As Used By
The College of Arms
of the
Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc.
Revised: December 23, 2003
The purpose of this Glossary is not to define the many heraldic terms which may be found in any basic or general heraldic text. For such terms, we commend to you works such as J.P. Brooke-Little's An Heraldic Alphabet or James Parker's A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry. Our purpose here is to help define or explain some of the terms more or less specific to the Society or terms which may differ somewhat from non-S.C.A. usage.
Many of the Rules for Submission concerning armorial difference discuss change to half a charge group. For the purposes of counting armorial difference, half is usually defined in the mathematical sense. However, in certain circumstances, half may be defined differently, as indicated by precedent. Some of these circumstances are:
The bottommost of three charges arranged two and one, either alone on the field or surrounding a central ordinary such as a fess or chevron, is defined as half of that charge group. However, no more than one difference may be obtained by making changes to that bottommost charge.
The two portions of a field divided per chevron or per chevron inverted are each considered half for determining difference of the field.
Name | Reserved for |
Baldric, White | Masters of Arms |
Belt, White | Knights |
Chapeau | Order of the Pelican |
Chaplet of roses | Princesses |
Charged canton | Augmentation |
Multiply charged single inescutcheon | Augmentation or arms of pretense |
Two straight trumpets in saltire | Heraldic offices |
Crown/Coronet | Kingdom/Principality armory; Personal armory of Society Royal Peers and Court Barons/Baronesses |
Laurel wreath | Society branch arms |
Orle or annulet of chain | Knights |
Pelican in its piety | Order of the Pelican |
Pelican vulning itself | Order of the Pelican |
Wreaths of roses | Queens; Members of the Order of the Rose |
Name | Blazon | Symbol of |
Red cross | A cross couped gules on an argent background | International Red Cross (protected by international treaty) |
Belt strap | A charge within a belt strap | Scottish clan badges, when the belt strap encircles charge(s) |
Crowned Harp | A crowned harp | Ireland |
Crowned Rose | A crowned [Tudor] rose | England |
Crowned Shamrock | A crowned trefoil (or shamrock) | Ireland |
Crowned Thistle | A crowned Scottish thistle | Scotland |
Flaming Cross | A cross enflamed, or A cross of flames | Ku Klux Klan |
France ancient | Azure, semy-de-lis Or | France |
France modern | Azure, three fleurs-de-lis Or | France |
Fylfot | See Swastika | |
Hand of Glory | On a flame a hand; A hand enflamed | Black magic |
Imperial Dragon | A five-toed Chinese dragon | Emperor of China |
Papal Cross | A cross with three cross-pieces in chief | Pope |
Pentacle/Pentagram | A mullet voided and interlaced/ within and conjoined to an annulet | Inverted version perceived as a symbol of black magic and "satanism"; upright version insufficiently different from inverted version |
Red Hand of Ulster | A sinister hand appaumy gules on argent canton or inescutcheon | British Baronets |
Rose en soleil | A rose with sunbeams emanating | Plantagenet kings of England |
Royal Dragon | A four-toed Chinese dragon | Ruler of Korea |
Scottish Tressure | A double tressure flory counter-flory | Scottish augmentation; an orle fleury (counter-fleury) is insufficiently different |
Swastika | A swastika or a fylfot | Nazi Party (NSDAP) |
Triskelion gammadion | A triskelion gammadion | Afrikaaner Weerstandsbeweging, a white supremacist group |
Tudor Rose | The combination of a rose argent and a rose gules, whether as a double rose or in some other manner which creates a half-white, half-red rose | Tudors |
Most monsters, e.g., griffins, unicorns, sea-lions, etc., being mythical creatures, have no "proper" coloration. Natural animals which are frequently found as brown but also commonly appear in other tinctures in the natural world may be registered as a brown [animal name] proper (e. g., brown hound proper, brown horse proper).
Charge | Tincture or Blazon | Tincture Class |
Acorn | Brown | Color |
Animals | Varies by specific animal | n/a |
Antler/Ivory | White or light yellow brown | Metal |
Arrow | Brown shaft, black head, tincture of fletching specified | Color |
Axe | No defined proper tincture | n/a |
Barbed and seeded | Green sepals, yellow seeds | Ignored |
Bear | No default; must be specified | n/a |
Boar | Brown | Color |
Bread | Brown | Color |
Bull/Cow | No default; must be specified | n/a |
Camel | No default; must be specified | n/a |
Carrot | No defined proper tincture | n/a |
Cherub | No defined proper tincture | n/a |
Chough | Black with red beak and legs | Color |
Cloves | Dark brown | Color |
Daisy | Argent seeded Or | Metal |
Deer/Stag | Brown | Color |
Dog/Wolf | No default; must be specified | n/a |
Dolphin | Green with red fins | Color |
Dolphin, natural | Gray | Metal |
Dove | White with pink or red beak and legs | Metal |
Elephant | Gray with white tusks | Metal |
Falcon | Brown | Color |
Fire/flame | Alternately red and yellow or yellow and red | Neutral |
Ford | A base wavy barry wavy blue and white | Neutral |
Fountain | A roundel barry wavy blue and white | Neutral |
Fox | Red with black "socks" and white at tip of tail | Color |
Hammer | Sable shafted of brown wood | Color |
Hare | Brown | Color |
Harp | Brown | Color |
Horse | No default; must be specified | n/a |
Humans/human parts | Caucasian by default, i.e., pink or white (See also Moor) | Metal |
Ibex | Brown | Color |
Ladybug | No defined proper tincture | n/a |
Lavender | Purple flowers, green leaves and stem | Color |
Leaf | Green (sometimes with a brown stem) | Color |
Leather/leather items | Brown | Color |
Mermaid | Caucasian human with green tail and yellow hair | Neutral |
Monster | Most have no proper tincture | n/a |
Moor | Brown with black hair | Color |
Moose | Brown | Color |
Mouse | No default; must be specified | n/a |
Owl | No default; must be specified | n/a |
Parchment | Tan or yellow | Metal |
Peacock | Mostly blue and green with "eyes" in the tail | Color |
Pickaxe | Black, shafted brown | Color |
Plants | Green, sometimes with brown stems | Color |
Pomegranate | Green, seeded red | Color |
Popinjay | Green with red details | Color |
Pretzel | Brown | Color |
Rabbit | Brown | Color |
Rainbow | (on color field: from top to bottom) Yellow, red, green, white; white clouds |
Metal |
(on metal field from top to bottom) Blue, green, gold, red; cloud color must be specified |
Color | |
Rainbow, natural | (from top to bottom) Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, white clouds |
Neutral |
Raven | Sable | Sable |
Rose | Red, barbed green and seeded yellow | Color |
Saracen | As a default Human | Metal |
Seraph | Caucasian skin, red hair, multicolored wings | n/a |
Slipped and leaved | Brown or green stem and green leaves | Color |
Stone/stone items | Gray | Metal |
Sword | White with yellow hilt and quillons | Metal |
Thistle | Green sepals, stem, leaves; purple or red flower | Color |
Tiger | No default; must be specified | n/a |
Tree | Brown trunk, green leaves | Color |
Urchin | Brown with white face and belly | Color |
Weaver's slea | Brown | Color |
Wood/wooden items | Brown | Color |
Zebra | White striped black | Metal |
In general, the end of a charge that is to chief when the charge is palewise will be to dexter when the same charge is placed fesswise (as if rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise). A sword fesswise, for example, has its point to dexter, and an arrow fesswise has its feathers to dexter. The most common exception is the (quill) pen: when palewise, it has its nib to base, but when it is fesswise, the nib is to dexter.
Charge | Default Posture |
Abacus | Fesswise |
Acorn | Palewise, stem to chief |
Angel | Affronty |
Anvil | Single-horned, horn to dexter |
Arrow | Palewise, point to base; when fesswise, point to sinister |
Arrowhead | Point to base |
Attire, Stag's | Fesswise, stump to dexter |
Axe | Palewise, head to chief |
Badger | Statant |
Barnacles | Palewise, hinge to chief |
Barrel | Fesswise |
Bat | See Reremouse |
Bee | Tergiant |
Bellows | Palewise, spout to base |
Birds | Generally close; see specific birds as well |
Bone | Palewise |
Book, open | Palewise |
Book, closed | Fesswise |
Bow | Palewise, string to sinister (when fesswise, string is to base) |
Broach, Embroiderer's | Palewise, forked end to chief |
Broadarrow | Palewise, point to base |
Brush (artist's) | Palewise, tuft to chief |
Calipers | Points to base |
Candle | Palewise |
Catapult | "Rest" position, with the arm neither cocked and ready, nor at full release |
Chair | Affronty |
Cockatrice | Statant, wings addorsed |
Comet | Palewise, head to chief |
Crampon | Palewise |
Crane | In its vigilance (close, standing on one foot, holding a stone in the other) |
Crossbow | Palewise, bow to chief, cocked |
Cup | Palewise, mouth to chief |
Daffodil | No default; must be specified |
Demi-beast | Erect |
Dice | In trian aspect, showing three of the sides with one square face forward |
Dolphin | Naiant |
Dragon | Segreant |
Drop Spindle | Palewise whorl to base |
Drum | Palewise, head to chief |
Eagle | Displayed |
Eel | Fesswise wavy |
Escallop | Hinge to chief |
Falcon | Close (often, but not always, belled and jessed) |
Fan | Open or spread |
Fasces | Palewise |
Feather | Palewise, quill point to base (when fesswise, quill point is to dexter) |
Fer-a-loup | Convex cutting edge to base |
Fetterlock | Bolt to base |
Fish | Naiant |
Fork | Palewise, tines to chief |
Fruit | Generally, those that hang from a stem (e.g., apples) have the stem to chief; those that grow from the ground (e.g., artichokes) have the stem to base |
Frog | Tergiant |
Furison | Fesswise, flat edge to base |
Goad | Palewise, point to chief |
Goose | Close |
Griffin | Segreant |
Gyronny of six | Per fess, with the upper and lower halves divided into thirds |
Hammer | Palewise, head to chief, striking surface to dexter |
Harp | Forepillar to dexter (i.e., soundbox to sinister) |
Harpy | Close |
Head, Beast | Facing dexter |
Head, Bird | Facing dexter (except Owl's head) |
Head, Human and Humanoid | Generally: If feminine or child, affronty (guardant); if masculine, facing dexter |
Head, Owl | Guardant |
Hedgehog (or Urchin) | Statant |
Heron | Close |
Hoe | Palewise, blade to base |
Horn (animal or monster) | Palewise, point to chief or point to dexter |
Horn (drinking) | Palewise, bell to chief |
Horn (hunting) | Bell to dexter |
Horn (straight trumpet) | Palewise, bell to chief |
Horn of plenty | Effluent to dexter |
Horseshoe | Opening to base |
Hourglass | Palewise |
Humans | Statant affronty |
Humanoid monsters | Statant affronty |
Hunting horn | See Horn (hunting) |
Insect | Tergiant |
Jambe | See Leg, Beast |
Key | Fesswise, wards to dexter and facing downwards; when palewise, must be specified (wards to chief or wards to base) |
Knife | See Sword |
Kraken | Tentacles to chief |
Ladder | Palewise |
Ladle | Palewise, bowl to base and facing dexter |
Leaf | Palewise, stem to base |
Leg, Beast | Palewise, claws to chief |
Leg, Bird | Palewise, claws to base |
Leg, Dragon | Palewise, claws to chief |
Leg, Human | Palewise, foot to base |
Lion | Rampant |
Lotus | No default; must be specified |
Lure | Cord to chief |
Lute | Palewise affronty (strings facing viewer), but with the pegbox visible |
Lightning Bolt | No default; must be specified |
Mace | Palewise, head to chief |
Mandrake | Affronty |
Martlet | Close |
Mask | Affronty |
Mermaid/Merman | Erect affronty |
Mount | Issuant from base |
Mountain | Issuant from base |
Mushroom | Couped |
Musical Instruments | Generally, palewise affronty (finger holes or strings facing viewer) |
Nail | Palewise, point to base |
Needle | Palewise, point to base |
Oar | Palewise, blade to chief |
Ostrich | Close, holding a horseshoe in its mouth |
Owl | Close guardant |
Panther | Guardant; body posture must be specified |
Pegasus | No default; must be specified |
Pen, quill | Palewise, nib to base (when fesswise, nib to dexter) |
Pheon | Palewise, point to base |
Phoenix | Rising from flames, wings displayed |
Pine Cone | Palewise, but must be specified whether stem to chief or to base |
Pitcher | Palewise, spout to dexter |
Polearm | Palewise, blade to chief |
Pole-Cannon | Palewise, mouth to chief |
Printer's Ball | Handle to chief |
Psaltery | Strings affronty |
Ram, Battering | Fesswise, head to dexter |
Raven | Close |
Recorder | Palewise, bell to base, finger holes facing viewer |
Reremouse | Displayed guardant |
Sackbut | Palewise, bell to base; when fesswise, bell to dexter |
Scorpion | Tergiant |
Scourge | Handle to base |
Scroll, Closed | No default; must be specified |
Scroll, Open | Palewise |
Scythe | Palewise, blade to chief |
Sea-Horse | Erect |
Sea-Lion | Erect |
Sea-Monster | Erect |
Seeblatt | Point to base |
Shave, Currier's | Fesswise, edge to base |
Sheaf | A sheaf consists of two objects in saltire surmounted by a third palewise |
Shell, Snail | Opening to dexter |
Shell, Whelk | Palewise, opening to chief |
Ship | Fesswise, bow to dexter |
Shoe | Fesswise, toe to dexter |
Shuttle, Weaver's | Fesswise |
Silkie | Erect guardant |
Simurgh | No default; must be specified |
Sitar | Palewise, neck to chief |
Slea, Weaver's | Fesswise |
Sling | Cup to base, thongs to chief |
Spade/Shovel | Palewise, blade to base |
Spear | Palewise, point to chief |
Spider | Tergiant |
Spur | Palewise, rowel to chief |
Spoon | Palewise affronty, bowl to chief |
Squirrel | Sejant erect |
Swan | Rousant (rising) |
Sword | Palewise, point to chief |
Tankard | Palewise, mouth to chief and handle to sinister |
Thistle | Palewise, slipped and leaved |
Tree | Palewise, leaves to chief, with just a little of the root structure visible |
Trillium | Affronty, petals in pall |
Trimount | Issuant from base |
Trumpet | Palewise, bell to chief |
Turtle | Tergiant palewise |
Unicorn | Rampant |
Urchin | Statant |
Viol | Palewise, neck to chief |
Wake knot | Fesswise |
Weapons | Generally, palewise, "business end" to chief |
Winged object | Wings displayed |
Winged quadrupedal monsters | Wings addorsed |
Wreath | Circular, with the tips of the two branches nearly touching to chief |
Wyvern | Statant |