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Tricking (heraldry)
Encyclopedia
The system of heraldry
has two main methods to designate the tinctures
of arms: hatching
and tricking, i. e. designation of tinctures by means of abbreviations or signs.
, which is describing the arms by words and is as old as heraldry itself. We can find the first blazon in the work of Chrétien de Troyes
(c. 1135-c. 1183) titled Lancelot ou le Chevalier de la Charette (c. 1178-c. 1181). The English heraldry system still uses a form of blazon that’s almost unchanged since the reign of Edward I
. Traditionally, the images of heraldic manuscripts like the rolls of arms
and armorial books are all coloured. However later on, with the development of book printing as also with the invention of woodcut
s and copperplate engravings, there arose the need for designating the colours on uncoloured illustrations as well. As a rule, two main methods were applied to achieve this – tricking or giving designations to the tinctures after the initials of the given colours, and hatching
which is ascribing designations to the tinctures by means of lines and dots. While the first method was introduced and developed by the herald
s, the second model was developed and adopted by the heraldists. In addition, some other methods were also in use such as giving designations to tinctures by using the numbers from 1 to 7.
In the beginning, tinctures
were designated with the given names of the colours as described in the 1576 book by Martin Schrot
(d. after 1581), titled Wappenbuch. In his book Baselische Chronik (1580) Cristian Urstis (1544–1588) named the tinctures after the initials of the given colours. Earlier, this method was applied by Virgil Solis
(Wappenbüchlein, 1555), and Johann von Francolin (1560).
Almost simultaneously with Urstis, Don Alphonsus [Francisco] Ciacconius
(1540–1599), a Rome-based Spanish Dominican scholar, named the tinctures after their Latin initials. Or (gold) was designated with A (aurum), argent (silver) or white, respectively with a (argentum), azure (blue) with c (cearuleus), gules (red) with r (rubeus), and vert (green) by v (viridis). Though the sign for sable (black) (niger) was not present in his system traditionally it was designated with the black colour itself.
was ruled by allegorical and astrological views. All this was in connection with the ancient lore of sympathies, which examined sympathies and antipathies among the stars, mineral
s, animal
s, plant
s, and people. Some additional tinctures were also designed by astrological symbols.
The Babylonians, according to the lore of sympathies, had great esteem for gems, semi-precious stones and scarce minerals. They saw them as the concentrates of cosmic powers. Pliny the Elder
stressed several times that he wrote his work to reveal this universal law (i. e. the lore of sympathies). This doctrine was taken over by the Medieval medicine, pharmacy, alchemy, heraldry etc. During the 1350s, the work of Bartolo de Sassoferrato (1313/1314-1357) linked Or to the sun, Azure to the element air, and Gules to the element fire. Between 1382 and 1387 he was followed by Honoré Bonet
(c. 1340-c. 1410), a heraldist from Provence. In his work Arbre des Batailles (1387) Bonet declares that the metal gold is the noblest in the world because, due to its very nature, is bright and shining and full of virtues.
(†1436) called Sicily Herald. In his work Le Blason des Couleurs (1414), Courtois developed a heraldic system consisting of the tinctures, planets and carbuncles
(furthermore, the virtues, metals, months, the zodiac, and weekdays among others). He was familiar with the Etymologies of Isidore of Seville
, and also he gave the names of the tinctures in Greek
. However, his main contribution was the development of gemstone-planetary blazon. The system that Bonet developed was as a mix of the colour-gemstone-planet: or topaz the sun, argent pearl the moon, gules ruby the Mars, sable diamond the Saturn, azure sapphire the Jupiter, vert emerald the Venus, purpure amethyst the Mercury, tenné jacinth the dragon's head, sanguine/murrey sardonyx the dragon's tail.
Tenné
and sanguine
were the stains used in the abatements of arms which were dishonorable charges placed upon the coats of arms of malefactors. Dragon's head
and dragon's tail were in use from the late ancient times. While the dragon's head (called also Anabibazon in astronomy
and astrology
) symbolizes a light colour (tenné
), dragon‘s tail (called also Catabibazon) symbolizes a dark colour (sanguine
) which in miniature corresponds to transmutation, provided by alchemists
. The purpose of this process is to produce the philosopher's stone
. During the process, as a result of the successive reactions, the materia prima will get transformed to a darker and more reddish one from the light coloured material. In the astrology dragon‘s head is connected to good luck, while dragon‘s tail is linked to unlucky events. All these indicate that the then contemporary heraldry
was strongly under the influences of magical views and alchemistic ideas, which in turn were connected to the lore of the sympathies between the colours, planets, gemstones, metals, virtues etc. (The odd terminology of colours used by Heraldus Britannus, as mentioned by Spener, can partly reflect the view of alchemy: aurum–cytrine, argentum–aspre, rubeus–coccine, caeruleus– veneto, niger–mauro, viridis–prasino, and purpureus–oiscy.)
The work of Jean Courtois was diffused in manuscripts and later became one of the first books printed in French. Shortly it was published in England
as well, but without much impact. However, during the Tudor and Stuart dynasties (1485–1702), it appeared in the then heraldry manuals. In his book Traité du blason (1465), Clément Prinsault
deals with the relation of colours to the virtues, the seven planets, the 12 celestial signs, gemstones, weekdays, the three elements etc. This book is one of the earliest writings on heraldry that is available today.
The English historian and heraldist Sir Henry Spelman
(1564–1641) applied in his 1654 book titled Aspilogia the symbols of the planets to designate tinctures (presented in the table). Sir John Ferne
(†1609) enumerates as many as 14 different methods of blazon: 1. by colours, 2. by planets, 3. by precious stones, 4. by virtues, 5. by celestial signs, 6. by the months of the year, 7. by the days of the week, 8. by the ages of man, 9. by flowers, 10. by the elements, 11. by the seasons of the year, 12. by the complexions of man, 13. by numbers, 14. by metals. Though today its practice is considered absurd, it was an organic part of the then heraldic view.
Apart from the main tinctures, there also existed English and other language tricking abbreviations for some other tinctures (such as Proper
– ppr, pp, Ermine
– er etc.). To designate carnation
(carnea tinctura), the then contemporary heraldry
applied the zodiac sign of Leo in reverse (
), and the German heraldry
used trefoil to designate colours above the seven main tinctures („qui ultimus color alibi signo trifolii ♣ pinguitur“). Spener
also maintained (1717. p. 113), the tenné
and sanguine
were designated by the zodiac sign of Leo (
). Besides the planetary sign of Venus, Rudolphi also refers to trefoil ( 
) as a designation of colour vert. He also assigned the specific lengthy variants of astrological signs dragon's head and dragon's tail to the tinctures orange and carnation, respectively(
). Furthermore, the tincture Purpure being abbreviated by the letter p. (de: Purpur), and the grey by the letter a. (Asche-Farb). The astrological signs of the ascending and descending nodes (dragon's head
and dragon's tail:
were also derived from the zodiac
sign of Leo
that was highly esteemed in the Renaissance
age astrology
.
So, besides these seven principal tinctures
, there soon emerged some additional colours, which were also symbolized by the planetary symbols, gemstones, weekdays etc. Thus, a system of nine tinctures was developed. In general, it was said that the great magnate
s – the duke
s, the earl
s, and the baron
s – were to have their arms blazoned by gemstone
s, and that the prince
s, the king
s and the emperor
s were to have their arms blazoned by the planet
s. However, the Austrian troubadour
and herald
Peter Suchenwirt
(c. 1320-1395) used gemstones to designate the tinctures even earlier (c. 1355) to describe the coat of arms
of the Hungarian king Louis the Great (1342–1382). In his poem titled Turnier von Nantheiz (c. 1258) Konrad von Würzburg
(c. 1230 -1287) also mentioned some coat of arms made of gemstones. In his blazon on the arms of the king of England (lines 310-320) we can learn that his escutheion was covered with Arabian gold and his leopards were made of rubies; finally, to the end of his work (1040) we can also read about further precious stones applied on coat of arms.
s did not like hatching
, and the College of Arms
gave preference to tricking even beyond the 17th century, sometimes even on the coloured and hatched images. It was so because the tricking was a simpler way to the drawer than hatching to designate the tinctures
.
Otto Titan von Hefner maintained that the first traces of hatching on the woodcut
s began during the 15th and 16th centuries. Both tricking as well as hatching was applied by the Benedictine monk, philologist and outstanding historian Vincenzo Borghini (Florence, Oct. 29, 1515 – Aug. 18, 1580, Florence). He drew a difference between the metals and the colours on the woodcuts of his work by leaving the places blank on the arms for all metals; similarly all colours were hatched by the same way, as the colour vert
is being used today. Besides this, tinctures were designated in the fields and on the ordinaries and charges by tricking: R–rosso–gules, A–azure–azure, N–nigro–sable, G–gialbo–yellow (or), and B–biancho–white (argent). Notably, the vert was not present on the arms presented by him.
Since the early 17th century, tricking declined. However, it is sometimes still in use, mainly in British heraldry.
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
has two main methods to designate the tinctures
Tincture (heraldry)
In heraldry, tinctures are the colours used to emblazon a coat of arms. These can be divided into several categories including light tinctures called metals, dark tinctures called colours, nonstandard colours called stains, furs, and "proper". A charge tinctured proper is coloured as it would be...
of arms: hatching
Hatching system
The system of heraldry has two main methods to designate the tinctures of arms in uncolored illustrations: hatching and tricking. Hatching, i.e. patterns of lines and dots, is the most common method to designate colours on uncoloured surfaces, like engravings, seals and coins.The present day...
and tricking, i. e. designation of tinctures by means of abbreviations or signs.
Origin
The system of heraldry has always had some methods to designate the tinctures of arms. The earliest such method was blazonBlazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image...
, which is describing the arms by words and is as old as heraldry itself. We can find the first blazon in the work of Chrétien de Troyes
Chrétien de Troyes
Chrétien de Troyes was a French poet and trouvère who flourished in the late 12th century. Perhaps he named himself Christian of Troyes in contrast to the illustrious Rashi, also of Troyes...
(c. 1135-c. 1183) titled Lancelot ou le Chevalier de la Charette (c. 1178-c. 1181). The English heraldry system still uses a form of blazon that’s almost unchanged since the reign of Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
. Traditionally, the images of heraldic manuscripts like the rolls of arms
Roll of arms
A roll of arms is a collection of coats of arms, usually consisting of rows of painted pictures of shields, each shield accompanied by the name of the person bearing the arms...
and armorial books are all coloured. However later on, with the development of book printing as also with the invention of woodcut
Woodcut
Woodcut—occasionally known as xylography—is a relief printing artistic technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface while the non-printing parts are removed, typically with gouges...
s and copperplate engravings, there arose the need for designating the colours on uncoloured illustrations as well. As a rule, two main methods were applied to achieve this – tricking or giving designations to the tinctures after the initials of the given colours, and hatching
Hatching system
The system of heraldry has two main methods to designate the tinctures of arms in uncolored illustrations: hatching and tricking. Hatching, i.e. patterns of lines and dots, is the most common method to designate colours on uncoloured surfaces, like engravings, seals and coins.The present day...
which is ascribing designations to the tinctures by means of lines and dots. While the first method was introduced and developed by the herald
Herald
A herald, or, more correctly, a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is often applied erroneously to all officers of arms....
s, the second model was developed and adopted by the heraldists. In addition, some other methods were also in use such as giving designations to tinctures by using the numbers from 1 to 7.
In the beginning, tinctures
Tincture (heraldry)
In heraldry, tinctures are the colours used to emblazon a coat of arms. These can be divided into several categories including light tinctures called metals, dark tinctures called colours, nonstandard colours called stains, furs, and "proper". A charge tinctured proper is coloured as it would be...
were designated with the given names of the colours as described in the 1576 book by Martin Schrot
Martin Schrot
Martin Schrot was a German goldsmith and engraver from Augsburg. His name has also been spelled "Schrott" and "Schroth". He is not to be confused with the Protestant poet from Augsburg with the same name....
(d. after 1581), titled Wappenbuch. In his book Baselische Chronik (1580) Cristian Urstis (1544–1588) named the tinctures after the initials of the given colours. Earlier, this method was applied by Virgil Solis
Virgil Solis
Virgil Solis or Virgilius Solis , a member of a prolific family of artists, was a German draughtsman and printmaker in engraving, etching and woodcut who worked in Nuremberg. His prints were sold separately or formed the illustrations of books; many prints signed by him are probably by assistants...
(Wappenbüchlein, 1555), and Johann von Francolin (1560).
Almost simultaneously with Urstis, Don Alphonsus [Francisco] Ciacconius
Alphonsus Ciacconius
Don Alphonsus [Francisco] Ciacconius was a Spanish Dominican scholar in Rome. His name is also spelt as Alfonso Chacón and Ciacono. Chacón is known mainly for two of his works: Historia utriusque belli dacici a Traiano Caesaregesti , and Vitae, et res gestae pontificum romanorum et S.R.E....
(1540–1599), a Rome-based Spanish Dominican scholar, named the tinctures after their Latin initials. Or (gold) was designated with A (aurum), argent (silver) or white, respectively with a (argentum), azure (blue) with c (cearuleus), gules (red) with r (rubeus), and vert (green) by v (viridis). Though the sign for sable (black) (niger) was not present in his system traditionally it was designated with the black colour itself.
The magical view of tinctures
That was a time when heraldryHeraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
was ruled by allegorical and astrological views. All this was in connection with the ancient lore of sympathies, which examined sympathies and antipathies among the stars, mineral
Mineral
A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...
s, animal
Animal
Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
s, plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
s, and people. Some additional tinctures were also designed by astrological symbols.
The Babylonians, according to the lore of sympathies, had great esteem for gems, semi-precious stones and scarce minerals. They saw them as the concentrates of cosmic powers. Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
stressed several times that he wrote his work to reveal this universal law (i. e. the lore of sympathies). This doctrine was taken over by the Medieval medicine, pharmacy, alchemy, heraldry etc. During the 1350s, the work of Bartolo de Sassoferrato (1313/1314-1357) linked Or to the sun, Azure to the element air, and Gules to the element fire. Between 1382 and 1387 he was followed by Honoré Bonet
Honoré Bonet
Honoré Bonet was an Provençal heraldist, the prior of Salon near Embrun.Bonet was a heraldist from Provence. He studied at the Avignon University where he received a doctorate and traveled around France and Aragon. In his work Arbre des Batailles Bonet dealt with heraldry. He was deeply...
(c. 1340-c. 1410), a heraldist from Provence. In his work Arbre des Batailles (1387) Bonet declares that the metal gold is the noblest in the world because, due to its very nature, is bright and shining and full of virtues.
The gemstone-planetary blason
The work of Bonet was thoroughly studied by the 15th century Burgundian heraldists and Jean CourtoisJean Courtois
Jean Courtois was a French herald.en: Sicily Herald, fr: le Sicile heraut, it: Sicillo Araldo, la: SiculusJean Courtois called Sicily Herald was in the service of the king of the two Sicilies Alfonso V of Aragon. He lived for long in Mons in Hainaut in the Netherlands...
(†1436) called Sicily Herald. In his work Le Blason des Couleurs (1414), Courtois developed a heraldic system consisting of the tinctures, planets and carbuncles
Carbuncle (gemstone)
A carbuncle is an archaic name given to any red cabochon cut gemstone. The name applied particularly to red garnet. The word occurs in four places in most English translations of the Bible...
(furthermore, the virtues, metals, months, the zodiac, and weekdays among others). He was familiar with the Etymologies of Isidore of Seville
Isidore of Seville
Saint Isidore of Seville served as Archbishop of Seville for more than three decades and is considered, as the historian Montalembert put it in an oft-quoted phrase, "le dernier savant du monde ancien"...
, and also he gave the names of the tinctures in Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
. However, his main contribution was the development of gemstone-planetary blazon. The system that Bonet developed was as a mix of the colour-gemstone-planet: or topaz the sun, argent pearl the moon, gules ruby the Mars, sable diamond the Saturn, azure sapphire the Jupiter, vert emerald the Venus, purpure amethyst the Mercury, tenné jacinth the dragon's head, sanguine/murrey sardonyx the dragon's tail.
Tenné
Tenné
In heraldry, tenné or tawny or tenny is a "stain", a rarely used tincture, an orangish brown colour, at least in Continental European use....
and sanguine
Sanguine
Sanguine is chalk of a reddish color, often called the true colour of blood. tending to brown, used in drawing, The word also describes any drawing done in sanguine.-Technique:...
were the stains used in the abatements of arms which were dishonorable charges placed upon the coats of arms of malefactors. Dragon's head
Dragon's Head
Dragon's Head may refer to,*Dragon's Head, the flower plants of the genus Dracocephalum*Dragon's head , the north lunar node used in astrology-See also:...
and dragon's tail were in use from the late ancient times. While the dragon's head (called also Anabibazon in astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
and astrology
Astrology
Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...
) symbolizes a light colour (tenné
Tenné
In heraldry, tenné or tawny or tenny is a "stain", a rarely used tincture, an orangish brown colour, at least in Continental European use....
), dragon‘s tail (called also Catabibazon) symbolizes a dark colour (sanguine
Sanguine
Sanguine is chalk of a reddish color, often called the true colour of blood. tending to brown, used in drawing, The word also describes any drawing done in sanguine.-Technique:...
) which in miniature corresponds to transmutation, provided by alchemists
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
. The purpose of this process is to produce the philosopher's stone
Philosopher's stone
The philosopher's stone is a legendary alchemical substance said to be capable of turning base metals into gold or silver. It was also sometimes believed to be an elixir of life, useful for rejuvenation and possibly for achieving immortality. For many centuries, it was the most sought-after goal...
. During the process, as a result of the successive reactions, the materia prima will get transformed to a darker and more reddish one from the light coloured material. In the astrology dragon‘s head is connected to good luck, while dragon‘s tail is linked to unlucky events. All these indicate that the then contemporary heraldry
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
was strongly under the influences of magical views and alchemistic ideas, which in turn were connected to the lore of the sympathies between the colours, planets, gemstones, metals, virtues etc. (The odd terminology of colours used by Heraldus Britannus, as mentioned by Spener, can partly reflect the view of alchemy: aurum–cytrine, argentum–aspre, rubeus–coccine, caeruleus– veneto, niger–mauro, viridis–prasino, and purpureus–oiscy.)
The work of Jean Courtois was diffused in manuscripts and later became one of the first books printed in French. Shortly it was published in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
as well, but without much impact. However, during the Tudor and Stuart dynasties (1485–1702), it appeared in the then heraldry manuals. In his book Traité du blason (1465), Clément Prinsault
Clément Prinsault
Clément Prinsault was a 15th century French heraldist.Prinsault was strongly influenced by Bartolo de Sassoferrato. His book Traité du blason , was one of the earliest writings on heraldry....
deals with the relation of colours to the virtues, the seven planets, the 12 celestial signs, gemstones, weekdays, the three elements etc. This book is one of the earliest writings on heraldry that is available today.
The English historian and heraldist Sir Henry Spelman
Henry Spelman
Sir Henry Spelman was an English antiquary, noted for his detailed collections of medieval records, in particular of church councils.-Life:...
(1564–1641) applied in his 1654 book titled Aspilogia the symbols of the planets to designate tinctures (presented in the table). Sir John Ferne
John Ferne
Sir John Ferne was a knight writer on heraldry, a genealogist, and an eminent common lawyer.-Life:John Ferne matriculated from St John's College, Cambridge in 1572, was said to have studied at Oxford, and was admitted to the Inner Temple in 1576...
(†1609) enumerates as many as 14 different methods of blazon: 1. by colours, 2. by planets, 3. by precious stones, 4. by virtues, 5. by celestial signs, 6. by the months of the year, 7. by the days of the week, 8. by the ages of man, 9. by flowers, 10. by the elements, 11. by the seasons of the year, 12. by the complexions of man, 13. by numbers, 14. by metals. Though today its practice is considered absurd, it was an organic part of the then heraldic view.
Apart from the main tinctures, there also existed English and other language tricking abbreviations for some other tinctures (such as Proper
Proper
Proper may refer to:* Proper , the part of a Christian liturgy that is specific to the date within the Liturgical Year* Proper frame, such system of reference in which object is stationary , sometimes also called a co-moving frame...
– ppr, pp, Ermine
Ermine
Ermine has several uses:* A common name for the stoat * The white fur and black tail end of this animal, which is historically worn by and associated with royalty and high officials...
– er etc.). To designate carnation
Carnation
Dianthus caryophyllus is a species of Dianthus. It is probably native to the Mediterranean region but its exact range is unknown due to extensive cultivation for the last 2,000 years. It is the wild ancestor of the garden carnation.It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 80 cm tall...
(carnea tinctura), the then contemporary heraldry
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
applied the zodiac sign of Leo in reverse (
), and the German heraldryGerman heraldry
German heraldry refers to the cultural tradition and style of heraldic achievements in modern and historic Germany and the Holy Roman Empire, including national and civic arms, noble and burgher arms, ecclesiastical heraldry, heraldic displays and heraldic descriptions...
used trefoil to designate colours above the seven main tinctures („qui ultimus color alibi signo trifolii ♣ pinguitur“). Spener
Philipp Jakob Spener
Philipp Jakob Spener was a German Christian theologian known as the "Father of Pietism."...
also maintained (1717. p. 113), the tenné
Tenné
In heraldry, tenné or tawny or tenny is a "stain", a rarely used tincture, an orangish brown colour, at least in Continental European use....
and sanguine
Sanguine
Sanguine is chalk of a reddish color, often called the true colour of blood. tending to brown, used in drawing, The word also describes any drawing done in sanguine.-Technique:...
were designated by the zodiac sign of Leo (
). Besides the planetary sign of Venus, Rudolphi also refers to trefoil ( ) as a designation of colour vert. He also assigned the specific lengthy variants of astrological signs dragon's head and dragon's tail to the tinctures orange and carnation, respectively( ). Furthermore, the tincture Purpure being abbreviated by the letter p. (de: Purpur), and the grey by the letter a. (Asche-Farb). The astrological signs of the ascending and descending nodes (dragon's headDragon's Head
Dragon's Head may refer to,*Dragon's Head, the flower plants of the genus Dracocephalum*Dragon's head , the north lunar node used in astrology-See also:...
and dragon's tail:
were also derived from the zodiacZodiac
In astronomy, the zodiac is a circle of twelve 30° divisions of celestial longitude which are centred upon the ecliptic: the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year...
sign of Leo
Leo (astrology)
Leo is the fifth astrological sign of the Zodiac, originating from the constellation of Leo. In astrology, Leo is considered to be a "masculine", positive sign. It is also considered a fire sign and is one of four fixed signs ruled by the Sun.Individuals born when the Sun is in this sign are...
that was highly esteemed in the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
age astrology
Astrology
Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...
.
So, besides these seven principal tinctures
Tincture (heraldry)
In heraldry, tinctures are the colours used to emblazon a coat of arms. These can be divided into several categories including light tinctures called metals, dark tinctures called colours, nonstandard colours called stains, furs, and "proper". A charge tinctured proper is coloured as it would be...
, there soon emerged some additional colours, which were also symbolized by the planetary symbols, gemstones, weekdays etc. Thus, a system of nine tinctures was developed. In general, it was said that the great magnate
Magnate
Magnate, from the Late Latin magnas, a great man, itself from Latin magnus 'great', designates a noble or other man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or other qualities...
s – the duke
Duke
A duke or duchess is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy...
s, the earl
Earl
An earl is a member of the nobility. The title is Anglo-Saxon, akin to the Scandinavian form jarl, and meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. In Scandinavia, it became obsolete in the Middle Ages and was replaced with duke...
s, and the baron
Baron
Baron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman"...
s – were to have their arms blazoned by gemstone
Gemstone
A gemstone or gem is a piece of mineral, which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments...
s, and that the prince
Prince
Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...
s, the king
King
- Centers of population :* King, Ontario, CanadaIn USA:* King, Indiana* King, North Carolina* King, Lincoln County, Wisconsin* King, Waupaca County, Wisconsin* King County, Washington- Moving-image works :Television:...
s and the emperor
Emperor
An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...
s were to have their arms blazoned by the planet
Planet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
s. However, the Austrian troubadour
Troubadour
A troubadour was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages . Since the word "troubadour" is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a trobairitz....
and herald
Herald
A herald, or, more correctly, a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is often applied erroneously to all officers of arms....
Peter Suchenwirt
Peter Suchenwirt
Peter Suchenwirt was an Austrian poet and herald. He called himself "Knappe von den Wappen" which is a lower position as to the herald, with the duty to blazon and explain the arms of the nobles.Suchenwirt was the most outstanding representative of the so called arms poetry...
(c. 1320-1395) used gemstones to designate the tinctures even earlier (c. 1355) to describe the coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
of the Hungarian king Louis the Great (1342–1382). In his poem titled Turnier von Nantheiz (c. 1258) Konrad von Würzburg
Konrad von Würzburg
Konrad von Würzburg was the chief German poet of the second half of the 13th century.As little is known of his life as that of any other epic poet of the age. By birth probably a native of Würzburg, he seems to have spent part of his life in Strassburg and his later years in Basel, where he died...
(c. 1230 -1287) also mentioned some coat of arms made of gemstones. In his blazon on the arms of the king of England (lines 310-320) we can learn that his escutheion was covered with Arabian gold and his leopards were made of rubies; finally, to the end of his work (1040) we can also read about further precious stones applied on coat of arms.
Decline
The letters of tricking were often traced badly since they were not of immediate understanding for the reader always, thus leading to erroneous interpretations. HeraldHerald
A herald, or, more correctly, a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is often applied erroneously to all officers of arms....
s did not like hatching
Hatching system
The system of heraldry has two main methods to designate the tinctures of arms in uncolored illustrations: hatching and tricking. Hatching, i.e. patterns of lines and dots, is the most common method to designate colours on uncoloured surfaces, like engravings, seals and coins.The present day...
, and the College of Arms
College of Arms
The College of Arms, or Heralds’ College, is an office regulating heraldry and granting new armorial bearings for England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
gave preference to tricking even beyond the 17th century, sometimes even on the coloured and hatched images. It was so because the tricking was a simpler way to the drawer than hatching to designate the tinctures
Tincture (heraldry)
In heraldry, tinctures are the colours used to emblazon a coat of arms. These can be divided into several categories including light tinctures called metals, dark tinctures called colours, nonstandard colours called stains, furs, and "proper". A charge tinctured proper is coloured as it would be...
.
Otto Titan von Hefner maintained that the first traces of hatching on the woodcut
Woodcut
Woodcut—occasionally known as xylography—is a relief printing artistic technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface while the non-printing parts are removed, typically with gouges...
s began during the 15th and 16th centuries. Both tricking as well as hatching was applied by the Benedictine monk, philologist and outstanding historian Vincenzo Borghini (Florence, Oct. 29, 1515 – Aug. 18, 1580, Florence). He drew a difference between the metals and the colours on the woodcuts of his work by leaving the places blank on the arms for all metals; similarly all colours were hatched by the same way, as the colour vert
Vert
The colour green is commonly found in modern flags and coat of arms, and to a lesser extent also in the classical heraldry of the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern period....
is being used today. Besides this, tinctures were designated in the fields and on the ordinaries and charges by tricking: R–rosso–gules, A–azure–azure, N–nigro–sable, G–gialbo–yellow (or), and B–biancho–white (argent). Notably, the vert was not present on the arms presented by him.
Since the early 17th century, tricking declined. However, it is sometimes still in use, mainly in British heraldry.