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- How do you blazon
a Coat of Arms? -
Let's
take a look at a simple design. We'll use the company's Arms to show
the Blazonry process. Here is the actual blazon for reference::
Azure
a bend Guiles, fimbriated and embattled Argent, three quills Or surrmounting
three ink bottles Sable; separating six over seven mullets of the
third..
(1)
The first step is to identify the primary field color or patern. The
field is the main body of the shield and can be separated in to many
divisions or left as a solid color or pattern as shown above. The
Modern Heraldry CoA (Coat of Arms) has a Blue or Azure
Field. (Click
the highlighted words for more information from our Glossary page)
(2) Next we must describe the primary division
or charge on the shield.
In this case it is a charge; a red line (Guiles)
traveling dexter chief (upper left) to
sinister base (lower right). This common
charge is known as a bend. It is so commonly
used it is placed in a special section of commonly used basic charges
known as Ordinaries.
A)
Dexter is the side of honor and means left to the observer but right
to the barer. Sinister is considered a lesser side and conversly
means right to the observer.
B) A bend traveling in the opposite direction would be known as
a bend-sinister.
C)
Also since there is a color surrounding the bend we must descirbe
it next. The bend in our Arms is said to be fimbriated because another
color surrounds it and that fimbriation is also different than the
norm. The series of blocks on the fimbriation looks like the top
of a castle's walls or embattlements on a military structure. Thus
the name "embattled."
(3) Next we must describe the primary charges
on the ordinary, if there is a ordinary. In our case there are three
quills yellow (Or)
on top of 3 black
(Sable)
ink bottles. It is understood that they are equally distributed along
the bend, unless mentioned otherwise.
4)
Finally, we come to the charges on the field which happen to be stars
or mullets. If a ordinary or charge separates
like charges you can state it plainly and then mention the manner
and number of the chargers on the field.
It
is important to mention that this is not the ONLY way to blazon
this shield. There are many styles of writing, some sparse like
the example above and some that are long winded, but all follow
a similar order for consistant translation. You will also note that
colors come at the end of an object. Objects of like colors will
usually be grouped together (if possible), thus having the color
name invoked only once.
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