Variations of ordinaries
Encyclopedia
Ordinaries in heraldry are sometimes embellished with stripes of colour alongside them, have lumps added to them, shown with their edges arciform instead of straight, have their peaks and tops chopped off, pushed up and down out of the usual positions, or even broken apart.
The arms of Champagne
show double cottices "potented and counter potented," (côtoyée de deux doubles cotices potencées et contre-potencées) while the cotises of Timothy Hugh Stewart Duke have "upper edges in the form of the upper rim of a ducal coronet."
An ordinary with a square boss is called quadrate
or, more fully, nowy quadrate.
A saltire
quadrate has the square boss turned lozengeways, with edges parallel to those of the saltire.
An ordinary with a lozenge-shaped boss is called nowy lozengy or nowy of a lozenge (applies also to saltires)
Nowy and quadrate are usually applied only to the cross
, saltire, pale
, fess
and bend.
This variation is most often applied to the chevron and pile
.
The term embowed is also applied to bent arms and legs, arched fish, and serpents in circles.
The chevron disjointed or disjoined has the central, pointed portion missing.[5] The chevron éclaté has each end with roughly-made points or spikes on it.[6]. The chevron brisy (or brisé) as in the Scots Public Register, vol 52, p54 also has the point part removed though in this case the two remaining sections are squared off and 'lean' against each other, as can be seen in the French coat of Meaudre de la Pouyade.[7]
The Armorial de Gelre shows Bernard v.d. Wilten as bearing a "fasce palissée" (similar to a fess embattled with long merlons and the ends rounded).
When an ordinary is shown lower down the shield than its usual position , it is described as debased or abased or abaisse or dehanced.
An example is the chevronels rompu in the arms of Danzé
, Loir et Cher, France
. A chevron 'rompu' has the central section shifted vertically upward, as in the coat of the US 278th Armored Infantry Battalion. http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Armored/278ArmoredInfantryBattalion.htm A bend rompu arraswise of an unusual form can be found in the arms of the 99th Air Base Wing of the United States Air Force
.http://www.au.af.mil/au/afhra/wwwroot/rso/wings_groups_pages/0099abwn.php "Rompu" should be distinguished from "fracted". The arms of the Roossenekal Local Area Committee are Per chevron Gules and Azure, a chevron fracted and embattled to chief Or, between in chief a rose Argent, barbed and seeded, and in base a cross fleuretty, Or. The form of the "fracting" can be specified.
An ordinary affaissée, in French heraldry, is wavy in the form of a depression in its middle.
The word rompu is also applied to a mobile charge which is broken, e.g. "a circular chain with link rompu at the top".
Cottices
Cottices, also spelled cottises, cotises, cotices, are narrow stripes beside and parallel to an ordinary.The arms of Champagne
Champagne, France
Champagne is a historic province in the northeast of France, now best known for the sparkling white wine that bears its name.Formerly ruled by the counts of Champagne, its western edge is about 100 miles east of Paris. The cities of Troyes, Reims, and Épernay are the commercial centers of the area...
show double cottices "potented and counter potented," (côtoyée de deux doubles cotices potencées et contre-potencées) while the cotises of Timothy Hugh Stewart Duke have "upper edges in the form of the upper rim of a ducal coronet."
Nowy
An ordinary with a circular boss in the middle is described as nowy.An ordinary with a square boss is called quadrate
Quadrate (heraldry)
In heraldry, an ordinary is described as quadrate when it has a square central boss.Only certain ordinaries are usually shown quadrate: the cross, the pale, and the fess – but not, for example, a bordure or chevron....
or, more fully, nowy quadrate.
A saltire
Saltire
A saltire, or Saint Andrew's Cross, is a heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross or letter ex . Saint Andrew is said to have been martyred on such a cross....
quadrate has the square boss turned lozengeways, with edges parallel to those of the saltire.
An ordinary with a lozenge-shaped boss is called nowy lozengy or nowy of a lozenge (applies also to saltires)
Nowy and quadrate are usually applied only to the cross
Cross
A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run obliquely, the design is technically termed a saltire, although the arms of a saltire need not meet...
, saltire, pale
Pale (heraldry)
A pale is a term used in heraldic blazon and vexillology to describe a charge on a coat of arms , that takes the form of a band running vertically down the center of the shield. Writers broadly agree that the width of the pale ranges from about one-fifth to about one-third of the width of the...
, fess
Fess
In heraldry, a fess or fesse is a charge on a coat of arms that takes the form of a band running horizontally across the centre of the shield. Writers disagree in how much of the shield's surface is to be covered by a fess or other ordinary, ranging from one-fifth to one-third...
and bend.
Facetting
An ordinary, perhaps especially a cross, might, like diamonds and mullets, be facetted, but examples of facetted ordinaries in actual heraldry are extremely hard to find.Embowed
An ordinary embowed has the edges bowed inwards producing a concavity; this is sometimes more explicitly blazoned inwardly embowed. Its opposite is enarched.This variation is most often applied to the chevron and pile
Pile (heraldry)
In heraldry, a pile is a charge usually counted as one of the ordinaries ....
.
The term embowed is also applied to bent arms and legs, arched fish, and serpents in circles.
Ecimé and other modified chevrons
The chevron écimé has its peak "blunted", i.e. squared off rather than meeting in a point. Much more common is couped at the peak (or point) or even truncated. In the Canadian Public Register truncated is used in the Anglophone versions of blazons, and ecimé in the Francophone ones.The chevron disjointed or disjoined has the central, pointed portion missing.[5] The chevron éclaté has each end with roughly-made points or spikes on it.[6]. The chevron brisy (or brisé) as in the Scots Public Register, vol 52, p54 also has the point part removed though in this case the two remaining sections are squared off and 'lean' against each other, as can be seen in the French coat of Meaudre de la Pouyade.[7]
The Armorial de Gelre shows Bernard v.d. Wilten as bearing a "fasce palissée" (similar to a fess embattled with long merlons and the ends rounded).
Enhanced and abased
An ordinary enhanced is placed higher in the field than its usual position.When an ordinary is shown lower down the shield than its usual position , it is described as debased or abased or abaisse or dehanced.
Rompu
An ordinary rompu is "broken" in some way, though the form of the breaking may vary considerably and may perhaps need further description to avoid confusion.An example is the chevronels rompu in the arms of Danzé
Danzé
Danzé is a commune in the Loir-et-Cher department of central France.-See also:*Communes of the Loir-et-Cher department...
, Loir et Cher, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. A chevron 'rompu' has the central section shifted vertically upward, as in the coat of the US 278th Armored Infantry Battalion. http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Armored/278ArmoredInfantryBattalion.htm A bend rompu arraswise of an unusual form can be found in the arms of the 99th Air Base Wing of the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
.http://www.au.af.mil/au/afhra/wwwroot/rso/wings_groups_pages/0099abwn.php "Rompu" should be distinguished from "fracted". The arms of the Roossenekal Local Area Committee are Per chevron Gules and Azure, a chevron fracted and embattled to chief Or, between in chief a rose Argent, barbed and seeded, and in base a cross fleuretty, Or. The form of the "fracting" can be specified.
An ordinary affaissée, in French heraldry, is wavy in the form of a depression in its middle.
The word rompu is also applied to a mobile charge which is broken, e.g. "a circular chain with link rompu at the top".
External links
- Heraldry Society of Scotland: members' arms
- Heraldry Society of Scotland: civic heraldry
- The Public Register of Arms, Flags and Badges of Canada online
- United States Army Institute of Heraldry
- The Royal Heraldry Society of Canada's online Members' Roll of Arms
- Civic Heraldry of England and Wales website
- Armoria Patriae: State Arms in South Africa
- South African Bureau of Heraldry database (via National Archives of South Africa)
- James Parker A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry (online version) Saitou, hard copy first published 1894
Books
- Boutell's Heraldry (revised J P Brook-Little, Norroy and Ulster King of Arms). Frederick Warne, London and New York, 1983
- A C Fox-Davies. A Complete Guide to Heraldry (revised by J P Brooke-Little, Richmond Herald). Thomas Nelson and Sons, London 1969
- A C Fox-Davies. The Art of Heraldry: an encyclopedia of armory. Bloomsbury Books. London. 1986 (first published 1904)
- Kevin Greaves. A Canadian Heraldic Primer. The Heraldry Society of Canada, Ottawa, 2000
- Sir Thomas Innes of Learney, Lord Lyon King of Arms. Scots Heraldry (revised Malcolm R Innes of Edingight, Marchmont Herald). Johnston and Bacon, London and Edinburgh, 1978
- Alexander Nisbet. A system of heraldry. T&A Constable. Edinburgh.1984(first published 1722)
- Paul, Sir James BalfourJames Balfour PaulSir James Balfour Paul, KCVO was the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the officer responsible for heraldry in Scotland, from 1890 until the end of 1926....
(Lord Lyon King of Arms). An Ordinary of Arms Contained in the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland. W. Green & Sons. Edinburgh. 1903 - David Reid of Robertland and Vivien Wilson. An Ordinary of Arms, volume 2 [1902-1973]. Lyon Office. Edinburgh. 1977
- Urquhart, R M . Scottish Civic Heraldry: Regional - Islands - District. Heraldry Today. London. 1979