A feather is one of the growths covering a bird’s wings and body; it consists of a quill or central shaft with a flat leaf-like surface growing from it. It is also termed a “plume”, though this term is usually reserved for ostrich tail feathers; some authors would define a “plume” as a bunch of ostrich feathers, so it is best to be specific.
The feather is sometimes misblazoned a “quill” or a “quill pen”. Strictly speaking, the quill is the central shaft of the feather, and the quill pen is a quill with its end carved into a nib. These distinctions are often blurred in Society heraldry, and the terms are close to synonymous in practice. It is still best to use the correct term.
In mundane heraldry, the default feather is an ostrich plume, as in the “shield for peace” of Edward the Black Prince, c.1350 [HB 152]; the Society’s default feather is a more generic shape, such as a goose feather (as in the illustration). It is palewise by default, with the quill point to base.
An eye is an organ for seeing. It was used as an heraldic charge in the arms of di Belugi, mid-15th C. [Triv 80], and in the badge of Blount, c.1520 [HB 79]. The default heraldic eye is the human eye. At one time, the Society defined proper tinctures for the eye, but that practice has been discontinued; eyes not solidly tinctured must be specified, e.g., an “eye argent irised azure”.
Other eye variants unique to Society heraldry include the “cyclopean eye”, which is perfectly round; the “cat’s eye”, with a slitted pupil; and the “dragon’s eye”, which has been described as a Germanic rune, and is no longer permitted for use in Society heraldry.
Kelan Greeneye bears: Azure, three eyes argent irised vert.
Melisande Shadow bears: Sable, two cat’s eyes vert pupilled sable and fimbriated argent.
Hywel ap Riccerch bears: Per saltire vert and gules, a barrel helm affronty argent, within the eyeslit a cyclopean eye argent irised sable.
Frederic of the West Tower bears as a badge: Or, a dragon’s eye gules.
An egg is a hard-shelled ovoid, laid by birds for the making of more birds. It is a rare but period charge, found in the arms of Jaworsky, 1605 [Siebmacher 75]. The egg used in Society heraldry is the hen’s egg, with one end narrowing; this end is to chief by Society default. See also cartouche, roundel.
Prudence the Curious bears: Vert, an egg argent and a chief embattled Or.
Eginolf von Basel bears: Per fess gules and bendy gules and azure, in chief an egg argent.
Magdalena Flores bears: Ermine, on an egg gules a fleur-de-lys Or.
An ear is an organ for hearing. Animals’ ears are found in period armory, e.g., as the crest of Wedenou or Weidenau, 1394 [Gelre 88]. This form of ear is blazoned in various texts either as “asses’ ears” or as “hare’s (or rabbit’s) ears”; when attached to a bit of scalp, they may be termed, e.g., a “rabbit’s massacre”. Society armory also has a single example of human ears. In all cases, the type of animal to which the ear belonged should be blazoned.
Simon of Gardengate House bears: Gules, a comet palewise inverted and on a chief argent three human ears gules.
Zafira bint Zahira bears: Gules estencelly Or, a rabbit’s massacre argent within a bordure lozengy argent and sable.
Any beast can be cut in half to become a demi-beast, and used as a charge. The treatment is found in period armory: demi-lions are found in the arms of Hamme, c.1312 [ANA2 243]. While demi-beasts may, of course, be issuant – e.g., from base, from a fess, or from a line of division – they are frequently found as discrete charges.
A demi-beast is erect by default, even when this is not the default posture of the full beast. The severed part is couped by default; if the demi-beast is erased, the fact must be blazoned. The couping is roughly fesswise, and frequently includes a snippet of the tail as well. The illustration shows a demi-lion.
Katherine Brianna Coldrake Kyven bears: Argent, three demi-horses rampant to sinister purpure.
Rhianwen ni Dhiarmada bears: Sable, a demi-unicorn rampant Or crined and horned argent.
Brian mac Tomáis Uí Fhoghladha bears: Argent, a demi-goat erased gules.
A coxcomb is a caruncle of flesh, sitting as a crest atop the heads of some male birds (notably the cock), and generally treated as a symbol of pride or foolishness. It’s a period charge, found in the canting arms (Italian cresta da gai) of da Gaiano, mid-15th C. [Triv 159; cf. also BSB Cod.Icon 270:409].
Guy of Aydon bears: Quarterly argent and vert, a coxcomb gules.
ffride wlffsdotter bears as a badge: A coxcomb sable.
A crab’s claw, or a lobster’s claw, is the pincer at the end of those creatures’ front limbs, which they use for defense. It’s a period charge, found in the arms of Nielsen, c.1490 [Raneke 395]. They’re frequently found in pairs, as in the arms of Stainhauser or Steinhauser, mid-16th C. [NW 32], and of Tregarthicke, 1610 [Guillim1 171].
The crab’s claw has its severed end to base by default; the illustration shows a crab’s claw bendwise. See also leg.
The Order of the Crab Claw, of the Barony of Lochmere, bears: A pair of crab claws azure maintaining between them a sword gules.
A breast is an organ that produces milk for suckling. In heraldry, the usual breast is the human (woman’s) breast, sometimes explicitly blazoned so. It’s a period charge, found in the canting arms (from the colloquial “dug”) of Dodge, 1531 [Dennys 144]. The breast must always be depicted distilling gouts, to distinguish it from a roundel; Society rulings require the gouts to have some contrast (i.e., not be the same tincture) as their breast.
When blazoned “proper”, the breast follows the same Society blazon conventions as full humans proper, as described under human figure.
Helga Grímsdóttir bears: Sable, a human breast argent distilling three gouttes, a bordure dovetailed Or.
Tetchubah of Greenlake bears as a badge: A human breast azure distilling three gouttes argent.
Ismeralda Franceska Rusciolelli da Vale bears as a badge: A human breast proper distilling three gouttes d’Or.
A bone is a member of the hard endostructure found in most vertebrates. The default heraldic bone is the human shin-bone (tibia), or its visual equivalent (the thigh-bone or femur, the arm-bone or ulna); such a bone is found in the arms of Newton, c.1460 [RH]. This bone is palewise by default.
“Rib bones” are a specific stylization of bones, found in the canting arms (Portuguese costa) of da Costa, mid-16th C. [Nobreza xvº]. Rib bones must always be shown in pairs, issuant from the flanks of the shield; three pairs seem to be the norm.
The beard is the facial hair of the human male, particularly that grown on the chin and jaws; it’s considered a facial ornament, at least by men. It’s a period heraldic charge, found in the canting arms (Italian barba) of Barbani, c.1550 [BSB Cod.Icon 272:87; cf. Woodward 203].
Similar to the beard is the “moustache”, which is the hair grown on a man’s upper lip only. No example of the moustache, per se, is known in period armory. However, based on the example of the beard, the moustache is considered acceptable in Society heraldry.
Tomaso da Barbiano bears as a badge: A beard gules.
Pietro de Sant’Agata bears: Argent, a beard sable and a tierce vert.
Robin of Gilwell bears: Ermine, on a chief double-arched to base gules a moustache Or.
