A few weeks ago I posted an entry here and at Family TreeFirsts on Heraldry. Unless you are one
of my close friends, you would never guess that I have a love of heraldic
display. Heraldic display is the use of
personal heraldry on banners, clothes, embroidery, wood, glass, metal, or
anything that a person owned or used.
The personal display of heraldry harks back to medieval tournaments where you could look out over a field and know, on sight, who was fighting who.
There are some amazing uses of heraldry over the centuries, many being
quite breathe taking. My favorites are the ones in stained glass. However, do you
know what all the colors, flora, fauna, and symbols mean? Over the next few weeks I want to take you
through the world of heraldry and give you the basics to understand what you
are looking at during your research. Each culture in Europe
has a different view on heraldry, from who can use it to how it was drawn, and with
that in mind, these posts will concentrate on English Heraldry.
The basics of heraldry come down to the colors, field
divisions, and the charges used. It can
be very complex, but it can also be very simple, it all depends on how it is
drawn. English heraldry had its beginnings with the
Normans and because of this the language of heraldry is French. Now, let’s start with the colors used.
Color is a main aspect of heraldry. All those amazing
colors and textures bring the images to life in some cases, and make them
unforgettable in others. There are only
7 colors you need to know, 5 non-metal colors and 2 metals. They are:
azure (blue), vert (green), purpure (purple), gules (red), or (yellow/gold),
and argent (white/silver). I have left
off, and won’t discuss in detail, the 20th century addition of
blue-celeste (sky blue). In addition to the colors there are stains and
furs. The 3 stains are: tennè (orange), murrey (purple-red of the
mulberry), and sanguine (deep blood red).
Ermine (white with black spots), erminois (yellow with black spots), ermines (black with white spots), pean (black with yellow spots), and vair (blue and white pelts) are the types of fur. There are more complex fur patterns, but we will stick with the most common for now.
Now that you know the colors, tinctures, and furs used, let’s
look at how they were placed on a person’s device. There are specific rules as to what colors
are allowed to touch and which are not.
For instance, you may not place a metal object on a metal background or
a non-metal object on a non-metal background.
If you think about it, it should be clear as why. Would a gold goblet show up on a gold
background? Or a red flower on a red
background? Contrasting a metal and
non-metal makes the arms pop so to say. Furs, on the other hand, are technically a
neutral color, but common sense should be used.
While technically correct, a black panther on an ermines background
would not be a good choice because you would not see the panther, or the charge,
on the device.
Next time, field divisions.
Sources:
Brooke-Little,
J.P. An Heraldic Alphabet. Robinson Books, Ltd; London; 1996.
Fox-Davies,
A.C.. The Art of Heraldry: An Encyclopedia of Armory.
Parker, James. AGlossary of Terms Used in Heraldry. Oxford: James Parker & Co., 1894
(Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 1970); see online version
Images:
Wikimedia Commons: Manuscript Miniature of a Joust; Hatching system of Petra Sancta and de la Colombiere ; Heraldikai lexikon/Hermelin
I'm glad to know these basics. Is sable one of the 5 non-metal colors? Once you add the 3 stains and the types of fur, there are quite a number of possible combinations! I look forward to finding out more!
ReplyDeleteI like learning the basics! Is sable the 5th non-metal color? I can see how 3 stains and 5 types of fur could add up to many combinations and permutations! Will look forward to the next lesson!
ReplyDeleteYes it is! How did I miss that not being in the paragraph? So sorry.
ReplyDelete