Class Notes

First Laz handed back the poems that we wrote. Joe's was the hardest to figure out.

Notes on Heraldry

Blazonry- to define in words the Coat of Arms.
- a shield with a green field, a gold lion with its tongue out, in profile, standing on its hind legs
Represented as: Vert, a lion langue rampant Or.

A Proper Charge
Proper - colored with the most common colors in nature for that object
Examples:
Zebra Proper = black and white stripes
Tree Proper = brown trunk with green leaves

The term proper should only be used to indicate colorings that cannot be described in usual heraldric terms
A raven proper is just a raven sable. ( They only have one main color)
The colors of the object identified with proper should be absolute.
Examples:
Brown Bear Proper, Robin Proper
If the animal comes in different colors... it cannot be proper.
Examples:
Horse Proper, Fish Proper (these could be many different colors)
The 'Metal on color, color on metal' rule is not necessarily in effect when the charge is proper.

Dividing the shield
Most shields were undivided
As time went on, shields became segmented
Marriage, disputes between familes, the receipt of new honors esp. from a monarch, and new accomplishments are all reasons why the COA will be changed or segmented.

PER = colors come together directly
A = colors are separated by a band

Fess = Shield separated horizontally
Bend = " " diagonally from top right to bottom left (holding the shield
Pale = " " vertically
Quarterly = " " Into four sections (Highly christian)
Saltire = " " With an X (St. Andrew's cross)
Chevron = " " with a Peak ( can be inverted and is supposed to represent a house)
Pall = " " by a Y
Cheif = " " top1/3 is one color and bottom 2/3 is another
Pile = " " Starting at top corners, separated by lines coming to a point at the bottom.
Tierce = " " Right 1/3 is one color, while the rest is another (as if you were holding the shield)

Field Divisions Example
Shield divided diagonally upper right to left, blue on top, black on bottom, a silver lion with its tongue out standing on hind legs

Per bend asure and sable, a lion langue rampant argent

Connor Tuck