In heraldry: line of division of the field or vary a charge
The
lines
in
heraldry
used to
divide
and
vary
fields
and
charges
are by default straight, but may have many different shapes. Care must be taken to distinguish these types of lines from the use of lines as charges, and to distinguish these shapes from actual charges, such as "a mount [or triple mount] in base," or, particularly in
German heraldry
, different kinds of embattled from castle walls.
In
Scotland
, varied lines of partition are often used to modify a
bordure
(or sometimes another
ordinary
) to difference the arms of a
cadet
from the chief of the house.
[1]
Different shapes of lines
[
edit
]
Indented and dancetty
[
edit
]
An ordinary
indented
is bounded by small zigzags like a
triangle wave
or the teeth of a
saw
, with peaks on one side matching peaks on the other. An ordinary
dancetty
is similar, but with peaks matching troughs, so that the width is constant; it also typically has fewer points than
indented
. In early armory these were not distinguished. In the arms of the
55th Electronic Combat Group
of the
United States Air Force
the indented is "edged wider on the back angle (sinister) than on the face (dexter) of each angle".
[2]
Dentilly
is a modern invention, similar to
indented
, but with one of the sides of the points perpendicular and the other angled, as in a
sawtooth wave
.
[
citation needed
]
Rayonne
(also
rayonne
,
rayonny
; from French
rayonner
) may be considered a variant of indented, but with wavy instead of straight lines, as in the conventional representation of rays of the sun.
Rayonne palewise
appears in the arms of the 172d Support Battalion of the United States Army.
[3]
A chief enarched rayonne on a gold field appears in the arms of
Sechelt
, British Columbia, forming the appearance of a sun.
[4]
The arms of the Worshipful Company of Security Professionals contain an example of
indented acute,
a form of indented with higher peaks.
[5]
The number of peaks in indented is almost never specified, but an exception is the arms of Arthur D. Stairs:
Per bend sinister indented of six steps Gules and Sable
, and Westville, Natal, South Africa bears
Sable, issuant from behind a fence of spears in base Argent, a fig tree in leaf Or; on a chief indented of four points to base, also Or, three lion's faces Sable
.
[
citation needed
]
In South Africa there are a number of examples of
dancetty inverted
. While the number of peaks in dancetty are three unless otherwise specified, the arms of Wagland show
dancetty of two points
[6]
and the arms of Baz Manning show a chief "dancetty of two full points upwards".
[7]
The arms of the Matroosberg Transitional Representative Council in South Africa give an example of
dancetty… in the shape of a letter W
. The arms of the French department of
Cotes d'Armor
show
emanche,
which would be equivalent to the English
per fess dancetty of two full points upwards.
The arms of
Baron Griffiths of Fforestfach
are
Paly of four Vert and Argent per fess enhanced indented of two points upwards each point double barbed throughout issuing in base a pile double barbed throughout all counterchanged
.
[8]
The arms of Alaric John Martin Woodrow show an example of
barry dancetty each point double barbed
, used to represent a line of fir trees as a play on the surname.
[9]
The arms of the Free State in
South Africa
show "a chief dancetty, the peaks terminating in merlons",
[10]
and so might be called a combination of dancetty and embattled; a similar hybrid can be seen in the arms of the Agricultural Gymnasium. Hoerskool Hangklip provide an example of
dancetty with points flattened
, and Blouberg of
dancetty the peaks couped.
[11]
It is difficult to know whether to characterise the "wall-like extremity with five merlons and four embrasures" in the arms of the
Kurgan Oblast
in Russia as a divided field or a charge.
[1]
The arms of Ernest John Altobello show a chevron with the upper edge
grady
(this is identical in appearance to indented) "and ensigned of a tower Argent".
Wavy and nebuly
[
edit
]
A line
wavy
(also called
undy
)
[12]
is a
sine wave
, often used to represent water; a line
nebuly
is similar but with more exaggerated
meanders
, representing clouds. There are confusing, ambiguous and non-standard uses of
a wavy
in the military heraldry of the United States to refer to irregularly wavy lines.
[13]
The wavy chief in the arms of Lord Nelson was blazoned as
undulated
.
[14]
The field of the arms of the 40th Finance Battalion of the United States Army is blazoned
per fess wavy (in the manner of a
Taeguk
)
.
[15]
In
wavy crested
the waves appear like pointed breakers.
[16]
The arms of James Hill show an example of barrulets
wavy crested to the sinister on the upper edge
.
[17]
The chief in the arms of Professor S.W. Haines is
wavy of one crest and depressed in the centre of one point
.
[18]
There are examples of even greater complexity and specificity in the
wavy
line, such as the arms of "Baron Nolan ... [which include] three 'bars wavy couped composed of two troughs and a wave invected of one point on the upper edge and engrailed of one point on the lower edge'".
[19]
Specification of the number of "undulations" in nebuly can be seen by Jochen Wilke's roundel, with ten.
[20]
(It is uncommon for lines of partition to modify a charge other than an ordinary.)
The Blount family of Worcestershire, England, whose members held the titles of
Baron Mountjoy
and two
baronetcies
, bore
Barry nebuly of six or and sable
.
Nebuly lines also appear in the arms of the former
borough councils
of
Fleetwood
(Lancashire) and
Hyde
(Cheshire).
Engrailed and invected
[
edit
]
These lines consist of a series of circular arcs curving in the same direction, meeting at angles, forming points outward (
engrailed
) or inward (
invected
). When these terms are applied to a partition rather than to an ordinary, the first part of the field is the "interior".
The arms of
Liverpool Hope University
include
a Cross engrailed of one point on each limb
.
[21]
The
Flag of Flintshire
is
Argent a cross engrailed sable between four Cornish choughs proper
.
The arms of the Pretoria Philatelic Society show a
chief engrailed and couped
, having the appearance of the edge of a
perforated
postage stamp
. The arms of Kutlwanong Dorp in South Africa provide an example both of the specification of the number of lobes in invected, and those lobes being
trefly.
[22]
Embattled and variants
[
edit
]
A line
embattled
is a
square wave
, representing the
battlements
of a castle.
When a fess is embattled, only the topmost edge is altered (as in the arms of
Muri bei Bern
). If both edges are to be embattled, the term
embattled-counter-embattled
(or
counter-embattled,
as in the arms of Sir Cecil Denniston Burney) is used. In this case the lines are parallel. If gaps face gaps, the term
bretesse
is used. There is at least one emblazonment suggesting that the orle is only embattled on its outer edge.
Italian armory has a variant,
Ghibelline
battlement, with notched merlons.
In a line
raguly
the extensions are oblique rather than orthogonal, like the stumps of limbs protruding from a tree-trunk.
Dovetailed
is as in carpentry. Unlike embattled, gaps face gaps.
Potenty
may be considered a variant in which the points are extended to
T
-shapes ("potent" means a crutch).
A line
embattled grady
[23]
or
battled embattled
[24]
consists of series of two or three steps, as if each
merlon
has a smaller merlon atop it. Parker's glossary says that
double-embattled
may be the same as this.
The arms of
Schellenberg
in
Liechtenstein
provide an example of embattled "with three battlements".
[25]
The
bordure
in the arms of
Boissy l'Aillerie
, in
Val d'Oise
,
France
, has nine battlements (the bordure is also masoned and contains door-like openings).
A very unusual occurrence of embattled occurs in the arms of the 136th Military Police Battalion of the United States Army:
Sable, a fesse enhanced and embattled Or, overall a magnifying glass palewise rim Argent (Silver Gray), the glass surmounting and enlarging the middle crenel between two merlons, the handle Gules edged of the second bearing a mullet Argent.
[26]
The arms of
Baron Kirkwood
show two chevronels
round embattled
(the merlons are rounded rather than squares). There are also examples of
embattled pointed
[11]
and
embattled in the form of mine dumps
.
James Parker cites the arms of Christopher Draisfield: "Gules, a chevron raguly of two bastons couped at the top argent."
The arms of Zodwa Special School for Severely Mentally Handicapped Children show
a chevron dovetailed, the peak ensigned with a potent issuant
.
Some examples also exist of
urdy,
where the line is in the shapes of the upside-down and rightside-up "shields" of
vair
(this is to be distinguished from
couped urdy
, in which the couping takes a pointed form
[27]
). The arms of Winfried Paul Reinhold Steinhagen are
Per chevron, the peak in the form of a merlon round urdy of four, Gules and Or, in chief a horse forcene and a goat clymant respecting one another, Argent, and in base a bull's head Sable armed Argent; a chief per fess in the form of a wall with three watchtowers, Azure and Argent, the latter charged with a strand of barbed wire throughout, Sable
. The "unusual, if not unique" arms of Lourens Du Toit are
Per fess of three pallets urdy Sable and Or
.
[28]
The arms of the
Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons
[29]
have a bordure emblazoned "dentate", although this appears to be quite similar to dovetailed.
Embowed, nowy and variants
[
edit
]
A line
embowed
consists of a single arch.
A line
nowy
contains a semicircular protuberance in the middle. A line with an angular protuberance in the middle, like a battlement, is called
escartelly
.
[12]
The arms of Laerskool Bosveld in South Africa have a field
Per chevron embowed trefly, Azure and Argent
.
The arms of Leopold-Henri Amyot
[2]
show "per fess ogivy"; this is based on the
ogive
or
pointed arch
.
Chiefs, fesses and palar dividing lines are sometimes seen
arched
and
double-arched
(and there is an example of triple-arched), though there is some debate as to whether or not these are lines of partition. That arched can be combined with partition lines can be seen from the
arms
of
South Lanarkshire
in
Scotland
. Arched can also be
reversed
.
Rarer lines and recent inventions
[
edit
]
The rare line
bevilled
modifies the bendlets in the arms of Thomas Roy Barnes
[30]
and the pairle in the arms of
Rovaniemi
, Finland. This lightning-bolt type of line with one zigzag is to be distinguished from
angled
, in which the line takes a pair of 90° turns before continuing parallel to and in the same direction as the old line. There is a South African example of
bevilled to sinister
, and a bend
double bevilled
can be seen in the arms of Philip Kushlick School.
A line
trefly
shows protuberances in the form of trefoils.
The arms of Saint Paul's Cathedral in
Regina, Saskatchewan
contain a bordure
its inner line looping in foils of poplar of the field within the bordure at each angle and at regular intervals between
.
[31]
The arms of Carmichael show a fess "wreathy", which may or may not be strictly speaking a line of partition, but does modify the fess; the coat is not blazoned as a "wreath in fess". James Parker calls this "tortilly".
The 20th century saw some innovations in lines of partition.
Erable
, a series of alternating upright and inverted maple leaves, is a typically
Canadian
line of partition, though the
College of Arms
in London has used it in a few grants (but compare the cross
nowy erable
in the arms of Katherina Fahlman Selinger Schaaf.
[32]
A
Finnish
line of partition, invented by Kaj Cajander and called
kuusikoro
, which is called
fir-tree topped
in Britain, and which the
Canadian Heraldic Authority
coined the term
sapine
to blazon, resembles fir trees; in the arms of
Guy Selvester
[33]
this is called
sapinage
. A line resembling fir twigs, and so called in British blazon, is called
sapinage
in Canada (English and French),
[34]
and
havukoro
in Finland.
[35]
Other 20th-century examples of lines, or things akin to lines, include the 1990 grant to
Albersdorf-Prebuch
in Austria, in which the upper line of the fess takes the form of
fruit
, the bottom of
vine-leaves
. (It is debatable what the distinction is between such lines, and examples such as the arms of
Bierbaum am Auersbach
,
[36]
a town in
Styria
, in which three pears grow from a
pall
.)
The South African
Bureau of Heraldry
has developed the line of partition
serpentine
(which has also been called
ondoyant
), which is rather like wavy, but with only one "wave", one complete cycle of a sine wave; the serpentine in the arms of the Mtubatuba Primary School is defined as "dexter to chief and sinister to base". (Similar is the German
im Schlangenschnitt
(snake-wise).) It has also developed the uniquely South-African lines of division (which can also form the ends of a charge)
nowy of a Cape Town gable
(now called just
nowy gabled
),
[35]
[37]
and
nowy of an Indian cupola
. Similarly, the fess line in the arms of the Council for Social and Associated Workers is
nowy of a trimount inverted
, the fess in the arms of Mossel Bay is
nowy of two Karoo gable houses
, the chief in the arms of the Lenasia South-East Management Committee is
nowy of an Indian cupola
, the chief in the arms of the Genealogical Society of South Africa is
double nowy gably
and that of Frederick Brownell is
gably of three
.
[38]
The arms of the Reyneke Bond (i.e. Reyneke Family Association) are
Per fess, in each flank double nowy fitchy to base, Azure and Or, a lion rampant per fess of the second and Gules, a chief Or
. The plain chief identifies these as the arms of a family association. The arms of Itsokolele, South Africa include
a chief double fitchy inverted
.
Broad fitchy couped
is a line of South-African origin similar in appearance to a mine-dump or escartelly with sloping sides.
[11]
Chevrons can be topped with a fleur-de-lys, and ordinaries with non-straight edges (particularly if they are dancetty or engrailed) can have the points topped with demi fleurs-de-lys. It has sometimes been said that in some reference works flory-counter-flory (and flory) is treated like a line of partition, even though strictly speaking it is not ? though it has been used for centuries that way in the royal arms of Scotland blazoning the double tressure (Public Register of Arms, Lyon Court, Edinburgh) and used by the College of arms in blazoning coats like that of Sutherland of Dunstanburgh Castle (Gules, a chevron flory-counterflory between in chief three mullets and in base a lymphad all or) and is used by the South African Bureau of Heraldry blazoning the coat of Huis Tankotie of the University of Pretoria (Per fess, flory counter-flory, Argent and Azure, in base within the flower an annulet Sable; a bordure counterchanged) and Emmanuel-Opleidingsentrum in the South African Bureau of Heraldry's online database. (Flory is sometimes varied with other shapes than the fleur-de-lys, when it is blazoned as
flory of
.
[39]
)
A vague and unhelpful blazon of the 27th Air Division of the
United States Air Force
provides for a "bordure of distinctive outline".
[40]
Gallery of different lines of partition
[
edit
]
Each shield is
Per fess _______ argent and gules
, but some of these lines have no common English name.
-
invected
-
engrailed
-
embattled
-
wavy
or
undy
-
nebuly
-
fir-tree topped
, a recent Finnish innovation (also known as
Sapine
in Canada)
[41]
-
fir-twigged
, a recent Finnish innovation (also known as
Sapinage
in Canada)
[42]
-
indented
as it is commonly shown
-
dancetty,
limited to three indentations
-
indented
very much deeper than is usual
-
enarched
-
per chevron
-
trefly-counter-trefly
-
embattled in crosses
, Finnish heraldry
-
potenty
-
palissado
, Finnish heraldry
[43]
-
bastionne
, Finnish heraldry
[44]
-
-
lilyous
, Finnish heraldry
-
indented pommetty
-
rayonny
-
embattled grady
-
rayonny
(variant)
-
dovetailed
-
bevilled
-
thorny
, Finnish heraldry
-
raguly
-
nebuly
-
rayonne
-
urdy
-
angled
-
epine
(
acacia thorned
), also known as
dovetailed indented
-
Erable
, Canadian heraldry
[46]
[47]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Mark Harden.
"Beginners Heraldry"
.
The Heraldry Society of Scotland
. Archived from
the original
on 2008-10-13
. Retrieved
2011-06-06
.
- ^
"55th Electronic Combat Group"
. Retrieved
2010-10-10
.
- ^
"172 Support Battalion"
. The Institute of Heraldry
. Retrieved
2011-05-10
.
- ^
"District of Sechelt"
.
Public Register of Arms, Flags and Badges of Canada
. The Governor General of Canada. 14 June 1996
. Retrieved
11 June
2018
.
- ^
"June 2008 Newsletter (No. 17) ? College of Arms"
. Retrieved
2013-09-01
.
- ^
"Wagland"
.
The White Lion Society
. Archived from
the original
on 2011-07-22
. Retrieved
2011-06-06
.
- ^
"The Call to Arms ? Baz Manning"
.
Society of Heraldic Arts
. Retrieved
2011-06-06
.
- ^
Peter Ll Gwynn-Jones (December 2007).
"Heraldry of New Life Peers"
(PDF)
.
The Heraldry Gazette
. New (106): 10?11
. Retrieved
2011-06-06
.
- ^
"Alaric John Martin Woodrow"
.
The Canadian Heraldic Authority
. Retrieved
2011-06-06
.
- ^
"Free State Coat of Arms"
. Archived from
the original
on 2004-01-03.
- ^
a
b
c
"Design elements - South African heraldry"
. Archived from
the original
on 8 July 2011.
- ^
a
b
Mackinnon of Dunakin, Charles (1968).
The Observer's Book of Heraldry
. Frederick Warne and Co. Ltd. pp. 48?50.
- ^
"Air Forces Cyber"
.
www.afcyber.af.mil
.
- ^
"The FEUDAL HERALD - July 2000"
.
www.baronage.co.uk
.
- ^
"TIOH - Heraldry - 40 Finance Battalion"
. Archived from
the original
on 2011-06-10.
- ^
"Grant of Arms"
. Archived from
the original
on 2007-09-28
. Retrieved
2007-03-06
.
- ^
"The Heraldry Society of Scotland - HSS Members' - Scots Arms/Johnson"
.
heraldry-scotland.com
.
- ^
"The Arms, Crest and Badge of Professor S. W. Haines - College of Arms"
. Retrieved
2019-04-28
.
- ^
"Historical trends in choice of ordinaries and charges"
.
www.grsampson.net
.
- ^
"American Heraldry Society | Armorial / Jochen Wilke"
. Archived from
the original
on 2011-07-21.
- ^
"The Arms, Crest, Supporters and Badge of Liverpool Hope University - College of Arms"
. College of Arms
. Retrieved
1 July
2017
.
- ^
"Club and Society Heraldry"
. South African Heraldry. Archived from
the original
on 27 October 2009
. Retrieved
1 July
2017
.
- ^
"The Arms of Steven Richard Moore - The Armorial Register"
.
www.armorial-register.com
.
- ^
"The Heraldry Society - members' arms"
. Archived from
the original
on 24 December 2003.
- ^
"Schellenberg - Heraldry of the World"
.
www.heraldry-wiki.com
.
- ^
"136th Military Police Battalion Insignia Page"
. Archived from
the original
on 7 May 2006.
- ^
"231st Military Police Battalion"
. Archived from
the original
on 7 May 2006.
- ^
"Personal Coats of Arms - South Africa"
. Archived from
the original
on 8 July 2011.
- ^
"Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons - College Arms"
. Archived from
the original
on 19 August 2006.
- ^
"Arms of Thomas Roy Barnes"
. Archived from
the original
on 2004-04-09.
- ^
General, The Office of the Secretary to the Governor (12 November 2020).
"Saint Paul's Cathedral [Civil Institution]"
.
reg.gg.ca
.
- ^
General, The Office of the Secretary to the Governor (12 November 2020).
"Schaaf, Katherina Fahlman Selinger [Individual]"
.
reg.gg.ca
.
- ^
"The Heraldry Society - members' arms"
. Archived from
the original
on 30 August 2004.
- ^
The Governor General of Canada (15 August 2017).
"Arms of Paul Philip Clarke"
.
reg.gg.ca
.
- ^
a
b
David B. Appleton.
"New Directions in Heraldry [But there really is "nothing new under the sun"]"
(PDF)
.
- ^
"Bierbaum am Auersbach - Wappen von Bierbaum am Auersbach / Coat of arms (crest) of Bierbaum am Auersbach"
. Retrieved
2019-04-28
.
- ^
"Introduction to South African Heraldry - Cultural Heraldry"
.
South African Heraldry Website
. October 2007.
- ^
"Who's who in South African Heraldry"
. Archived from
the original
on 8 July 2011.
- ^
"The Heraldry Society - members' arms"
. Archived from
the original
on 27 December 2004.
- ^
"Factsheets: 27 Air Division"
. Archived from
the original
on 24 October 2012.
- ^
General, The Office of the Secretary to the Governor (12 November 2020).
"Green College of the University of British Columbia [Civil Institution]"
.
reg.gg.ca
.
- ^
General, The Office of the Secretary to the Governor (12 November 2020).
"The Corporation of the City of Port Coquitlam [Civil Institution]"
.
reg.gg.ca
.
- ^
"DevFinto: HERO: Palissado"
.
- ^
"DevFinto: HERO: Bastionne"
.
- ^
"DevFinto: HERO: Spaded"
.
- ^
Patterson, Bruce.
"Canadian Innovations in Heraldic Charges"
.
The Royal Heraldry Society of Canada
. Royal Heraldry Society of Canada
. Retrieved
6 February
2020
.
- ^
Fearn, Jacqueline (1980).
Discovering Heraldry
. Shire Publications Ltd. p. 18.
ISBN
0-85263-476-5
.
References
[
edit
]
- Burke's Peerage and Baronetage
, 105th edition.
External links
[
edit
]