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Home > Fact Sheets > Heraldry Guide Glossary
HERALDRY GUIDE GLOSSARY
Posted 1/9/2008
Printable Fact Sheet
Abased - Lowered
Addorser - Back to back; said of beasts, etc., and of wings so placed; also Endorsed
Affronte - Of a beast or object so placed to show its full front to the observer; sometimes used as a synonym for guardant (q.v.)
Ambulant - Walking
Annulet - A ring
Arched - In the form of an arch; also, Enarched
Argent - Silver, usually represented as white
Armed - Of beasts, monsters and birds in reference to teeth, talons, horns and claws; when applied to men or human limbs it is synonymous with armoured; also applied to arrows
Azure - Blue (from Arabic Lazura)
Balance - A pair of scales
Barb - Applied to the leaf-like sepals appearing between the petals of the heraldic rose; also to the head of an arrow
Beaked - Of the beaks of birds or monsters
Bearing - Any heraldic device or figure borne in arms
Belled - Having a bell or bells attached, e.g., a falcon
Bezant - A gold roundle
Blazon - The technical description of heraldic insignia; the word should not be applied to painted arms which are emblazonments
Bordure - Narrow border
Caboshed - Of an animal's head affronte and cut off so as to show no part of the neck
Caduceus - The staff of Mercury, consisting of a ball-headed rod, winged, and entwined with two serpents
Centaur - The man-horse of mythology, represented with bow and arrow; also termed Sagittarius or Sagittary
Charge - Any object or figure placed on an heraldic shield or on any other object in an armorial composition; the shield or other object on which the charge is placed is said to be charged
Checky - Checkered
Chevalier - A man on horseback
Close - Of a bird when the wings lie close to the body
Combatant - Face to face; in battle
Concave - Arched
Confronte - Facing one another
Conjoined - Joined together
Cornucopia - The horn of plenty
Couchant - Lying down or sleeping
Counter - Reverse or opposite
Countercharged - Countercoloured
Courant - Running
Crenallated - Embattled; the aperatures are the crenelles or embrasured, and the pieces of wall which rise between them are merlons
Crined - Of hair or mane
Cubit arm - A hand or arm couped below the elbow
Decrescent - Of a crescent when the horns are to the sinister
Demi - The upper of front half is always understood, unless the contrary is stated
Dexter - The right-hand side of the shield from the standpoint of the man behind it
Displayed - Having the wings expanded; unfolded
Emblem - An officially approved symbolic design portraying the distinctive history, mission, and general function of an organization
Element - A symbol or group of symbols portraying a single characteristic, trait, or concept
Elevated - Raised; of wings of birds, etc.
Embowed - Bent, curved
Enhanced - Raised above the normal position
Erased - Torn off (arrache) and leaving ragged edges
Erect - Set upright, in a vertical position
Establishment - Any organization with a constituted headquarters, at group level or higher
Estoile - A star; estoile, scattered with the stars
Fasces - The lictor's axe in its bundle of rods; sometimes found in the arms of judges
Feathered, or Flighted - Applied to an arrow
Fimbriated - Having a narrow edging of a different tincture from the rest of the charge
Flexed - Bent or bowed
Fructed - Bearing fruit
Fumant - Smoking
Garb - A sheaf of corn; English "corn" is our wheat
Garnished - Appropriately adorned
Golpe - A purple roundle (rare)
Gorged - Encircled round the neck or throat
Goutte - A drop, scattered with drops
Guardant - Of a beast with its head turned so as to face the observer
Gules - Red (from Arabic gul, a red rose), abbreviated GU
Gunstone, Gunshot - A black roundle; pellet
Habited - Clothed
Hauriant - Of a fish erect with head upwards, as though drawing in air
Heraldry - The heraldry of a specific organization consists of its emblem, motto (if any), its designation, and the shield of an establishment or the disc of a unit
Heater Shield - The most popular shield for armorial display, having the shape of the base of a flat iron
Hillock - A green mount
Hilted - Used in referring to the grip and cross-piece of a sword
Hurt - A blue roundle; hurte, hurty, scattered with hurts
In lure - - Of two wings joined, tips downwards, like a hawk's lure
In point - Charges arranged pilewise so as almost to meet in the base of the shield
In splendor - Of the sun when shown (as normally) with its rays
Incensed - Having fire issuing from the mouth and ears
Increscent - Of a crescent when the horns are to the dexter
Inflamed - Burning
Inverted - Upside down; of wings when the tips are downwards
Issuant - Proceeding from or out of
Jessant - Shooting forth, as plants from earth
Jessant-de-lis - Having a fleur-de-lis shooting forth
Langued - Used when referring to the tongue of a creature
Lined - Having an inside lining; also having cords or chains attached, as to a collar
Mace - Originally a weapon, now a symbol of judicial or civic authority
Main - A hand
Maned - Refers to the mane of a lion, horse, etc.
Masoned - Used in referring to the cement or other binding material in a piece of masonry or brickwork
Mill-rind - The iron affixed to the centre of a millstone; it sometimes takes the form of a cross moline
Mount - A hillock, usually in the base of a shield
Mullet - Star
Murrey - Purple red (mulberry colour)
Naiant - Swimming
Nebuly - In stylized cloud form
Ogress - A black roundle
Or - Gold; also yellow
Over all - Of a charge when it is borne over all others
Passant - Walking past
Pegasus - The winged horse
Pellet - A black roundle; pellete, pellety, scattered with pellets
Pennant - A long streamer-like pennon
Phoenix - Represented as an eagle issuing from flames
Pierced - Perforated and showing the field or some other tincture through the hole
Pile - A pie shape, point to base
Pily-bendy - A field divided into a number of pile-shaped pieces bendwise
Plate - A silver roundle
Pomme - A green roundle
Pommeml - The ball at the end of a sword hilt
Portcullis - A defense for a gateway; Royal badge of the Tudors
Proper - In natural or normal colors
Purpure - Purple, abbreviated purp
Quarterly, quartered - Cut in fourths
Queue - The tail of an animal
Quill, Quilled - Terms used when referring to the pen or a feather
Rayonne - Encircled with or formed of rays
Raguly - Of a staff or limb ragged
Rampant - On one hind foot and prepared to battle
Regurdant - Of an animal looking over its back
Respectant - Face to face
Rising - About to take wing
Rod of Aesculapius - A serpent entwined about a rod; an emblem of healing
Rompu - Broken, or interrupted
Sable - Black, abbreviated sa
Salient - Springing
Saltirewise - Crossed diagonally, X
Sea-horse, Sea-wolfe - The fore-part of an animal joined to a fish-tail
Seeded - Used when referring to the seed vessels of flowers, etc.
Sergreant - Rampant, in the case of a griffin or dragon
Sejant - Of an animal represented in a sitting position
Seme - Strewn or scattered with any charge, e.g., seme-de-lis (strewn with fleurs-de-lis), seme of roses, etc.; also Aspersed, Poudre, or Powdered
Shafted - Used when referring to the shaft of a spear, arrow, etc.
Shamrock - The emblem of Ireland; sometimes represented as true to nature, and sometimes conventionally as a trefoil slipped
Sinister - The left hand side of the shield from the standpoint of the man behind it
Soaring - Flying aloft
Springing - An attitude of deer and similar animals
Stringed - Having strings or ribbons, as a harp, bugle-horn, etc.; also used when referring to a bow-string
Surmounted - Applied to a charge over which another charge is laid
Tenne - Orange or tawny
Torteau - A red roundle, (pl. torteaux)
Transfixed - Pierced through
Triparted - Split into three parts
Unguled - Used when referring to the hoofs of animals
Unit - Lowest level of organization of the Air Force; an organization with no headquarters; squadrons and numbered flights are units
Vert - Green
Vested - Clothed
Voided - Of a charge with the middle removed, leaving little more than the outline
Volant - Flying
Waves of the sea - Usually represented naturally
Wavy - Stylized waves formation
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