Flaunch

Argent flaunches gules

Inheraldry,aflaunch(/flɔːntʃ/;also calledflanchesorflanks)are among theordinariesor subordinaries, consisting of two arcs of circles protruding into thefieldfrom the sides of the shield. The flaunch is never borne singly.

Plain flaunches are seen in the coats ofHulbert Paul Lindahl SilverandGillian Patricia Birtwhistle.They may be of differenttinctures,as in the coat of the Free State Women's Agricultural Union (South Africa) where they are orange/tenny and azure.

Flaunches may touch each other, as in the coat ofBradley Hook.

Like any ordinary, they may

• be charged with other things, as in the English coats ofHarlow District CouncilandForest of Dean District Council.
• have colourings other than plain ones, as in the English coat ofHoylake Urban District Counciland the Canadian one of theCentral Saanich (British Columbia) Police Service.
• have ornamented edges, as in the Welsh coat ofMaesteg Town Council.

A very rare variation issquareflaunches, as in the coat ofSheila-Marie Suzanne Cookand the coat of the US Coastguard CutterSequoia.Parker's glossary, s.v.Flaunches,cites two similar coats for Mosylton or Moselton with square flaunches.

Diminutive

While supposedly the diminutives of flaunches areflasquesandvoiders(which likewise cannot be borne singly), these exist only very rarely in modern heraldry, and in practice cannot be distinguished from flaunches. An example occurs in the coat of Liddell-Grainger of Ayton (second quarter for Liddell), "Argent fretty gules; two voiders or;..." (Scots Public Register, volume 38, page 3).

As a debruisement

Some early heraldic writers say that the illegitimate son of a noblewoman must bear her arms with "a surcoat"; that is, on (large) flaunches around a blank center.