & Robinson 186], though no period examples of its use by that family have been found.  The knot may be called a “figure-eight knot” in non-heraldic contexts.

The Order of the Cavendish Knot, of the Middle, bears:  Four Cavendish knots conjoined in cross vert.

Bowen knot (Period)

The “Bowen knot” was the badge of the Bowen family [HB 80].  It was normally drawn with curved bows, as in the illustration, but sometimes with corners, as seen in the Visitation of Wales, 1530 [Woodcock & Robinson 149].

Eilonwen verch Gryffyn bears:  Per pale vert and sable, a Bowen knot crosswise argent.

Bourchier knot (Period)

The Bourchier knot was the badge of Henry Bourchier, Earl of Essex, d.1483 [HB 99].  The knot was used by subsequent members of the Bourchier family, sometimes substituting other items (thorn branches, garters) for the cords [Siddons II.2 94].

The modern term “granny knot” is drawn as a Bourchier knot.  For heraldic purposes, the “square knot” and “reef knot” are equivalent to the Bourchier knot as well.

Kemrith Danil bears as a badge:  Argent, a Bourchier knot vert.

Bohemian love knot (Period)

The “Bohemian love knot” (Liebesknote) is special among period knots:  all examples were tied from ribbon rather than cord.  It appears to have been a badge of Wenzel (or Wenceslaus) of Bohemia, c.1400:  the knot appears frequently in manuscripts and architecture he commissioned.  [K.M. Swoboda, Gotik in Boehmen]

Johannes von Narrenstein bears:  Ermine, a Bohemian love knot azure within a bordure gules.

Belt knot (Accepted)

The “belt knot” is the knot used to tie a leather belt around a person’s waist.  It’s a Society charge, no examples having been found in period armory.

Aldred von Lechsend aus Froschheim bears:  Or, the knot of a leather belt, ends embattled, proper within a bordure embattled vert.

A knot is a complex interlace, usually of rope or twine; there are a great many varieties.  In period heraldry, knots were normally used as badges, but there are some examples of knots used in coats of arms – e.g., the Bourchier knots in the arms of Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1454-86 [DBA3 430] – and they may be so used in Society heraldry.

Of the knots used in the Society, many are taken from medieval heraldry; some are simple knots, described in the blazon rather than given a special name; some are used mundanely in other occupations, such as surgery; and some knots are Society inventions.  The illustrations show each knot in its default orientation.

The knots taken from medieval heraldry include:

• Bohemian love knot
• Bourchier knot
• Bowen knot
• Cavendish knot (or Savoy knot)
• Heneage knot
• Hungerford knot (or Dacre knot)
• Knot of two hearts voided and braced
• Lacy knot
• Stafford knot
• Suffolk knot
• Wake knot (or Ormond knot)

The simple generic knots include:

• Quatrefoil knot
• Trefoil knot
• Knot of four loops and tassels
• Rope looped and with ends crossed

The knots used in occupations include:

• Belt knot
• Hangman’s noose (disallowed)
• Ligature knot (or surgeon’s knot)
• Masthead knot (disallowed)
• Weaver’s knot (disallowed)

Finally, of the Society inventions:

• Donnelly knot (disallowed)
• Fidelis knot (disallowed)
• Mascle knot

Knots must maintain their identifiability when used as charges.  In general, this means they may not be conjoined to form a large knotwork pattern, such as found in Celtic illumination.  So long as they can still be identified, simple knots may be conjoined in small numbers:  v. the arms of Zyganer, 1605 [Siebmacher 73], with three knots conjoined in pall inverted.

For related charges, see cross, fret, Norse beasts, pretzel, serpent, star of David, tassel, tress of hair, triquetra, valknut, yarn.