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Blazon

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This article is about heraldry. For the term used in Romantic poetry, seeBlason.
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Inheraldryand heraldicvexillology,ablazonis a formal description of acoat of arms,flagor similaremblem,from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verbto blazonmeans to create such a description. The visual depiction of a coat of arms or flag has traditionally had considerable latitude in design, but a verbal blazon specifies the essentially distinctive elements. A coat of arms or flag is therefore primarily defined not by a picture but rather by the wording of its blazon (though in modern usage flags are often additionally and more precisely defined using geometrical specifications).Blazonis also the specialized language in which a blazon is written, and, as a verb, the act of writing such a description.Blazonryis the art, craft or practice of creating a blazon. The language employed inblazonryhas its ownvocabulary,grammarandsyntax,which becomes essential for comprehension when blazoning a complex coat of arms.

Other armorial objects and devices – such asbadges,banners,andseals– may also be described in blazon.

The noun and verbblazon(referring to a verbal description) are not to be confused with the nounemblazonment,or the verbto emblazon,both of which relate to the graphic representation of a coat of arms or heraldic device.

Etymology[edit]

The wordblazonis derived from Frenchblason,'shield'.It is found in English by the end of the 14th century.[1]

Formerly, heraldic authorities believed that the word was related to the German verbblasen'to blow (a horn)'.[2][3]Present-day lexicographers reject this theory as conjectural and disproved.[1]

Grammar[edit]

Blazon is generally designed to eliminate ambiguity of interpretation, to be as concise as possible, and to avoid repetition and extraneous punctuation. EnglishantiquarianCharles Boutellstated in 1864:

Heraldic languageis most concise, and it is always minutely exact, definite, and explicit; all unnecessary words are omitted, and all repetitions are carefully avoided; and, at the same time, every detail is specified with absolute precision. The nomenclature is equally significant, and its aim is to combine definitive exactness with a brevity that is indeedlaconic.[4]

However,John Brooke-Little,Norroy and Ulster King of Arms,wrote in 1985: "Although there are certain conventions as to how arms shall be blazoned... many of the supposedly hard and fast rules laid down in heraldic manuals [including those by heralds] are often ignored."[5]

A given coat of arms may be drawn in many different ways, all considered equivalent and faithful to the blazon, just as the letter "A" may be printed in many differentfontswhile still being the same letter. For example, the shape of theescutcheonis almost always immaterial, with very limited exceptions (e.g., thecoat of arms of Nunavut,for which a round shield is specified).

The main conventions of blazon are as follows:

  • Every blazon of a coat of arms begins by describing thefield(background), with the first letter capitalised, followed by acomma",".In a majority of cases this is a singletincture;e.g.Azure(blue).
  • If the field is complex, thevariationis described, followed by the tinctures used; e.g.Chequy gules and argent(checkered red and white).
  • If the shield isdivided,the division is described, followed by the tinctures of the subfields, beginning with thedexterside (shield bearer's right, but viewer's left) of thechief(upper) edge; e.g.Party per pale argent and vert(dexter half silver,sinisterhalf green), orQuarterlyargent and gules(clockwise from viewer's top left, i.e.dexter chief:white, red, white, red). In the case of a divided shield, it is common for the word "party" or "parted" to be omitted (e.g.,Per pale argent and vert, a tree eradicated counterchanged).
  • Some authorities prefer to capitalise the names of tinctures and charges, but this convention is far from universal. Where tinctures are not capitalised, an exception may be made for the metalOr,in order to avoid confusion with the English word "or". Where space is at a premium, tincture names may be abbreviated: e.g.,ar.forargent,gu.forgules,az.forazure,sa.forsable,andpurp.forpurpure.
  • Following the description of the field, the principalordinaryor ordinaries andcharge(s) are named, with their tincture(s); e.g.,abendor.
  • The principal ordinary or charge is followed by any other charges placed on or around it. If a charge is a bird or a beast, itsattitudeis defined, followed by the creature's tincture, followed by anything that may be differently coloured; e.g.An eagledisplayedgulesarmedand wings charged with trefoils or(see thecoat of arms of Brandenburgbelow). If the charge is a tree then it may be described by its shape or its leaves;eradicatedmeans its roots are shown.
  • Counterchangedmeans that a charge which straddles a line of division is given the same tinctures as the divided field, but reversed (see the arms of Behnsdorf below).
  • Aquartered(composite) shield is blazoned one quarter (panel) at a time, proceeding by rows from chief (top) to base, and within each row from dexter (the right side of the bearer holding the shield) to sinister; in other words, from the viewer's left to right.
  • Following the description of the shield, any additional components of theachievement– such ascrown/coronet,helmet,torse,mantling,crest,motto,supportersandcompartment– are described in turn, using the same terminology and syntax.
  • A convention often followed historically was to name a tincture explicitly only once within a given blazon. If the same tincture was found in different places within the arms, this was addressed either by ordering all elements of like tincture together prior to the tincture name (e.g.,Argent, two chevrons and a canton gules); or by naming the tincture only at its first occurrence, and referring to it at subsequent occurrences obliquely, for example by use of the phrase "of the field" (e.g.,Argent, two chevrons and on a canton gules a lion passant of the field); or by reference to its numerical place in the sequence of named tinctures (e.g.,Argent, two chevrons and on a canton gules a lion passant of the first:in both these examples, the lion isargent). However, these conventions are now avoided by theCollege of Armsin London, England, and by most other formal granting bodies, as they may introduce ambiguity to complex blazons.[6]
  • It is common to print all heraldic blazons initalic.[6][7]Heraldry has its own vocabulary, word-order and punctuation, and presenting it in italics indicates to the reader the use of a quasi-foreign language.
  • Azure, a bend or. A coat made famous by the medieval court case Scrope v. Grosvenor.
    Azure,abendor.A coat made famous by the medieval court caseScrope v. Grosvenor.
  • Party per pale argent and vert, a tree eradicated counterchanged. Arms of Behnsdorf.
    Party per pale argent and vert, a tree eradicated counterchanged.Arms ofBehnsdorf.
  • Argent, an eagle displayed gules armed and wings charged with trefoils Or. Arms of Brandenburg.
    Argent, an eagle displayed gules armed and wings charged with trefoils Or.Arms ofBrandenburg.
  • Quarterly 1st and 4th Sable a lion rampant on a canton Argent a cross Gules; 2nd and 3rd quarterly Argent and Gules in the 2nd and 3rd quarters a fret Or overall on a bend Sable three escallops of the first and as an augmentation in chief an inescutcheon, Argent a cross Gules and thereon an inescutcheon Azure, three fleurs-de-lis Or. Arms of Churchill.[8]
    Quarterly 1st and 4th Sable a lion rampant on a canton Argent a cross Gules; 2nd and 3rd quarterly Argent and Gules in the 2nd and 3rd quarters a fret Or overall on a bend Sable three escallops of the first and as an augmentation in chief an inescutcheon, Argent a cross Gules and thereon an inescutcheon Azure, three fleurs-de-lis Or.Arms ofChurchill.[8]

French vocabulary and grammar[edit]

Because heraldry developed at a time when English clerks wrote inAnglo-Norman French,many terms in English heraldry are of French origin. Some of the details of the syntax of blazon also follow French practice: thus,adjectivesare normally placed afternounsrather than before.

A number of heraldic adjectives may be given in either a French or an anglicised form: for example, across pattéeor across patty;across fitchéeor across fitchy.In modern English blazons, the anglicised form tends to be preferred.[6]

Where the French form is used, a problem may arise as to the appropriate adjectival ending, determined in normal French usage by gender and number.

"To describe two hands asappaumées,because the wordmainis feminine in French, savours somewhat of pedantry. A person may be a good armorist, and a tolerable French scholar, and still be uncertain whether an escallop-shell covered withbezantsshould be blazoned as bezanté or bezantée ".

— (John Edwin Cussans), The Handbook of Heraldry,[9]

The usual convention in English heraldry is to adhere to the feminine singular form, for example:a chief undéeanda saltire undée,even though the French nounschefandsautoirare in fact masculine. Efforts have been made to ignore grammatical correctness, for example byJ. E. Cussans,who suggested that all French adjectives should be expressed in the masculine singular, without regard to the gender and number of the nouns they qualify, thusa chief undéanda saltire undé.[9]

Complexity[edit]

Full descriptions of shields range in complexity, from a single word to a convoluted series describing compound shields:

Quarterly I. Azure three Lions' Heads affronté Crowned Or (forDalmatia); II.chequyArgent andGules(forCroatia); III. Azure a River in Fess Gules borderedArgentthereon a Marten proper beneath asix-pointed starOr (forSlavonia); IV. per Fess Azure and Or over all a Bar Gules in the Chief a demi-Eagle Sable displayed addextré of the Sun-in-splendour and senestré of a Crescent Argent in the Base seven Towers three and four Gules (forTransylvania); enté en point Gules a double-headed Eagle proper on a Peninsula Vert holding a Vase pouring Water into the Sea Argent beneath a Crown proper with bands Azure (forFiume); over all anescutcheonBarry of eight Gules and Argent impaling Gules on a Mount Vert a Crown Or issuant therefrom a double-Cross Argent (forHungary).[10]

Points[edit]

Main article:Escutcheon (heraldry) § Points

Inescutcheon[edit]

Main article:Escutcheon (heraldry) § Inescutcheon

Divisions of the field[edit]

A shield parted per pale and per fir twig fess
Main article:Division of the field

Thefieldof ashieldin heraldry can be divided into more than onetincture,as can the variousheraldic charges.Many coats of arms consist simply of a division of the field into two contrasting tinctures. These are considered divisions of a shield, so the rule of tincture can be ignored. For example, a shield divided azure and gules would be perfectly acceptable. A line of partition may be straight or it may be varied. The variations of partition lines can be wavy, indented, embattled, engrailed,nebuly,or made into myriad other forms; seeLine (heraldry).[11]

Ordinaries[edit]

Main article:Ordinary (heraldry)

In the early days of heraldry, very simple bold rectilinear shapes were painted on shields. These could be easily recognized at a long distance and could be easily remembered. They therefore served the main purpose of heraldry: identification.[12]As more complicated shields came into use, these bold shapes were set apart in a separate class as the "honorable ordinaries". They act as charges and are always written first in blazon. Unless otherwise specified they extend to the edges of the field. Though ordinaries are not easily defined, they are generally described as including thecross,thefess,thepale,thebend,thechevron,thesaltire,and thepall.[13]

There is a separate class of charges called sub-ordinaries which are of a geometrical shape subordinate to the ordinary. According to Friar, they are distinguished by their order in blazon. The sub-ordinaries include theinescutcheon,theorle,the tressure, the double tressure, thebordure,thechief,thecanton,thelabel,andflaunches.[14]

Ordinaries may appear in parallel series, in which case blazons in English give them different names such as pallets, bars, bendlets, and chevronels. French blazon makes no such distinction between these diminutives and the ordinaries when borne singly. Unless otherwise specified an ordinary is drawn with straight lines, but each may be indented, embattled, wavy, engrailed, or otherwise have their lines varied.[15]

Charges[edit]

Main article:Charge (heraldry)

A charge is any object or figure placed on a heraldic shield or on any other object of an armorial composition.[16]Any object found in nature or technology may appear as a heraldic charge in armory. Charges can be animals, objects, or geometric shapes. Apart from the ordinaries, the most frequent charges are thecross– with its hundreds of variations – and thelionandeagle.Other common animals arestags,wild boars,martlets,andfish.Dragons,bats,unicorns,griffins,and more exotic monsters appear as charges and assupporters.

Animals are found in various stereotyped positions orattitudes.Quadrupedscan often be found rampant (standing on the left hind foot). Another frequent position ispassant,or walking, like the lions of thecoat of arms of England.Eagles are almost always shown with their wings spread, or displayed. A pair of wings conjoined is called avol.

InEnglish heraldrythecrescent,mullet,martlet,annulet,fleur-de-lis,androsemay be added to a shield to distinguishcadetbranches of a family from the senior line. These cadency marks are usually shown smaller than normal charges, but it still does not follow that a shield containing such a charge belongs to a cadet branch. All of these charges occur frequently in basic undifferenced coats of arms.[17]

Marshalling[edit]

Main article:Heraldry § Marshalling

Tomarshaltwo or more coats of arms is to combine them in one shield. This can be done in a number of ways, of which the simplest isimpalement:dividing the fieldper paleand putting one whole coat in each half. Impalement replaced the earlierdimidiation– combining the dexter half of one coat with the sinister half of another – because dimidiation can create ambiguity.

A more versatile method isquartering,division of the field by both vertical and horizontal lines. As the name implies, the usual number of divisions is four, but the principle has been extended to very large numbers of "quarters".

The third common mode of marshalling is with aninescutcheon,a small shield placed in front of the main shield.

Variations of the field[edit]

Main article:Variation of the field

Thefieldof a shield, or less often a charge or crest, is sometimes made up of a pattern of colours, orvariation.A pattern of horizontal (barwise) stripes, for example, is calledbarry,while a pattern of vertical (palewise) stripes is calledpaly.A pattern of diagonal stripes may be calledbendyorbendy sinister,depending on the direction of the stripes. Other variations includechevrony,gyronnyandchequy.Wave shaped stripes are termedundy.For further variations, these are sometimes combined to produce patterns ofbarry-bendy,paly-bendy,lozengyandfusilly.Semés, or patterns of repeated charges, are also considered variations of the field.[18]TheRule of tinctureapplies to all semés and variations of the field.

Differencing and cadency[edit]

Main article:Cadency
See also:Ancient and modern arms

Cadency is any systematic way to distinguisharmsdisplayed bydescendantsof the holder of acoat of armswhen those family members have not been granted arms in their own right. Cadency is necessary in heraldic systems in which a given design may be owned by only one person at any time, generally the head of the senior line of a particular family. As anarmiger's arms may be used "by courtesy", either by children or spouses, while they are still living, some form of differencing may be required so as not to confuse them with the originalundifferencedor "plain coat" arms. Historically, arms were only heritable by males and therefore cadency marks had no relevance to daughters; in the modern era, Canadian and Irish heraldry include daughters in cadency. These differences are formed by adding to the arms small and inconspicuous marks calledbrisures,similar tochargesbut smaller. They are placed on thefess-point,orin-chiefin the case of the label.[19]Brisures are generally exempt from therule of tincture.One of the best examples of usage from the medieval period is shown on the seven Beauchamp cadets in the stained-glass windows ofSt Mary's Church,Warwick.[19]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ab"blazon, n.".Oxford English Dictionary(Online ed.).Oxford University Press.(Subscription orparticipating institution membershiprequired.)
  2. ^Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th. ed., vol.11, p.683, "Heraldry"
  3. ^Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911)."Blazon".Encyclopædia Britannica(11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  4. ^Boutell, Charles,Heraldry, Historical and Popular,3rd edition, London, 1864, pp. 8–9.
  5. ^J. P. Brooke-Little:An Heraldic Alphabet;new and revised edition, p. 52. London: Robson Books, 1985.
  6. ^abc"Blazon in CoA".The Coat of Arms.Archived fromthe originalon 27 December 2017.Retrieved26 December2017.
  7. ^Boutell 1864, p. 11.
  8. ^Courtenay, P.The Armorial Bearings of Sir Winston ChurchillArchived2013-07-18 at theWayback Machine.The Churchill Centre.
  9. ^abCussans, John E.(1874).The Handbook of Heraldry(2nd ed.). London: Chatto & Windus. p. 47.
  10. ^Velde, François (August 1998)."Hungary".Heraldry by Countries.Retrieved13 December2007.
  11. ^Stephen Friar and John Ferguson.Basic Heraldry.(W.W. Norton & Company, New York: 1993), 148.
  12. ^von Volborth (1981),p. 18
  13. ^Friar (1987),p. 259
  14. ^Friar (1987),p. 330
  15. ^Woodcock & Robinson (1988),p. 60
  16. ^Boutell (1890),p. 311
  17. ^Moncreiffe & Pottinger (1953),p. 20
  18. ^Fox-Davies (1909),pp. 101
  19. ^abEncyclopædia Britannica, 9th edition (1884), vol. 11, p. 704
General
  • Brault, Gerard J. (1997).Early Blazon: Heraldic Terminology in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries,(2nd ed.). Woodbridge, UK: The Boydell Press.ISBN0-85115-711-4.
  • Elvin, Charles Norton. (1969).A Dictionary of Heraldry.London: Heraldry Today.ISBN0-900455-00-4.
  • Parker, James.A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry,(2nd ed.). Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle Co.ISBN0-8048-0715-9.
Books

External links[edit]

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