Church

Church (Period)

A church is an edifice wherein organized worship services are held. It’s a period charge, found in the canting arms (Italian chiesa) of dala Giexia, mid-15^th C. [Triv 161]. There is wide variation in the depiction of churches, as with all edifices in heraldry, but most seem to be drawn with steeples (or bell towers), with the length of the church fesswise.

Mosque (Accepted)

Grecian temple (Accepted)

Related to the church is the “mosque”, dedicated to Moslem worship. It’s characterized by its domed prayer hall and at least one minaret (which, for heraldic purposes, may be said to be its defining feature). Though no examples have been found in medieval armory, the mosque is accepted for Society use.

Finally, there is the “temple”, more fully blazoned a “Grecian temple”: a pillared edifice with steps and a triangular roof, rather like a simplified rendering of the Parthenon. It too, though yet unattested in medieval armory, is accepted for Society use.

Piers Blackmonster bears: Per chevron argent and sable, two griffins sejant respectant and a church counterchanged.

‘Afra’ bint Tamir al-Sahrahwayyiah bears: Vert, a fess sable fimbriated surmounted by a domed mosque of one minaret, in canton a decrescent Or.

Arenvald Kief av Kiersted bears as a badge: On a temple Or a Thor’s hammer gules.

Chi-rho

Chi-rho (Accepted)

The chi-rho is a Christian symbol popularized by the Emperor Constantine. It consists of the first two (Greek) letters of Christos, conjoined into a monogram. Though found in period art – the illustration is taken from a 4^th C. coin – the chi-rho does not appear to have been used in period heraldry. See also cross, cypher charges.

Basilius Phocas bears: Gules, a chi-rho argent within an orle of bezants.

Artus Quintus bears: Argent, a chi-rho and a bordure gules.

Konstantinos of Rath an Oir bears: Purpure, a chi-rho and a chief Or.

Candlestick

Candlestick (Period)

A candlestick is a cupped or spiked metal holder for a candle. It’s a period charge, found in the arms of Kyle, 1542 [Lindsay], and of the Worshipful Company of Founders, 1590 [Bromley & Child 99].

The default candlestick is an ornate column, spiked on top; it is palewise by default. If a candle is mounted in the candlestick, the fact is explicitly blazoned.

Menorah (Accepted); flat candlestick (Accepted)

Of variant forms of candlestick, there is the “candelabrum”, a multi-armed candlestick, found in the arms of von Krage, 1605 [Siebmacher 151]. The number of arms is frequently blazoned, especially when five or fewer; three arms seem most common. If the candelabrum has seven or nine arms, it may also be blazoned a “menorah”, used in some Jewish ceremonies; the illustration shows a period form with seven arms, but both forms have been registered. The “morter” or “mortcour” is a mortuary candlestick, highly ornamented, for use at funerals; it’s found in the arms of the Worshipful Company of Wax Chandlers, 1484 [Bromley & Child 259]. Finally, Society armory has the “flat candlestick” or “sconce”, a shallow dish with a handle.

Gilraen of Regen bears: Vert, a candle and candlestick flamant Or.

Louise of Woodsholme bears: Per fess embattled gules and erminois, in base a candle argent in a flat candlestick sable, enflamed proper.

Uilliam of Bronzehelm bears: Sable, a three-armed candelabra lit Or.

Edwin the Unwyse bears: Argent, a menorah sable.

Illuminada Eugenia de Guadalupe y Godoy bears as a badge: A mortcour Or.

Book

Open book (Period)

Closed book (Period)

A book is a set of pages of paper or parchment, bound along one edge, with leather or wooden covers. A book may be “open”, with the cover laid flat, or “closed”, with cover shut. As there’s no heraldic default, the open or closed state must be explicitly blazoned. Open books have their spines palewise by default (as in the arms of Oxford University, c.1450 [DBA2 193]), while those of closed books are fesswise by default (as in the arms of Cambridge University, 1572 [Hope 73]). By Society convention, a book “bound proper” is bound in brown leather.

Books are sometimes drawn with seals, or with metal clasps and hinges; these are considered artistic license, and are not normally blazoned in Society heraldry. Books may also have writing on the pages; this too is normally ignored as artistic license, but in cases where there are few, large letters, they may be treated as tertiary charges. See also billet, scroll, tablet (Mosaic).

The College of Boethius bears: Or, five open books in saltire, on a chief azure three laurel wreaths Or.

Emma Randall bears: Sable, three open books Or.

Angharad of the Coppery Shields bears: Vert, three closed books palewise, spines to sinister Or.

Ark of the Covenant

Ark of the Covenant (Period)

The Ark of the Covenant is the highly ornamented chest in which the Israelites kept the tablets of the Law. As an heraldic charge, it’s described by Legh, 1562 [101], who attributes it to the Levites; the Ark is therefore accepted for Society use. It is depicted in slightly trian aspect.

Henil von Berg bears: Gules, the Ark of the Covenant Or.

Apothecary jar

Apothecary jar (Period)

An apothecary jar is a broad-mouthed vessel with a flat or conical lid, used to hold unguents; it was also called an “ointment jar”. Though the sides were usually straight, as shown here, jars used by apothecaries might have slightly bulging sides; this is left to the artist’s license.

As an heraldic charge, the apothecary jar is found in the attributed arms of Christ, in the Hyghalmen Roll, c.1450 [Dennys 98], and possibly as the crest of Roder [Siebmacher 165]. In medieval art, it was one of the attributes of St. Mary Magdalen. A similarly shaped vessel, blazoned as a buserra or bussolotto in Italian, is found in the canting arms of de Bussero, mid-15^th C. [Triv 60].

Martha the Healer bears: Argent, on a bend sinister azure between a mandolin bendwise sinister, peghead in chief gules, and an apothecary jar vert voided argent, a pair of fetterlocks joined by a chain argent.

Isabel de Estella bears: Or, an apothecary jar sable lidded within a bordure indented gules.

Amye Elizabeth Barrington bears: Purpure, on an apothecary jar argent a frog vert.

Altar

Altar (Period)

An altar is a stone block or pillar topped with a flame. The flame, though part of the definition of the charge, is nonetheless sometimes specified: e.g., “an altar flammant”. The heraldic altar appears to represent a Pagan altar, rather than the Christian or Jewish altars [Franklyn 7]; it’s found in the arms of Tendryngg, 1340 [DBA3 357]. See also edifice.

Arthur Glendower bears: Or, between two lions combatant azure an altar sable flammant gules.

Una MacRobert bears: Vert, an altar argent between three vols Or.

Asa Gormsdottir bears: Per chevron sable and gules, four bezants and an altar argent enflamed Or.

Mistholme

heraldry, illumination, and random jottings