HERALDIC TERMS
compiled by Modar Neznanich

The following terms, and their definitions, are used in heraldry.
Some terms and practices are used in period mundane heraldry only.
Some terms and practices are used in modern mundane heraldry only.
Other terms and practices are used in SCA heraldry only.
Most are used in both mundane and SCA heraldry.
All are presented here as an aid to heraldic research and education.

NOTE: Some of the terms defining critters have links to pictures
(Click on the name of the beastie)

Jump to a letter:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

A LA CUISSE - at the thigh

A LA QUISE - at the thigh

ABAISED - a charge or element depicted lower than its normal position

ABAISSÉ  - a charge or element depicted lower than its normal position

ABASED - a charge or element depicted lower than its normal position

ABATEMENTS - marks of disgrace placed on the shield of an offender of the law. There are extreme few records of such being employed, and then only noted in rolls. (As who would display their device if it had an abatement on it?)

ABISME - a minor charge in the center of the shield drawn smaller than usual

ABOUTÉ  - end to end

ABOVE - an ambiguous term which should be avoided in blazon. Generally, two charges one of which is above the other on the field can be blazoned as in pale or an X and in chief a Y.

ABYSS - a minor charge in the center of the shield drawn smaller than usual

ACCOLLÉ - (1) two shields side-by-side, sometimes united by their bottom tips overlapping or being connected to each other by their sides; (2) an animal with a crown, collar or other item around its neck; (3) keys, weapons or other implements placed saltirewise behind the shield in a heraldic display.

ACCOMPANIED - between

ACCORNE - having horns or attires

ACCOSTED - side by side

ACHIEVEMENT - the full display of armorial honors including the escutcheon (shield), crest, wreath, mantling helm, supporters, compartments and mottoes.

ACORNÉ - being horned or attired

ACORNED - bearing acorns

ADDORSED - back to back

ADOSSÉ - back to back

ADUMBRATED - term applied to a charge depicted with a shadow of a darker/lighter hue of the shield's tincture

AFFRONTÉ - head and body facing observer

AFFRONTY - head and body facing observer

AIGUISÉ - pointed

AILETTES - (also called Emerasses) small escutcheons affixed to the shoulders of an armored knight.

AISLÉ - having wings

ALAND - (also Alant) a mastiff dog with short ears

ALERION - (also Allerion) without legs/feet or beak

ALISÉ - rounded or globular

ALLERION - without wings or beak

Allocamelus - also called an Ass-camel, this creature is part camel, part ass.

ALLUMÉ - refers to a beast's eyes being flecked with color

ALPHYN - (1) a creature like a stocky heraldic tyger with tufts of hair on its body and eagle claws for forefeet; also has a thick mane, knotted tail and long ears; (2) this creature has a body much like that of a wolf with the front legs and belly of a dragon. It also has long pointed ears, a long thin tongue, and a knotted tail.

ALTERNATE NAME - any name a participant in the SCA registers with the College of Arms other than their primary persona name.

AMBULANT - walking

Amphisbæna <dragon-style> - (also called: Amfivena, Anphine, Anphivena and Fenmine) a dragon-like beastie with a head at each end. In SCA heraldry it is usually depicted as dragon with bird's wings and a head at either end.

Amphisbæna <serpent-style> - (also called: Amfivena, Anphine, Anphivena and Fenmine) a serpent with two heads, one at each end of its body.

ANCHORED - ending in the flukes of an anchor <e.g. a cross anchored>

ANCIENT - a small flag ending in a point, similar to a pennon.

ANIME - having flames issuing from mouth and ears

ANNELLED - ringed (usually through the nose) <e.g. a bull annelled>

ANNODATED - bent in the form of the letter "S"

ANNULET - a ring

ANNULETTY - terminating in rings

ANTELOPE, HERALDIC - (1) a creature with an antelope body, heraldic tyger face, tusks, serrated horns, a lion tail and tufts down its spine; (2) Like a Tyger but with serrated horns and a deer’s legs. Probably the same as an Ibex though the horns may curve more. The antelope’s horns point backwards, the ibex’s forwards according to some references; (3) creature with a a body like a deer's, but with tusks, a lion's tail, and serrated horns

APAUME - hand, glove or gauntlet open showing palm

APPAUME - hand, glove or gauntlet open showing palm

APRES - a creature with the body of a bull and the tail of a bear

AQUILATED - semy of eagle heads

ARCHED - bent in the form of an arch

ARGASILL - a heraldic antelope

ARGENT - the heraldic tincture (metal) silver (usually represented by white)

ARMED - having teeth or talons or horns or claws or wearing armour

ARMIGER - a person who has been awarded the right to arms. Arms in the Society can only be given by the Crown of a kingdom, and come in three levels: Awards of Arms, Grants of Arms, and Patents of Arms (aka Letters Patent). A person with registered personal armory who is not an armiger has a device, but armigers have arms.

ARMORIAL - (1) Adjective. Of or related to armory. (2) Noun. A list of armory organized by the bearers' names.

ARMORIAL ELEMENT - a component of heraldic design. An armorial element may be a charge, a line of division, a line of partition, a field treatment, a tincture, or other component that maybe used in designing armory.

ARMORY - any design that the College of Arms registers or protects, including devices/arms and badges. This includes various important non-SCA armory from the real world and may also include trademarks, logos, and other graphic symbols that resemble heraldic bearings.

ARMS - a heraldic design that uniquely represents the person or group that owns it. In the SCA, people who have been awarded arms by the Crown of a kingdom may call their heraldic device "arms." The distinction between arms and a device is not tracked by the SCA College of Arms.

ARONDI - rounded or curved

ARRACHE - torn off

ARRANGEMENT - the placement of charges in a group relative to the other charges in the group. For example, three roundels two and one is a different arrangement than three roundels in fess. Arrangement is sometimes confused with Location, and sometimes with Orientation.

ARRAYED - richly appareled

ARRIERE - the back. "Volant en arriere" refers to the term for a bird or insect in flight and seen from above. The term tergiant is more commonly used.

ARRONDI - rounded or curved

ARROUNDIE - rounded or curved

ASCENDANT - rising upwards

ASCENDING - of a bird or wing creature taking flight

ASSIS - sitting. The more common tern is sejant.

ASSURGANT - {also assurgent} rising from or out of <e.g. a hand assurgant from a ford>

AT GAZE - a peaceful animal (usually referring to deer) standing with head facing the observer <e.g. a stag at gaze>

AT SPEED - a deer, fox or horse in running position

ATOP - said of a charge which is conjoined to another charge to base <e.g., a falcon perched atop a gauntleted cubit fesswise = in pale a falcon conjoined at the feet to a gauntleted cubit fesswise.>

ATTIRED - having antlers

ATTIRES - antlers

AUGMENTATION OF ARMS - (Also, Augmentation.) An honor added to a registered device. In the SCA, first the Crown of a kingdom must give the recipient of the augmentation the right to add a charge or charges to a registered device as an honor, then the honor must be registered with the College of Arms. An augmentation is not registered as a change of armory; instead, both the underlying arms and the arms with augmentation are protected. Therefore, the underlying armory can be changed while keeping the augmentation the same (assuming no style problems result). Augmentations are usually registered by the College of Arms in the form "[Blazon of device], and as an augmentation, [blazon of augmentation]".

AULNED - of a plant having a beard <e.g. a stalk of barley aulned>

AVERSANT - means "turned away"; refers to seeing the back of a charge (especially when talking about a hand, glove or gauntlet); has also been used to refer to a critter walking away from the viewer (aka called "south end of a north bound animal").

AZURE - the heraldic tincture (color) blue

B

BADGE - a piece of armory used by an individual or group to identify possessions, retainers, members, or other items. A badge is distinguished from a device, which is used solely by its owner (or the owner's herald). A badge also differs from a device in that it may be fieldless.

BADGER - a hard-working burrowing creature, known for its fierce fighting skill particularly when protecting home and family.

BAGWYN - (1) a creature similar to heraldic antelope but with the tail of a horse and long curved horns; (2) in SCA heraldry it is described as similar to an antelope, but with a bushy tail, fringes of fur on the legs, and long swept-back attires.

BALANCE - the state of having charges distributed evenly or in accordance with period heraldic rules. Balance is not the same as symmetry. As a general rule, if all the charges are on one side of the shield, the design is considered unbalanced. However, period sensibilities for balance are not always obvious to the modern eye, and period heraldic designs should be consulted before making any categorical statements about balance. By looking at period designs, we find that "Azure, in chief three escallops Or" is balanced, but "Azure, to dexter three escallops in pale Or" is less balanced. Likewise, we find that "Quarterly gules and argent, in dexter chief a mullet argent" is balanced, but "Quarterly gules and argent, in dexter base a mullet argent" is not balanced.

BANDED - encircled with a band or ribbon

BANNER - a square or oblong flag emblazoned with arms; the principal personal flag used throughout the Middle Ages by the nobility.

BANNER, ENSIGN - a square or rectangular flag on which is displayed the full achievement of arms

BANNEROLE - a small banner, often stiffened or supported along its upper edge

BANNEROLL - a small banner, often stiffened or supported along its upper edge

BARS - medium sized bands that runs horizontally across the shield; usually two or more

BARBED - describing either rose sepals or the head of an arrow (pheon)

Barnacle Goose - legends say that barnacle geese grow on trees whose branches hang over water. The young birds hang from the branches via their beaks. When the birds are mature, they fall from the trees; if they fall into the water they float and are safe, but those that fall on the land die.

BARRY - the field of the shield divided into many bars (of an even number of alternating tinctures).

BASE - the lower portion of the shield

BASILISK - a cockatrice with a dragon’s head stuck on the end of his tail

BAT - (also called Reremouse) seventh century sources state that the bat is a bird. But unlike other birds, it is a four-legged and resembles a mouse and makes a squeaking sound. The Latin name for the creature is "vespertilio" which refers to the time it flies (after twilight).

BATON - a couped bendlet

BAUCÉANT - see Beauseant

BAUDRICK - the sword belt

BEAKED - describing the beak of a bird or monster

BEAUSEANT - (also called the Piebald Banner) the banner of the Knight's Templar. It is: Per fess Sable and Argent.

BELLED - having a bell or bells attached

BEND - a broad band running diagonally across the shield from top left to bottom right (when viewed by observer)

BEND SINISTER - a broad band running diagonally across the shield from top right to bottom left (when viewed by observer)

BENDLETS - medium sized bands running diagonally across the shield from top left to bottom right (when viewed by observer), usually two or more

BENDLETS SINISTER - medium sized bands running diagonally across the shield from top right to bottom left (when viewed by observer), usually two or more

BENDWISE SINISTER - lying diagonally across the field from sinister chief to dexter base. Frequently misblazoned as bend sinisterwise, bendwise indicates the angular orientation, and sinister modifies that orientation.

BENDY - the field of the shield divided into many bendlets

BENDY SINISTER - the field of the shield divided into many Bendlets sinister

BENEDICTION, IN - a hand apaume with first and second fingers erect and the others closed

BESANT - an Or colored roundel (represents a coin)

BESAUNT - an Or colored roundel (represents a coin)

BEZANT - an Or colored roundel (represents a coin)

BEZANTE - semy of bezants

BEZANTY - semy of bezants

BICAPITATED - having two heads

BICORPORATE - two creatures combatant sharing one head

BILLET - a rectangle shaped charge that represents a brick face

BILLETTY - semy of billets

BILLETY - semy of billets

BLASTED - of a tree without leaves

BLAZING STAR - a comet

BLAZON - to describe a heraldic device with words; the verbal description of a piece of armory.

BLEMISHED - broken <e.g. a sword blemished>

BOLTING - said of a rabbit or hare in a salient position

BONACON - (Also known as a Bonasus) a bull-like (or bison-like) creature with horns which curl inwards, a horse's tail and a short mane. Its horns were consider useless, but the creature was reported to be very dangerous as it defends itself by shooting burning excrements at its enemies. First noted in heraldry as a crest granted to Richard Chandelor in 1560.  In SCA heraldry, the SCA College of Arms has a precedent again the registration of such a monster: "The bonacon was considered too offensive by a significant fraction of the College and is therefore not allowed for use in the SCA."

BORDURE - a border running along the edge of the escutcheon

BOREYNE - a creature with a barbed tongue, dorsal fin, the forelegs of a lion and the hind legs of an eagle

BOTEROLL - (also called a Cramplet) the metal termination piece of a scabbard

BOUND - describing the cover of a book

BRACED - interlaced

BRANCH - an official chapter of the Society for Creative Anachronism.

BREATHING - equivalent and more commonly blazoned as "At Gaze"

BRIDLED - having/wearing a bridle <e.g. a horse bridled>

BRISTLED - having bristles <e.g. a boar bristled>

BURGEE - banner used at sea, usually swallowtailed but square or rectangular in hoist

BURGEONEE - of fleur-de-lys with petals about to open like buds

BYNAME - the part of a personal name other than the given name. Byname is a broad term that includes hereditary surnames, patronymics, locatives, occupational descriptions and epithets.

C

CABLED - having a rope or chain attached <e.g. a lantern cabled>

CABOSHED - an animal head affronty but cut off clean behind the ears so that no part of the neck is visible

CABOSSED - an animal head affronty but cut off clean behind the ears so that no part of the neck is visible

CADENCY - the method of modifying armory to indicate a relationship with the owner of the original armory. Changes that were made to distinguish one device from another can be considered the smallest changes that were considered significant enough to be noticed at the time they were used. These changes are called cadency steps. Some changes to heraldry may not indicate cadency but may still be blazonable. Such changes include artistic variants of charges such as the tincture of a horse's mane, or the choice between a cross bottony and a cross crosslet. Systems of cadency vary depending on the time and place.

CALOPUS - (also called Chatloup) a creature with a wolf body, a cat head and goat horns.

CALYGREYHOUND - (1) a creature with the head of a wildcat with bulbous horns, tufted body & tail and claws on the forefeet; (2) creature that has the body of an antelope, the claws of an eagle of its forelegs and the hooves of an ox on its hind legs (3) in SCA heraldry it is described as a creature with a cat's face, tufted body and tail, eagle's forelegs and frond-like horns.

CAMELEOPARD - a giraffe

CAMELOPARD - like a cameleopard but with 2 long, winging horns

CANT - a heraldic pictorial pun [Most are done on surnames, but there are period examples of cants on first names as well as cants on occupations, positions and offices held by a person]

CANTON - a small square, usually in the upper left corner of the escutcheon. Reserved in SCA heraldry. It is used most often for an augmentation of arms.

CAP-A-PIE - fully armed

CAPARISONED - of an animal (usually a horse) barded and covered by ornamental cloth

CAREERING - term applied to horses that is equivalent to and more commonly referred to as salient.

CARETYNE - a creature with the body and horns of a bull, the head has a snout and tusks like a boar, cloven feet (and just one ear by some reports), which breathes fire and has gold spots (some reports say it is white with gold spots). May have originated from the Cretan Bull of Hercules mythos or the Marathonian Bull of Theseus mythos. Creature is noted as being on the badge of a Tudor-period courtier.

CARTOUCHE - an oval. Many times referring to the oval escutcheon used by popes and other Italian ecclesiastics.

CASQUE - a helm

CAT-A-MOUNT - (also called a cat-a-mountain) - a wild cat

CATOBLEPAS - a four-legged bull-like creature with a head that is large for its body, and blood-shot eyes that always look down.

CENTAUR - a creature that is half-man and half-horse. A centaur wielding a bow is called a sagittary.

Cerastes - a serpent with no spine and two ram's horns on it's head.

CD - (Also called Clear Difference)  In armory, a difference of type, number, tincture, arrangement, or posture that has been deemed equivalent in importance to the addition or removal of a mark of cadency.

CHAINED - being possessed of a chain <e.g. a lion rampant chained>

CHANGE, MAJOR - used in the name registration process to describe a degree of change which the submitter may allow, or refuse to allow, to be made to the name in order to allow it to be registered. Major changes include dropping an element or phrase, changing the order of the name elements, and changing the language of an element.

CHANGE, MINOR - used in the name registration process to describe a degree of change which the submitter may allow, or refuse to allow, to be made to the name in order to allow it to be registered. Minor changes include accents, punctuation, hyphenation, addition or deletion of a letter, upper-lower case changes, etc.

CHAPÉ - field divided per chevron enhanced

CHARGE - a pictorial representation used for heraldic purposes; an item depicted on a piece of armory. A charge may be a simple geometric figure, such as a fess or a roundel, or a representation of an animate or inanimate item, such as a sword or a lion. A charge may be directly on the field, overall, or entirely on another charge.

CHARGE GROUP - a set of charges used together in a design as a single unit. The charges in groups in heraldry usually fall into standard arrangements depending on their number and what other items are involved in the design. A collection of charges that are arranged in such a standard arrangement are considered a single group, even if they are of different types and/or tinctures. For example, Per fess argent and gules, two towers sable and a roundel argent contains a single group of primary charges in the standard charge arrangement of two and one.

CHARGE GROUP, PRIMARY - the The most important group of charges in a piece of armory. In blazons, the primary charge group is usually mentioned immediately after the field (though a strewn charge group is not primary when it is blazoned before a central charge group). If there is a central ordinary lying entirely on the field, it is the primary charge. If there is no such central ordinary, then the primary charge group is the set of charges of the same size that lie in the center of the design and directly on the field. An overall charge can never be the primary charge. In any piece of armory with charges there will always be a primary charge group, unless the only charges are peripheral. There cannot be more than one primary charge group in any given design. In "Gules, a pale between two mullets argent", the pale is the primary charge. In "Or, a maunche between three roundels azure" the maunche is the primary charge. In "Per chevron argent and sable, two roses and a fleur-de-lys counterchanged and on a chief purpure three hearts argent", the roses and fleur-de-lys are the primary charge group, because they are all of about the same size and in a standard arrangement. In "Azure semy of mullets and a chief argent" the strewn mullets are the primary charge group; in "Azure semy of mullets, an eagle and a chief argent" the eagle is the primary charge. In "Sable, a lion Or, overall a bend argent", the lion is the primary charge. In "Azure, a chief Or" there is no primary charge group.

CHARGE GROUP, SECONDARY- a group of charges on the field around the primary charge group. A design may have more than one secondary charge group. Each group may confer difference independently. In "Gules, a pale between two mullets argent", the mullets are the secondary charge group. The secondary charges in "Or, a maunche between three roundels azure" are the roundels. In "Sable, a chevron cotised argent between three millrinds Or" there are two secondary charge groups, the cotises and the millrinds. In "Per chevron argent and sable, two roses and a fleur-de-lys counterchanged and on a chief purpure three hearts argent", the chief is the secondary charge group. A peripheral charge group is a type of secondary charge group.

CHARGE GROUP, TERTIARY - any group of charges placed entirely on other charges. Tertiary charges in a group may be together, such as three charges on a chief, or may each be on members of the same charge group. "Per chevron argent and sable, two roses and a fleur-de-lys counterchanged and on a chief purpure three hearts argent" has one group of tertiary charges on the chief. "Gules, a chevron between three roses Or, each charged with a cross fitchy sable" has one group of tertiary charges, the crosses. "Or, on a fess gules an escallop between two millrinds Or, all within a bordure vert charged with eight roundels argent" has two groups of tertiary charges, one group with the escallop and millrinds and the other with the roundels. Each tertiary group contributes to difference independently.

CHARGE TYPE - The kind of a charge in a piece of armory. "Gules, a chevron between two candles and a lantern Or" has three types of charges: chevrons, candles, and lanterns. "Argent, on a pale purpure between two lions combatant gules three lions passant Or" has two types of charges: pales, and lions in two different postures.

CHASE, IN FULL - of a hound in pursuit (courant position)

CHASED - (also called Umbration, Adumbration and Chasing) This term means voided but with the interior details and lines still showing as well as the outline.  In SCA heraldry, the practice was disallowed in April 1982, as part of the general ban on "thin-line heraldry" that also restricts voiding and fimbriation.

CHATLOUP - (also called Calopus) a creature with a wolf body, a cat face and goat horns.

CHECKY - being divided into small squares of alternating tinctures (1 color and 1 metal)

CHEQUY - being divided into small squares of alternating tinctures (1 color and 1 metal)

CHEVRON - a broad band in the shape of an inverted "V" that stretched horizontally across the shield

CHEVRONELS - medium size bands in the shape of an inverted "V"

CHEVRONNY - the field of the shield divided into many chevrons or chevronels

CHIEF - top third of the shield

Chimera - a fire breathing creature that has the body of a goat, the head of a lion and the tail of a serpent. Sometimes depicted as a lion body with three heads (one lion, one goat, one serpent/dragon-like).

CHORDILIERE - (also called Cordon) a silver cord which sometimes encircles a widow's coat-of-arms

CINQUEFOIL - a conventional flower of 5 equal parts. In early heraldry it was synonymous with a rose.

CLASPED - describing the clasp of a book

CLEAR DIFFERENCE - (Also called a CD.) In armory, a difference of type, number, tincture, arrangement, or posture that has been deemed equivalent in importance to the addition or removal of a mark of cadency.

CLENCHED - hand, glove or gauntlet with all fingers closed

CLIMANT (also Clymant) - term for a goat in rampant position

CLOSE - a bird, or other winged creature, with wings down and close to the body

CLOSED - a bird, or other winged creature, with wings down and close to the body

CLOUE - nailed

CLYMANT (also Climant) - term for a goat in rampant position

COAT-OF-ARMS - originally the linen coat worn over armor on which the armorial device of the wearer was depicted. Currently it refers to a heraldic device which is a heraldic design that uniquely represents the person or group that owns it. A person who has not been awarded arms may register personal armory as a device. This device will become arms when the person receives an award, grant, or patent of arms.

Cockatrice - similar to a wyvern but with a cock’s head, comb and wattles, and a barbed tongue

CODED - having a scrotum of a different tincture

COHERENT - refers to armory when all the elements of a design work together to produce a single effect. Usually, a field division or the primary charge establishes a pattern of arranging items on the field. Coherence is diminished by placing elements with no relation to each other, or ignoring the pattern set in the design. Coherence is also be diminished by using unlike charges in a group.

COILED - of a snake, wrapped around itself with head erect

COJOINED - joined together

COLLARED - having a plain collar

COLLEGE OF ARMS - in the SCA this consists of the Sovereign(s) of Arms, the warranted heralds on Laurel staff, the Principal Herald of each kingdom, and such other persons as Laurel may deem to be of assistance.

COLLEGE OF HERALDS - in the SCA this consists of the Principal Herald of a kingdom, the warranted heralds and pursuivants of a kingdom, and such other persons as the Principal Herald may deem to be of assistance.

COLOR - in SCA heraldry, the colors are azure, gules, sable, purpure and vert. The furs that use colors as underlying tinctures, such as counter-ermine and pean, are treated like colors for contrast purposes.

COMBATANT - (also combattant)  refers to two creatures facing each other in the rampant position.  [A few sources applied this only to wild or warlike beasts, but many other sources applied this to any animal, monster or beast.]

COMBED - describing the crest of a rooster (cock)

COMET - an estoile of six points with a tail extending from it

COMPARTMENT - the surface (often drawn as a grassy mound) on which the supporters stand

COMPATIBLE - in keeping with the normal usage for period heraldry. In the SCA this is extended to also include the domain of the Society.

COMPLEMENT, IN HER - a full moon with a face

COMPLEXITY COUNT - a measure of armorial simplicity. The Complexity Count is the sum of the number of types of charges and the number of tinctures in an armorial design. In the SCA this is discussed in the their Rules for Submission. Armory with an excessively high complexity count may be returned. However, armorial designs which are period in style may be registered even if they have a high Complexity Count.

COMPONE - being composed of a single row of rectangles consisting of an alternating color and metal. If there are two rows of rectangles it is called "counter-compony". If there are three or more rows of rectangles, it is called "checky".

COMPONY - being composed of a single row of rectangles consisting of an alternating color and metal. If there are two rows of rectangles it is called "counter-compony". If there are three or more rows of rectangles, it is called "checky".

CONFLICT - a submission which is too similar to a protected item is said to be in conflict. For armory, this occurs if the submission is only a cadency step or less different from the protected item. For names, this occurs if the submission is not readily distinguishable from the registered item.

CONJOINED - joined together

CONTRAST - a level of visual distinction between different tinctures.

CONTOURNE - {also contourne} {sometimes misspelled contourney} refers to an animate charge reversed to face to sinister

CONTOURNY - {also contourne} {sometimes misspelled contourney} refers to an animate charge reversed to face to sinister

CORDED - tied with a cord

CORDON - (also called Chordiliere) a silver cord which sometimes encircles a widow's coat-of-arms

COTISE - a very small diminutive of a bend, fess, pale or chevron. They are always in pairs and one lies on either side of the ordinary it is a diminutive of.

COTISED - of an ordinary having a cotise on either side of it.

COUCHANT - laying down with head up

COUE - the tail between the legs. More commonly called "cowed".

COUNTER - prefix meaning opposite

COUNTERCHANGED - whereby a shield is divided by a line of partition and any charge placed thereon has its tinctures reversed on either side of the line.

COUPED - cut short by a straight horizontal line

COUPED CLOSE - cut short by a straight vertical line

COURANT - running at speed

COURSE, IN FULL - of a hound in pursuit (courant position)

COWARD - the tail between the legs

COWED - the tail between the legs

CREMELLE - having crenellations. More commonly called "embattled".

CRAMPLET - (also called a Boteroll) the metal termination piece of a scabbard

CRESCENT - a curved partial moon with the "horns" pointing upwards

CRESCENT REVERSED - a curved partial moon with the "horns" pointing downwards

CREST - the charge/symbol that is set upon the helm in a full achievement.

CRESTED - describing the crest of a rooster (cock)

CRI DE GUERRE - literally means "cry of war"; a war-cry/motto put on a scroll beneath a displayed coat-of-arms

CRINED - describing hair or mane

CROSS, IN - charges placed in the form of a cross

CROSS-WISE - charges placed in the form of a cross

CROWNED - having a crown

CRUSILLY - semy of crosses (one of the most common is a semy of crosses crosslet)

CRUSILY - semy of crosses (one of the most common is a semy of crosses crosslet)

CUFFED - having cuffs

CUISSE, A LA - at the thigh

CURIOSITY, IN ITS - of a cat standing upright against and peering into a cauldron

CYCLAS - a surcoat cut short at the front and long at the back

D

DANCETTY - applies only to a two-sided ordinary (such as a pale or fess) which zigzags or dances across the field. Indeed, a fess dancetty may be blazoned simply as a dance. Modern non-SCA heraldic treatises define dancetty as a larger version of indented, but period blazons do not make this distinction.

DEBRUISED - overlaid

DECHAUSSE - dismembered

DECOLLATED - decapitated

DECOLLE - decapitated

DECRESCENT - a curved partial moon with the "horns" pointing to sinister

DEFAMED - having no tail (of a creature that normally has a tail)

DEFAULT - often used as an adjective meaning "standard, not needing to be blazoned"; it may be applied to arrangement, orientation, or posture.

DEGRADED - placed upon/atop steps

DELF - charge that is represented by a square

DEMI - having only the upper half depicted

DEMOBISON - (also spelled demo-bison) a bat-winged bison; a demon-bison

DENTED - having teeth of a different tincture

DESIGNATOR - the word used in a non-personal name (such as for a group or an office) to define the type non-personal name. Designators may be the types of official branches (such as Barony, Shire, Kingdom, etc.), or they may be other kinds of designations (such as Order, Guild, House, Office, Pursuivant and so forth). Designators do not contribute to difference between non-personal names.

DEVICE - a heraldic design that uniquely represents the person or group that owns it. A person who has not been awarded arms may register personal armory as a device. This device will become arms when the person receives an award, grant, or patent of arms. The distinction between arms and a device is not tracked by the College of Arms.

DEXTER - left side of the shield when observed from the front; right side of person wearing the shield

DIAPERING - refers to the field of a shield being decorated with damask or arabesque or knotwork in a lighter or darker shade of the tincture it is on. Thus it gives ornamentation without being a part of device.

DIFFERENCE, CLEAR - (Also called a CD.) In armory, a difference of type, number, tincture, arrangement, or posture that has been deemed equivalent in importance to the addition or removal of a mark of cadency.

DIFFERENCE, SIGNIFICANT - in armory, a level of difference which would have been considered by heralds in period to be a cadency step; in most cases, a sufficient amount of difference to grant a Clear Difference. A Significant Difference is a lesser level of difference of charge type from Substantial Difference. For example, a pine tree is significantly different from an oak tree (because they have widely differing shapes), but they are not substantially different from each other (because they are both trees). In names, two name phrases are significantly different if they are readily distinguishable both in sound and appearance.

DIFFERENCE, SUBSTANTIAL - in armory, a level of difference would have been considered by heralds in period to be more than a cadency step. A greater level of difference of charge type than significant difference. In most cases the use of a charge as a main charge that has a substantial difference from the main charge of another device will automatically clear any conflict with the other device. For example, a sword is substantially different from a sun. Thus "Gules, a sword Or" is clear of conflict from "Gules, a sun Or." 

DIMIDIATION - having two halves of different shields joined together in a "per pale" merging.

DIMINUTIVE - in names, a name that is derived from another name as a shortened or pet form. Belet, Bibby, Ibbe, Ibbet, Libbe, and Tibota were all period diminutives of Isabel. Some diminutives are actually longer than the original name. For example Jobin is a period diminutive of Job and Josekyn is a period diminutive of Joss.  In armory, it refers to multiple and (usually) narrower variants of an ordinary. For example, two bars are diminutives of a fess, and two bendlets are diminutives of a bend. SCA armory does not use single diminutives of charges, as they were considered artistic variants of the single ordinary in period.

DISARMED - without claws or beak or horns or teeth or talons (of a creature normally having them)

DISCLOSED - having wings displayed but pointing down. More commonly referred to as "displayed inverted".

DISMEMBERED - of a beast with head, legs and tail separate from body

DISPLAYED - with wings expanded (spread-eagle)

DISTILLING - shedding drops

DOCUMENTED - found in a source that was created before 1600 A.D. More recent sources that quote sources created before 1600 are acceptable as documentation unless they are shown to be erroneous.

Dolphin - (also called Delphine) sea creature whose name derives from them joining together to sing. They are noted as being the fastest beasts in the sea and for the fact that they can jump over most ships.

DOMAIN OF THE SOCIETY - for the SCA, this refers to Europe and areas that were in contact with Europe before 1600 A.D.

DORMANT - sleeping; laying down with head down

DOUBLE-HEADED - having two heads

DOUBLE-QUEUED - having two tails

DOUBLED - having the lining turned up (usually clothes)

DRAGON - one of the most well-known heraldic monsters. The heraldic dragon is a 4-legged beast with a horny head, barbed tongue, scaly back, armoured rolls on the chest and belly, 2 bat-like wings, 4 legs with talons like an eagle’s, and a pointed tail often with an arrow-like end.
It is usually shown rampant, statant or passant, and rarely displayed like an eagle. A sea dragon has no wings

DYNAMIC - a design arrangement which gives an impression of motion or activity. This can happen by posing charges so that their apparent weight is not over their bases, such as in a depiction of a running man who is leaning forward so that his weight does not appear to be firmly supported by his feet. It can also happen if charges are unevenly spaced to give an impression of motion from one to the next. Dynamic is the opposite of static. In general, dynamic designs are not typical of period heraldry.

E

EDGED - describing the surface formed by the closed pages of a book

ELEMENT, ARMORIAL - a component of heraldic design. An armorial element may be a charge, a line of division, a line of partition, a field treatment, a tincture, or other component that maybe used in designing armory. 

ELEMENT, NAME - a part of a name. A name element is usually a single word, such as a given name or an adjective in a description byname. A name phrase is made up of name elements; while these terms are sometimes used interchangeably, they help to distinguish issues involving the construction of words from issues of the construction of appropriate grammatical phrases. For example, in the name Richard of Sheepford, Sheepford is a name element, while the byname of Sheepford is a name phrase.

ELEVATED - pointing upwards <e.g. wings elevated>

EMBATTLED - having crenellations (like the battlements of a castle)

EMBLAZON - the drawing or depiction of a piece of armory.

EMBOWED - curved or bent

EMBRUED - spattered or dripping with blood

EMBRUSED - spattered or dripping with blood

EMERASSES - (also called Ailettes) small escutcheons affixed to the shoulders of an armored knight.

EN SOLEIL - surrounded by rays of the sun <e.g. a rose en soleil>

ENCIRCLED - of a serpent when coiled

ENDORSED - back to back

ENFIELD - creature with head and ears of a fox, chest of a greyhound, forelegs are those of an eagle, and hindquarters, back legs and tail of a wolf.

ENFILED - pierced with

ENFLAMED - flaming; having flames all about or having flames issuant from a charge

ENGOULED - (also called Engoulee and Engoulé) term meaning partly swallowed describes an object disappearing into the jaws of anything and is used to refer to (1) when the ends of a ordinary [usually bends & crosses] terminate in heads swallowing the ordinary; (2) when one heraldic charge is being swallowed by another charge, for example an infant engouled by a serpent. 

ENGRAILED - a line with semi-circular indents with the points outward

ENHANCED - raised above the normal position

enlassÉ - a term meaning "enlaced"; interlaced

ENRAGED - having tongue and claws of a specific tincture

ENSIGN - In SCA heraldry it refers to the heraldic design that is reserved for use by a kingdom's populace to denote their alliance to the kingdom.

ENSIGN BANNER - in modern world heraldry, it refers to a square or rectangular flag on which is displayed the full achievement of arms. In SCA heraldry it refers to a banner flown by a member of a kingdom's populace (upon which is the kingdom ensign) to denote their alliance to the kingdom.

ENSIGNED - having a charge placed above <e.g. a lion ensigned of a crown>

ENTOURED - surrounded by

ENVIRONED - encircled by

EPITHET - a byname that describes physical or mental characteristics, personality traits, or characteristic behavior. The term nickname and descriptive byname is also sometimes used. Little John, Ethelred the Unready, and Richard Gotobedde are all examples of names with epithets. T

EQUIPPED - fully armed

ERADICATED - uprooted

ERASED - torn off in a horizontal plane leaving a ragged edge

ERASED CLOSE - torn off in a vertical plane leaving a ragged edge

ERECT - upright

ERMINED TINCTURES - these are heraldic furs. There are many possible varieties of these, all based on the design of strewn ermine spots (abstract designs representing ermine tails). The most common are ermine (argent with sable ermine spots), counter-ermine (sable with argent ermine spots; also known as ermines, but that term is discouraged in the SCA due to the possibility of typographic errors), erminois (Or with sable ermine spots) and pean (sable with Or ermine spots). Other combinations do not have unique names and must be explicitly blazoned as <tincture> ermined <tincture>, e.g., gules ermined argent (gules strewn with argent ermine spots). Unlike other designs featuring strewn charges, the ermine variants are furs and are classed as separate tinctures in their own right, rather than as charged fields. However the ermine spots must have good contrast with the tincture on which they are placed (for example "Azure ermined gules" does not have acceptable contrast.). For contrast purposes, these furs are classed either as colors or metals according to their underlying tincture (so ermine is classed as a metal, and pean is classed as a color). Ermine spots can also be used as normal charges; if not in a strewn arrangement they are treated no differently from any other charges.

ESCUTCHEON - shield or shield shape

ESTOILE - a star of six wavy rays

ESTOILY - semé of estoiles

EXTENDED - of a tail when held in a horizontal position (tip may curl)

EYED - having eyes of a specific tincture

F

FACE - the head of a lion, leopard, panther or fox when caboshed

FEATHER - the feather of a bird.

FEATHERED - describing the fletching of an arrow

FERRATED - semy of horseshoes

FESS - a broad horizontal band across the center of the shield

FESS POINT - the center point of an escutcheon, the middle point on the shield

FESSWISE - lying in the direction of a fess

FIELD - the surface of a shield upon which charges are placed

FIELD PRIMARY ARMORY - armory that has no charges, or an uncharged peripheral ordinary.

FIELD TREATMENT - a repeating pattern drawn in a tincture with good contrast over the field or a charge. Field treatments leave more of the underlying tincture showing than they cover. They are considered a part of the field or charge tincture. The term field treatment is not a standard real-world heraldic description for a class of armorial designs, but is the SCA catch-all term for the few period heraldic designs meeting this description. Field treatments include masoned and the forms of papellony and scaly which are drawn as voided scales. Field treatments do not include the ermined furs, fretty or strewn charges.

FIELDLESS ARMORY - a badge with no specified field tincture; such badges may be displayed on any appropriate background. Badges without fields should be designed as a single unit, with the charges all connected in some way as if they were cast out of metal in a mold. Devices may not be fieldless.

FIGURED - having a human face

FILLET - a narrow horizontal band placed in the lowest quarter are of the chief. (The bottom fourth part of the top third part of the escutcheon.)

FIMBRIATED - having fimbriation

FIMBRIATION - outlining a charge in a contrasting tincture. In general, a simple convex charge such as a pale, roundel, or a heart may be fimbriated, while a charge with a more complex outline such as a lion cannot. In SCA heraldry, fimbriation is only allowed for charges in the center of the field.

FINNED - having fins of a different tincture

FIRED - ignited; in flames

FITCHED - of an object whose base (or foot) is pointed

FITCHY - (also spelled fitchée) of an object whose base (or foot) is pointed (e.g. a cross fitchy)

FLAMANT - in flames

FLEXED - bent or bowed

FLIGHTED - describing the fletching of an arrow

FLORY - ending in fleur-de-lis; a line with fleur-de-lys (all their points and base going in the same direction)

FLORY-COUNTERFLORY - of a line with fleur-de-lis alternating the direction of their points and bases

FLOTANT - floating (usually ships or flags)

FLUTED - having grooves (usually pillars)

FOLIATED - having leaves (e.g. a staff foliated)

FORCENE - a rearing horse with both hind hooves on the ground instead of one hoof as in the rampant position

FORD - a base that is barry wavy azure and argent

FOUNTAIN - a roundel that is barry wavy azure and argent

FOURCHE - forked <e.g. a tail fourche>

FRACTED - broken

FRINGED - having a fringe of a specific tincture

FRUCTED - bearing fruit

FULL CHASE, IN - of a hound in pursuit (courant position)

FULL COURSE, IN - of a hound in pursuit (courant position)

FUMANT - emitting smoke <e.g. a fireball fumant>

FURNISHED - a horse wearing a caparison

FURS - in SCA heraldry, the furs include ermine, counter-ermine, erminois, pean, vair, potent, and their variants (ermined tinctures). The furs also include the variants of scaly and papellony which consist of solid-tinctured scales of two alternating tinctures. Furs composed equally of a metal and a color (e.g. vair) are considered neutral for contrast purposes. Furs that use a metal as the underlying tincture (e.g. ermine) are treated as metals for contrast. Furs that use a color as the underlying tincture (e.g. pean) are treated as colors for contrast purposes.

FUSIL - a lozenge with the top and bottom elongated

FUSILLY - when the field is composed of fusils, each touching at their points

G

GABONE - a term equivalent to and more commonly called Compone

GAMBE - (usually spelled jambe) the lower part of a creature's leg cut off at the second joint

Gansas - a swan-like creature that has only one leg with (one) webbed foot on which is one talon. Yearly they migrate to the moon.

GARB - a wheat sheaf

GARNISHED - adorned, decorated

GEMMED - having or describing a precious stone <e.g. a crown gemmed>

GERATTY - an old term that is equivalent to and more commonly called "semy"

GIVEN NAME - the name given to a person at birth or in a naming ceremony such as baptism. In the English naming tradition, the given name is usually a person's first name, so Francis Drake's given name is Francis.

GLISSANT - of a snake when gliding

GLORY - a halo

GLORY, IN HIS - a full sun with a face

GOBONY - a term equivalent to and more commonly referred to as "compony"

GOLPE - a purpure colored roundel (represents a wound)

GONFALON - (also spelled Gonfallon) a personal flag emblazoned with the arms, and supported by means of a horizontal pole suspended by cords at the top of a staff.

GONFANNON - a personal flag emblazoned with the arms, and supported by means of a horizontal pole suspended by cords at the top of a staff.

GORGED - encircled about the throat

GOUTE - a drop

GOUTTE - a drop

GOUTTE D'EAU - an Argent drop that represents a water drop {plural: goutty d'eau}

GOUTTE D'HUILE - a Vert drop that represents an oil drop {plural: goutty d'huile}

GOUTTE D'OLIVE - a Vert drop that represents an oil drop {plural: goutty d'olive}

GOUTTE D'OR - an Or drop that represents a molten gold drop {plural: goutty d'Or}

GOUTTE DE POIX - a Sable drop that represents a drop of pitch/tar {plural: goutty de poix}

GOUTTE DE POURPRE - a Purpure drop that represents a drop of wine {plural: goutty de pourpre}

GOUTTE DE SANG - a Gules drop that represents a drop of blood {plural: goutty de sang}

GOUTTE DES LARMES - an Azure drop that represents a tear drop {plural: goutty des larmes}

GRANDFATHER CLAUSE - in regards to SCA heraldry, it is the popular name given to the guarantee in Corpora that, once registered, a name or piece of armory remains registered unless the owner requests its release, regardless of changes in the Rules for Submissions and standards applied to submissions after that time. The term Grandfather Clause is also sometimes applied to the provisions that allow a submitter to use elements that they have previously registered in new name or armory submissions, even if those elements are no longer acceptable under the current Rules for Submissions. On a case by case basis, this allowance has been extended to the submitter's immediate legal family.

GRAY AREA - for the purposes of documenting names and armory, anything that can be documented as late as 1650 may be considered acceptable, even though the official cut-off date of the SCA's domain as defined in Corpora is 1600. 1601-1650 is known as the gray area, and exists because it is logical to assume that something current in the period 1601-1650 may also have been current in the last years of the 16th Century, so long as there is no specific evidence to the contrary. Gray area documentation should only be used as a last resort.

GRIFFIN - (also spelled Gryphon and Griffon) a creature with the head, breast, wings and claws of an eagle, with the hindquarters and tail of a lion. It has swept-back pointed ears. If rampant it is termed segreant. A male griffin (called a Keythong) has no wings but often has horns and a spiky tail.

GRINGOLY - ending with serpent heads

GROUP - in regards to SCA heraldry, a collection of people, not necessarily an official branch. Households, orders, and branches are all referred to as groups in the Rules for Submissions.

GROUP, CHARGE - a set of charges used together in a design as a single unit. The charges in groups in heraldry usually fall into standard arrangements depending on their number and what other items are involved in the design. A collection of charges that are arranged in such a standard arrangement are considered a single group, even if they are of different types and/or tinctures. For example, Per fess argent and gules, two towers sable and a roundel argent contains a single group of primary charges in the standard charge arrangement of two and one.

GUARDANT - head turned to face the observer

GUARDED - having the lining turned up (usually clothes)

GULES - the heraldic tincture (color) red

GULON - a creature known to be like a dog in shape and size with a cat face, which has very sharp nails, long brown hair, and a tail like a fox.

GURGES - a whirlpool depicted as a spiral

GYRON - a triangular sector of the field formed by half of a bend line and half of a fess line meeting at the middle of the shield.

GYRONNY - the field being composed of gyrons (usually eight). This is done by dividing the field with a "per fess" line, a "per pale" line, a "per bend" line and a "per bend sinister" line.

H

HABITED - clothed

HAFTED - describing the handles of tools and weapons

HALF - for the purposes of counting armorial difference, half is usually defined in the mathematical sense. However, in certain circumstances, half may be defined differently. These circumstances are:

     (i) 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 one-half of that charge group. However, no more than one difference may be obtained by making changes to that bottommost charge.

     (ii) The two portions of a field divided per chevron or per chevron inverted are each considered half for determining difference of the field.

HAMADE - a bar couped

HARDSHIP CLAUSE - in regards to SCA heraldry, it sometimes happens that a submission is delayed so long by circumstances outside the submitter's control that changes in the Rules for Submissions or their interpretation make it unregisterable. Depending on the exact circumstances, and on a case-by-case basis, the submission may be judged according to the older Rules for Submissions and interpretations; this policy is popularly known as the Hardship Clause.

HARPY - a vulture-like bird with the head and breasts of a woman

HAURIANT - erect with head upwards

HEDGEHOG - (also called Herison and Urchin) a creature known for its quills used in defense and for spearing fruit to take home to its young.

HELMED - wearing a helmet

HER COMPLEMENT, IN - a full moon with a face

HER PLENTITUDE, IN - a full moon with a face

HERALD - in regard to SCA heraldry, when the term is used with a capital H, Herald is a title referring to a person at a particular level in the College of Arms. Used with a small h, a herald is a person who works regularly on some aspect of heraldry.

HERALDIC - of or pertaining to heralds or heraldry

HERALDIC DEVICE - a heraldic design that uniquely represents the person or group that owns it. A person who has not been awarded arms may register personal armory as a device. This device will become arms when the person receives an award, grant, or patent of arms.

HERALDRY - the study of the art & science of armorial bearings

HEREDITARY SURNAME - a byname passed to all the offspring in a family, and therefore also called family names. Modern English surnames usually come last, so Francis Drake's surname is Drake. Other cultures may place their hereditary surnames in other positions in the name. The alternate term "Inherited Surname" is also used to refer to this type of byname. Hereditary surnames are often called simply surnames, but this usage is ambiguous and should be avoided.

HERISSONY (also herissoneé) - of a cat with its back in an enarched position (commonly called a "Halloween cat")

HILTED - describing the handle and guard of a weapon

HIND - a female deer

HIPPOCAMPUS - (also called a heraldic Sea-Horse) a beast with the top half of a horse and bottom half being a fish's tail. It usually has forelegs with webbed paws.

HIPPOGRIFF - (also called a hippogryph) this creature is a cross between a horse and a griffin, with the front of a female griffin and the back of a horse.

HIS GLORY, IN - a full sun with a face

HIS SPLENDOR, IN - a full sun with a face

HOODED - having a hood on <e.g. a hawk hooded>

HORNED - having horns

HUMETTY - couped at the ends <e.g. a saltire humetty>

HURT - an azure roundel (represents a bruise)

HURTY - semy of hurts

HYDRA - a 7-headed dragon

HYDRUS - (also called an Enhydros) this is an animal known for killing crocodiles from the inside after being swallowed by them.

HYENA - a canine-like creature that eats human corpses and has the ability to change its sex.

I

IBEX - a heraldic antelope with straighter horns.

IGNITED - in flames

IMBRUED - spattered or dripping with blood

IMPALED - said of two coats-of-arms shown side by side on the same escutcheon. (The escutcheon is divided "per pale" and there is a separate coat-of-arms in each of the two sections.)

IMPORTANT NON-SCA NAMES & ARMORY - in regards to SCA heraldry, real-world names and armory that Laurel has designated important enough to protect.

IN ANNULO - multiple charges in a circular arrangement

IN BENEDICTION - a hand apaume with first and second fingers erect and the others closed

IN CROSS - charges placed in the form of a cross

IN FULL CHASE - of a hound in pursuit (courant position)

IN FULL COURSE - of a hound in pursuit (courant position)

IN HER COMPLEMENT - a full moon with a face

IN HER PLENTITUDE - a full moon with a face

IN HIS GLORY - a full sun with a face

IN HIS SPLENDOR - a full sun with a face

IN ITS CURIOSITY - of a cat standing upright against and peering into a cauldron

IN ITS PIETY - of a pelican when wounding its breast with its beak and nourishing its young with its own blood

IN ITS PRIDE - of a peacock (or turkey) affronty with its tail fanned out in display

IN ITS VIGILANCE - of a crane when standing on one leg and holding a stone in the other

IN LURE - two wings joined at the base with their tips pointing downward

IN SALTIRE - charges placed in the form of a saltire

IN TRIAN ASPECT - position of a charge that gives three dimensional appearance (few period charges done as such)

IN VENERATION - kneeling as if in prayer

INCENSED - having flames issuing from mouth and ears

INCRESCENT - a curved partial moon with the "horns" pointing to dexter

INDENTED - applies to a line of division which zig-zags across the field, e.g., per fess indented, a chief indented. Victorian and modern non-SCA heraldic treatises define indented as a smaller version of dancetty, but period blazons do not make this distinction.

INDORSED - back to back

INFLAMED - in flames

INVECTED - a line with semi-circular indents with the points inward

INVERTED - downward or upside-down

INVOLVED - encircled

IRRADIATED - surrounded by rays of light

ISSUANT - emerging from behind; proceeding from; coming out of

ITS CURIOSITY, IN - of a cat standing upright against and peering into a cauldron

ITS PIETY, IN - of a pelican when wounding its breast with its beak and nourishing its young with its own blood

ITS PRIDE, IN - of a peacock (or turkey) affronty with its tail fanned out in display

ITS VIGILANCE, IN - of a crane when standing on one leg and holding a stone in the other

J

JACENT - lying on its side

JACULUS - this is a winged, leaping snake. Usually the wings are bat-wings. In the SCA such a creature is referred to as a pithon or if the wings are bird-type wings, a winged serpent.

JAMBE - the lower part of a creature's leg cut off at the second joint

JELLOPED - having wattles

JESSANT - emerging

JESSANT-DE-LYS - having a fleur-de-lys emerging from a charge

JESSED - having thongs attached <e.g. a hawk jessed>

K

KEYTHONG - a male griffin, it has no wings but often has horns and a spiky tail.

KRAKEN - in SCA heraldry it is depicted as a squid, with tentacles and a pointed head; the number of tentacles are left to the artist, but is most commonly shown with ten.

L

LAMIA - (also spelled Lammia) a creature with the upper half of a woman and the lower half of a snake

LANGUED - having a tongue of a specific tincture

LAUREL - in regards to SCA heraldry, the Laurel Sovereign of Arms, who is the principal heraldic officer of the Society and the head of the College of Arms. Laurel is ultimately responsible for seeing that the duties of the heralds, as defined in Corpora, are fulfilled.

LEATHERED - describing the cover of a book

LEAVED - having leaves

LEGAL NAME - this term is used to distinguish the formal name a person has outside the SCA from his or her Society name.

LEGAL NAME ALLOWANCE - the popular name given to the rule that allows submitters to use elements of their legal names in appropriate locations in a Society name (providing it meets the guidelines in the Rules for Submission)..

LEGGED - describing legs (usually of a bird)

LETTER OF ACCEPTANCES AND RETURNS - in regards to SCA heraldry, a monthly letter in which the Laurel Sovereign of Arms publicizes decisions on recent submissions. This is usually abbreviated LoAR.

LETTER OF COMMENT - in regards to SCA heraldry, a letter written by a member of the College of Arms to discuss current submissions and advise the Sovereign(s) of Arms on the acceptability of the names and armory that are being considered. This is usually abbreviated LoC.   <In kingdoms which have an internal submissions process using internal Letters of Intent, the Letter of Comment written at the Society level for the College of Arms is often termed an External Letter of Comment (abbreviated ELoC or XLoC) and the Letter of Comment written for use within the Kingdom is termed an Internal Letter of Comment (abbreviated ILoC).>

LETTER OF INTENT - in regards to SCA heraldry, a letter written by a Principal Herald or a deputy to describe the submissions from their kingdom. This is usually abbreviated LoI.   <In kingdoms that have an internal submissions process using Letters of Intent, the Letter of Intent written at the Society level for the College of Arms is often termed an External Letter of Intent (abbreviated ELoI or XLoI) and the Letter of Intent written for use within the Kingdom is termed an Internal Letter of Intent (abbreviated ILoI).>

LETTER OF PENDS & DISCUSSION - in regards to SCA heraldry, a letter written by the Sovereign(s) of Arms to identify submissions which have been pended and issues which require discussion by the College of Arms. This is usually abbreviated LoPaD.

LETTER OF RESPONSE - in regards to SCA heraldry, a letter written by a member of the College of Arms for purposes of responding to commentary written in Letters of Comment. This is usually abbreviated LoR.

LEUCROCOTTA - a creature that has the haunches of a stag, and the head of a badger, the neck, breast and tail of a lion.

LINED - having an inside lining

LION-DRAGON - creature have the foreparts of a lion and hind parts of a dragon

LIONCED - when the ends of a charge end in a lion face (e.g. a cross lionced)

LIONCELS - refers to lions when there are more than one lion on a shield. Comes from the fanciful story that a lion, being the King of the Beasts, cannot share a shield with other lions. The only way there could be more than one lion would be if they were young lions (lioncels) that had not become the King of Beasts yet.

LOCATION - the placement of a charge or group of charges relative to the field. For example, three roundels in fess are in a different location than three roundels in chief, although their arrangement remains the same.

LOCATIVE BYNAME - (Also, Locative.) A byname referring to a geographical location. The reference may be by name, as in of York and Shropshire, or by description, as in atte Ford and Hill.

LODGED - a stag, hind or deer in a couchant position

LUBOLF - a hippopotamus-like creature with fangs.

LURE, IN - two wings joined at the base with their tips pointing downward

M

MAINTAINED CHARGES - small objects that are held by an animate charge are said to be maintained, such as a lion rampant maintaining a sword. Maintained charges are usually too small to count towards difference.

MAINTAINING - holding (usually away from the body)

MAJOR CHANGE - used in the name registration process to describe a degree of change which the submitter may allow, or refuse to allow, to be made to the name in order to allow it to be registered. Major changes include dropping an element or phrase, changing the order of the name elements, and changing the language of an element.

MAN-ANTELOPE - a heraldic antelope with the face of a man

MAN-LION - a lion with the face of a man

MANED - having a mane of a different tincture

MANTICORE - (also spelled manticora) a creature with a lion body, scorpion stinger at end of its tail and a man's face

MANTLING - in a full achievement, the stylized drapery hanging down the back of the helm, and many times carried down on either side of the escutcheon.

MANTYGRE - a creature with the body of a tiger, and the head of an old man with horns.

MASK - the head of a fox when caboshed

MASONED - describing the cement of brickwork or other masonry

MASONY - divided into masoned or brickwork shapes

MATRONYMIC - a name given to offspring to indicate the name of the mother. The daughter of a Yorkshirewoman named Rose might take the metronymic Rosedoghter. Sometimes spelled metronymic.

MAUNCH - (also maunche) a heraldic charge that represents a sleeve, cut off along side of body and with a long lappet pendant from the cuff; looks somewhat like the letter "M"

MELUSINE - a two-tailed mermaid

MEMBERED - describing the legs of a bird or griffon

MERMAID - a sea creature with the upper body of a woman, and the lower body of a fish. When depicted as holding a comb and mirror, they are blazoned as " a mermaid in her vanity".

MERMAN - a sea creature with the upper body of a man, and the lower body of a fish.

METAL - in SCA heraldry, the metals are argent and Or. Furs that use metals as underlying tinctures, such as ermine and erminois, are treated as metals for contrast.

METRONYMIC - a name given to offspring to indicate the name of the mother. The daughter of a Yorkshirewoman named Rose might take the metronymic Rosedoghter. Sometimes spelled matronymic.

MINOR CHANGE - used in the name registration process to describe a degree of change which the submitter may allow, or refuse to allow, to be made to the name in order to allow it to be registered. Minor changes include accents, punctuation, hyphenation, addition or deletion of a letter, upper-lower case changes, etc.

MINOTAUR - a creature with the body of a man and the head of a bull

MODERN - for SCA purposes, modern is anything after 1600 A.D.

MODEST PROPOSAL - in regards to SCA healdry, the name given to the proposal, implemented in 1996, that the College of Arms restrict calling conflict of submitted armory to national arms, national flags, and a limited subset of other non-SCA armory. Such non-SCA armory which is still protected is added to and listed in the Armorial and Ordinary of the SCA College of Arms.

MOLET - a mullet (a five pointed star)

MON - (More correctly Monshu) Japanese armorial insignia. The SCA allows mon-like designs only if they can be blazoned in European heraldic terms.

MONKFISH - a sea creature with the upper body of a robed monk and the lower body being a fish-tail.

MONOCEROS - a creature that has the head of a stag, the body of a horse, the feet of an elephant and the tail of a boar.

MONSTER - a heraldic monster is any creature used in heraldry that does not exist outside the imagination. Monsters may either be clearly invented, such as the sea-lion, or a confused interpretation of a genuine animal, such as the heraldic tyger.

MULLET - a five pointed star

MULLETY - semy of mullets

MUSIMON - a goat with four horns

MUTILE - dismembered

MUZZLED - having a muzzle

N

NAIANT - swimming

NAISSANT - emerging from the midst of

NAME, ALTERNATE - any name a participant in the SCA registers with the College of Arms other than their primary persona name.

NAME ELEMENT - a part of a name. A name element is usually a single word, such as a given name or an adjective in a description byname. A name phrase is made up of name elements; while these terms are sometimes used interchangeably, they help to distinguish issues involving the construction of words from issues of the construction of appropriate grammatical phrases. For example, in the name Richard of Sheepford, Sheepford is a name element, while the byname of Sheepford is a name phrase.

NAME, LEGAL - this term is used to distinguish the formal name a person has outside the Society from his or her Society name.

NAME PHRASE - a name phrase is a component of a name, such as a given name or a byname. It can be a single word, such as a given name or byname, or a collection of words that are grammatically linked and together serve as a byname, like an article and its noun such as the Smith, a preposition and its object such as of York, or an adjective and the noun it modifies such as White Horse. A name phrase is made up of name elements; while these terms are sometimes used interchangeably, they help to distinguish issues involving the construction of words from issues of the construction of appropriate grammatical phrases. For example, in the name Richard of Sheepford, Sheepford is a name element, while the byname of Sheepford is a name phrase. The required designator in household and Society order names is a name phrase.

NAME, PRIMARY - in the SCA, the name under which the College of Arms records, including armory registrations, are kept.

NAME, SOCIETY - in the SCA, the name under which the College of Arms records, including armory registrations, are kept.

NEUTRAL TINCTURE - a term used to refer to armorial elements (fields or charges) equally divided of a color and a metal. Elements that are neutral are generally considered to have good contrast with colors and metals so long as they do not share any tincture. For example, a field "per pale sable and argent" has good contrast with "a bordure gules", but not with "a bordure sable".

NEBEK - a heraldic tyger, depicted more hairy than usual

NEBULY - a line that makes undulations like the ends of puzzle pieces

NIMBED - encircled with a nimbus

NIMBUS - circle of radiant light; a halo

NOMBRIL - the point of an escutcheon that is halfway between the fess point and the bottom center of the escutcheon

NOWED - knotted

O

OCCUPATIONAL BYNAME - a byname indicating the bearer's occupation, such as Smith and Fleshewer (for a butcher).

OGRE - a sable colored roundel (represents an ancient cannon-ball)

OGRESS - a sable colored roundel (represents an ancient cannon-ball)

ON - said of a charge or group of charges which is placed entirely on other charges (tertiary charge(s)); e.g., on a pale argent a sword gules; on a chief sable three escallops argent.

ON A FLAME - a charge completely surrounded by a flame is said to be on a flame.

ONOMASTIC - of or related to the study of names.

ONE-HALF - for the purposes of counting armorial difference, half is usually defined in the mathematical sense. However, in certain circumstances, half may be defined differently. These circumstances are:

     (i) 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 one-half of that charge group. However, no more than one difference may be obtained by making changes to that bottommost charge.

     (ii) The two portions of a field divided per chevron or per chevron inverted are each considered half for determining difference of the field.

OPEN - referring to a book

OPINICUS - (1) a creature with a griffin’s head, neck and wings, a lion’s body and a bear’s (or camel’s according to some references) tail. (2) a creature similar to the griffin, but all four legs are lion's legs, and the tail is that of a bear.

OPPRESSED - overlaid

OR - the heraldic tincture (metal) gold; by convention, the tincture Or is capitalized in SCA blazons.

ORDINARY - (1) A simple geometric charge. Although different lists of ordinaries may be found in heraldic texts, in SCA heraldry the term denotes those simple geometric figures that pass through the center of the field and terminate at the edge of the field (the pale, fess, bend, bend sinister, chevron, cross, saltire, pall, and pile), their diminutives, and the simple geometric additions to the edges of the field (the chief and bordure). (2) A list of pieces of armory, organized by charge types.

ORIENTATION - the direction a charge faces and the direction its axis runs. Swords, by default, have a palewise orientation, with point to chief and the length of the sword vertical on the shield. Other orientations include bendwise, fesswise, inverted, reversed, or contourny. Orientation is sometimes confused with arrangement. Orientation is an aspect of posture and in SCA heraldry is controlled by the same rule for difference: RfS X.4.h.

ORLE - a narrow band that runs parallel to the edges of the shield

OVERALL - a term applied to charges that cross over both edges of another charge to lie on the field on either side. For instance, "Or, a lion rampant purpure and overall a fess sable" has the fess starting on the field on one side, crossing over the center of the lion, and lying on the field on the other side. An overall charge is considered to lie directly on the field, and must have good contrast with it. An overall charge can never be the primary charge; in addition, there can only be a single group of overall charges.

OVERT - open (referring to wings)

P

PALE - a broad vertical band across the center of the shield

PALEWISE - lying in the direction of the pale

PALL - a broad band "Y" shaped charge that stretched across the shield

PALLET - a diminutive of a pale; medium size bands running vertically across the shield, usually two or more

PALY - the field of the shield divided into many pallets

PANTHEON - (also called a Pard) a creature that has the body of a hind with a fox tail, covered all over with mullets (sometimes depicted with a mule-like head)

PANTHER, HERALDIC <English> - a stylized natural panther with its body covered with roundels of various tinctures and had flames issuing from its mouth and ears

Panther, Heraldic <Continental> - a stylized panther with the head and forelimbs of an eagle; sometimes the head has horns as well.

PAPELLONY - divided in scale shapes

PARD - (also called a Pantheon) a creature that has the body of a hind with a fox tail, covered all over with mullets (sometimes depicted with a mule-like head)

PARTITION - a division of the field into pieces that have different tinctures. Some partitions follow and are named after ordinaries, like per pale, per fess, per bend, and per saltire; others have their own names, like checky, lozengy, and quarterly.

PASCANT (also Pascuant) - feeding (used only for cattle or sheep)

PASSANT - walking, with the dexter fore-paw raised

PATRONYMIC - a name given to offspring to indicate the name of the father. The son of an Irishman named Brian might use the patronymic mac Briain. This term is used generally in the SCA Rules for Submissions to mean both patronymic and metronymic.

PATTÉE - spreading

PEGASUS - a winged horse

PELICAN - (1) a bird that legend says pierces it's own breast to feed it's young; (2) in regards to SCA heraldry, the Pelican Sovereign of Arms, who is a principal heraldic officer of the Society after Laurel.

PELLET - a sable colored roundel (represents an ancient cannon-ball)

PELLETY - semy of pellets

PENDANT - hanging from

PENDED - in regards to SCA heraldry, a submission is pended when the College of Arms has not been provided with sufficient information to provide adequate commentary. This can be either because the Letter of Intent has an error, or because an issue was raised in commentary which must be resolved before the pended submission may be considered. When a Letter of Intent is in error, submissions will only be pended if the error can be described succinctly in text; an omitted or misleading emblazon is grounds for return.

PENNANT - generic term applied to any tapering nautical flag

PENNON - a medium sized personal flag, about three feet in length, swallowtailed or triangular, charged with arms

PENNONCELLE - a small pennon (usually 18 inches in length), usually carried on head of a lance or staff

PERCHED - of a bird when standing on an object

PERIOD - a term used to refer to the culture the SCA attempts to recreate. Period is pre-Seventeenth Century Western European.

PERIOD OF THE SOCIETY - the time before 1600 A.D.

PERIPHERAL CHARGE GROUP - a charge or group of charges that are placed on the field near the edge of a piece of armory without affecting the rest of the design. Peripheral charges include (but are not limited to): the chief, the bordure, the base (including the point pointed), the quarter, the canton, the gyron, the orle, the double tressure, and flaunches. Gores and gussets are not peripheral charges (because they extend so far into the center of the field). Peripheral charges are never primary charges, even if they are the only charges on the field. Peripheral Charge Groups are a type of secondary charge group.

PERMISSION TO CONFLICT - in regards to SCA heraldry, the owner of any registered item may allow the registration of a specific submission that would otherwise conflict by writing a letter of permission to conflict, or may direct Laurel to reduce the level of protection of that item with a blanket letter of permission to conflict. Permission to conflict can be granted for either name or armory submissions. Provisions for permission to conflict are detailed in the SCA College of Arms Administrative Handbook

PERMISSION TO PRESUME - in regards to SCA heraldry, the owner of any registered item may allow the registration of a specific submission that would otherwise presume a relationship by writing a letter of permission to presume. This allows a person to claim a close relationship to someone whose name is already registered. Provisions for permission to presume for names are discussed in the SCA College of Arms Rules for Submission.

PERSONA STORY - as used in the College of Arms, the term refers to an attempt to justify a name combining elements from disparate cultures by reference to the persona's fictional biography. It is College policy to ignore persona stories.

PETITION OF SUPPORT - in regards to SCA heraldry, a document signed by a majority of the populace and officers, or the seneschal and three-quarters of the officers of a Society branch, stating their support of the name and/or arms submitted to Laurel for registration. A branch with ruling nobles must include a statement of support from the ruling nobles in the petition. A valid petition must include a clear description of the item submitted; either the blazon or emblazon is sufficient for a petition regarding branch arms, though both are preferable. Special rules may apply to submissions by Kingdoms and Principalities. These rules are described in the SCA College of Arms Administrative Handbook.

PHEON - an arrowhead (usually depicted with barbs engrailed on inner edge)

PHOENIX - (also spelled Fenix) a demi-eagle rising from the flames

PHRASE - short for Name Phrase. A name phrase is a component of a name, such as a given name or a byname. It can be a single word, such as a given name or byname, or a collection of words that are grammatically linked and together serve as a byname, like an article and its noun such as the Smith, a preposition and its object such as of York, or an adjective and the noun it modifies such as White Horse. A name phrase is made up of name elements; while these terms are sometimes used interchangeably, they help to distinguish issues involving the construction of words from issues of the construction of appropriate grammatical phrases. For example, in the name Richard of Sheepford, Sheepford is a name element, while the byname of Sheepford is a name phrase. The required designator in household and Society order names is a name phrase.

PIERCED - perforated; having a hole in a charge

PIETY, IN ITS - of a pelican when wounding its breast with its beak and nourishing its young with its own blood

PILE - a triangular wedge

PITHON - this is a bat-winged snake (not to be confused with a python which is a type of non-winged snake)

PIZZLED - having a penis of a different color from the body

PLACE NAME - the name for a geographic area, such as the name of a town or region. In the Society, place names are the names of shires, baronies, principalities, kingdoms, and other official branches.

PLACEMENT - the location of a charge or group of charges relative to the field. For example, three roundels in fess are in a different location than three roundels in chief, although their arrangement remains the same.

PLATE - an argent colored roundel (represents a silver coin)

PLATY - semy of plates

PLENTITUDE, IN HER - a full moon with a face

PLUMED - having a plume of feathers

PLUMMETY - divided into stylized feather shapes

PLURALS - the plural of [a charge name plus modifier] is always [charges plus modifier] (e.g., lion rampant/lions rampant; cross fleury/crosses fleury).

POLLED - having the horns removed (of a creature normally with horns)

POMETTY - referring to a cross or escarbuncle having a circular projection in the middle of each arm

POMME - a vert colored roundel (represents an apple)

POMMELLED - describing the pommel of a weapon

POSED - placed

POSITION - the placement of a charge or group of charges relative to the field. For example, three roundels in fess are in a different location than three roundels in chief, although their arrangement remains the same.

POSTURE - the pose in which a beast or other animate charge is placed, such as rampant, passant, etc. Orientation is an aspect of posture and in SCA heraldry is controlled by the same rule for difference: RfS X.4.h.

POTENT - crutch or "T" shaped

POTENTY - field or charge divided into potent sections

POUNCING - said of a bird (usually a falcon) seizing it's prey

PRECEDENT - in regards to SCA heraldry, a decision by Laurel regarding a submission that may be applied to other similar submissions. Only expressly stated Laurel decisions should be considered precedents; registrations without comment do not necessarily set precedent.

PRESUMPTUOUS - claiming more importance for oneself than one is due. A person who pretends to be entitled to special treatment or recognition because of status, rank, or abilities that the person does not hold or has not earned is presumptuous.

PRETENTIOUS - claiming more importance for oneself than one is due. A person who pretends to be entitled to special treatment or recognition because of status, rank, or abilities that the person does not hold or has not earned is presumptuous.

PREYING - devouring prey

PREYING UPON - devouring prey

PRIDE, IN ITS - of a peacock (or turkey) affronty with its tail fanned out in display

PRIMARY CHARGE GROUP - the The most important group of charges in a piece of armory. In blazons, the primary charge group is usually mentioned immediately after the field (though a strewn charge group is not primary when it is blazoned before a central charge group). If there is a central ordinary lying entirely on the field, it is the primary charge. If there is no such central ordinary, then the primary charge group is the set of charges of the same size that lie in the center of the design and directly on the field. An overall charge can never be the primary charge. In any piece of armory with charges there will always be a primary charge group, unless the only charges are peripheral. There cannot be more than one primary charge group in any given design. In "Gules, a pale between two mullets argent", the pale is the primary charge. In "Or, a maunche between three roundels azure" the maunche is the primary charge. In "Per chevron argent and sable, two roses and a fleur-de-lys counterchanged and on a chief purpure three hearts argent", the roses and fleur-de-lys are the primary charge group, because they are all of about the same size and in a standard arrangement. In "Azure semy of mullets and a chief argent" the strewn mullets are the primary charge group; in "Azure semy of mullets, an eagle and a chief argent" the eagle is the primary charge. In "Sable, a lion Or, overall a bend argent", the lion is the primary charge. In "Azure, a chief Or" there is no primary charge group.

PRIMARY NAME - in the SCA, the name under which the College of Arms records, including armory registrations, are kept.

PRINCIPAL HERALD - the chief heraldic officer of a kingdom, and a Great Officer of State in that kingdom. The Principal Herald is in charge of all heraldic activities within the kingdom.

PROPER - (1) Specifying that a charge appears in its natural hues. A zebra proper has the zebra's characteristic pattern of black and white stripes; a tree proper has a brown trunk and green leaves. Proper should not be used to indicate colorings that can be described in terms of the usual heraldic tinctures: a raven proper is better blazoned as a raven sable. It should also be used only if a competent artist will be able to draw the animal correctly without extensive research. (2) Indicates a standard set of tinctures for a standard heraldic charge, such as a sword proper, which has an argent blade and Or hilt and quillons, or a rose proper, which is a rose gules, barbed vert and seeded Or.

PROTECTED ARMORY - in regards to SCA heraldry, Armory with which new Society armory may not conflict. This includes armory that has been registered in the Society, as well as armory from outside the Society which is deemed important enough to protect. All protected armory is published in the Society Armorial and Ordinary, but is protected as soon it is so identified, and does not wait until the next publication of the Society Armorial and Ordinary to be protected. The list of protected armory from outside the Society may be modified to add or remove entries as further research directs. 

PURFLED - decorated (usually describing material)

PURPURE - the heraldic tincture (color) purple

PURSUIVANT - in medieval times, one studying to be a herald

Q

QUARTERLY - dividing the field of the shield into four (equal) sections per cross

QUATREFOIL - a stylized four-petaled flower.

QUESTING BEAST - creature with a serpent head, a leopard body, the hindquarters of a lion and the feet of a hart (from Arthurian legend)

QUEUE FOURCHE - the tail of a beast divided at mid point and having two tip ends

QUEUED - tailed

QUILL - a heraldic term for a spool about which yarn or thread is wound. Also called Embroiderer's quill or Quill of yarn.

QUILL PEN - a feather, the lower end of which has been cut into a nib.

QUILLED - describing the quill of an ostrich feather

QUISE, A LA - at the thigh

R

RAGULY - a line that is similar to embattled (having castle crenellation), but the crenellation all slant to one side

RAISED - of a portcullis, having only the lower portion of the crossbars showing at the top of the gateway

RAMPANT - standing on one hindfoot with one foreleg raised above the other

RAYED - having rays

RAYONNE - ending in rays or tongues of flame

RAYONNY - ending in rays or tongues of flame

REBATED - cut short

REFLEXED - curved backwards

Regency Court - A court held on behalf on the king and/or queen when they cannot be present, and on their specific instructions, at which awards are given in their name. A regency court is normally held only by someone otherwise able to preside in court, e.g. a prince or princess, or a landed baron or baroness. Although, it is not unknown for royal peers to be delegated in this way as well.

REGIONAL STYLE - in regards to SCA heraldry, regional style refers to heraldry or naming practices of a particular time and place. A submission must be entirely consistent with a single regional style in order to be considered under the regional style sections of the armory rules on documented exceptions.

REGISTRATION - acceptance by the Sovereign(s) of Arms of a piece of armory or name for future protection. The College of Arms will only register items it believes are compatible with period names and armory, are not offensive or presumptuous, and do not conflict with items already protected. Registered items are protected from conflict with other proposed names and armory to the best ability of the College of Arms.

REGUARDANT - a beast looking back over its shoulder

REPLENISHED - filled <e.g. a tankard replenished>

REQUIRED CHARGES - in a few cases, pieces of armory are required to incorporate a particular charge in the design. The SCA requires at least one laurel wreath on the arms of every official branch, and a crown on the arms of every kingdom. These required charges are for branch arms only, not badges.

REREMOUSE - (also known as a Bat) seventh century sources state that the bat is a bird. But unlike other birds, it is a four-legged and resembles a mouse and makes a squeaking sound. The Latin name for the creature is "vespertilio" which refers to the time it flies (after twilight).

RESERVED CHARGES - some charges are specifically reserved in the SCA for use by particular groups or individuals, for instance the coronet with strawberry leaves reserved to Dukes and Duchesses, the circle of chain reserved to Knights, or the Laurel wreath reserved to Society branches.

RESPECTANT - refers to two creatures facing each other in the rampant position. [A few sources applied this only to domestic or peaceful beasts, but many other sources applied this to any animal, monster or beast.]

RESTRICTED CHARGES - some charges are so closely associated with royal families or specific honors outside the SCA that they may not be used in Society armory at all. Examples of these include "Azure semy-de-lys Or" used by France, a Chinese Dragon with five toes used only by Chinese Emperors, or a Tudor Rose. A few others have acquired such negative connotations that their registration may cause offense to a significant portion of the population. An example of such is the swastika, because of its association with the Nazis.

REVERSED - inverted or turned upside down; most often used to describe an inanimate charge oriented the opposite of its default orientation along a horizontal axis; e.g., a sword fesswise reversed = a sword fesswise point to sinister; an arrow fesswise reversed = an arrow fesswise, point to dexter. (Non-SCA blazon uses reversed to describe what SCA blazon terms inverted; i.e., a charge turned upside down along the vertical axis of the shield.)

RINGED - having a ring

RISING - a bird (or winged creature) about to take flight

ROMPU - broken, interrupted or displaced (with broken piece usually above rest)

ROUNDEL - a flat tinctured disc

ROUSANT - of a bird about to take wing

S

SAGITTARY - a centaur wielding a bow

S'ELONGEANT (also s'elongant) - elongated or stretched out; when of a domestic feline many times its head is depicted lower than hind-quarters

SABLE - heraldic tincture (color) black

SALAMANDER - an elemental fire-spirit shown as a lizard enflamed.

SALIENT - leaping

SALTIRE - a charge composed of two broad bands forming an "X" shape that stretches across the shield both horizontally and vertically

SALTIRE, IN - charges placed in the form of a saltire

SANGLANT - blood-stained

SANGLIANT - blood-stained

SANS - without

SANS WINGS - without wings (of creatures normally having them)

SATYR - a creature whose lower half is that of a goat and whose upper half is that of a man, but with goat horns

SATYRAI - (also called a mantyre) a creature with the face of an old man, a tyger body and antelope horns and tail

SAWFISH - (also called a Flying Fish) winged sea monster named for the saw-toothed crest on its back with which it cuts a ship when swimming under it so that as the water rushes in and drowns the crew.

SCA-COMPATIBLE - applied term is applied to elements of submissions (whether name or armorial) that, to the best of our knowledge, were not used in period but which have been declared registerable on the basis of their great popularity, such as Rhiannon and compass stars. The use of an SCA-compatible element is a weirdness.

SEA MONSTER - other than a sea-dog, sea-unicorn or sea-wolf, any creature created by combining the normal upper half of an animal to a fish tail

SEA-DOG - a dog (usually a talbot) with webbed feet, scales, dorsal fin and an otter tail

Sea-Dragon - a beast with the top half of a dragon and bottom half being a fish's tail.

SEA-GOAT - a beast with the top half of a goat and bottom half being a fish's tail.

SEA-HORSE - (also called a Hippocampus) a beast with the top half of a horse and bottom half being a fish's tail. It usually has forelegs with webbed paws.

SEA-LION - a beast with the top half of a heraldic lion and the bottom half being a fish’s tail.

SEA-SERPENT - there are a variety of sea monsters.  Many are snake-like sea creatures, others are monstrous whale-like or squid/octopus-like in appearance. In SCA heraldry the sea-serpent is depicted as a finned snake-like creature.

SEA-STAG - a beast with the top half of a stag and bottom half being a fish's tail.

SEA-UNICORN - the upper half of a unicorn attached to a fish tail, but whose front feet are webbed feet

SEA-WOLF - (1) a beast with the top half of a wolf and the bottom half being a fish's tail; (2) a wolf with webbed feet, dorsal fin and scales

SECONDARY CHARGE GROUP - a group of charges on the field around the primary charge group. A design may have more than one secondary charge group. Each group may confer difference independently. In "Gules, a pale between two mullets argent", the mullets are the secondary charge group. The secondary charges in "Or, a maunche between three roundels azure" are the roundels. In "Sable, a chevron cotised argent between three millrinds Or" there are two secondary charge groups, the cotises and the millrinds. In "Per chevron argent and sable, two roses and a fleur-de-lys counterchanged and on a chief purpure three hearts argent", the chief is the secondary charge group. A peripheral charge group is a type of secondary charge group.

SEEDED - having seed vessels

SEGREANT - of a griffon in rampant position (wings raised/displayed)

SEJANT - sitting

SEJANT ERECT - sitting upright

SEME - alternate spelling of Semy. An adjective meaning that something is strewn with identical charges. (It is from the French semé, the past participle of the verb semer 'to strew'.) A field Azure semy-de-lys Or is blue with a pattern of gold fleurs-de-lys on it. A bordure vert semy of rowels argent is green and is charged with several (at least five and usually eight) white rowels evenly spaced around it. The charges so used are called strewn charges. When placed directly on the field, strewn charges are considered a separate charge group from any other charges. Strewn charges may be considered the primary charge group if there are no other charge groups present or if the only other charge groups present are peripheral charge groups. When placed on another charge, strewn charges are considered a tertiary charge group. Strewn charges are not considered a field treatment. Ermine spots in an ermined tincture are not considered strewn charges; they are considered part of a separate tincture.

SEMY - an adjective meaning that something is strewn with identical charges. (It is from the French semé, the past participle of the verb semer 'to strew'.) A field Azure semy-de-lys Or is blue with a pattern of gold fleurs-de-lys on it. A bordure vert semy of rowels argent is green and is charged with several (at least five and usually eight) white rowels evenly spaced around it. The charges so used are called strewn charges. When placed directly on the field, strewn charges are considered a separate charge group from any other charges. Strewn charges may be considered the primary charge group if there are no other charge groups present or if the only other charge groups present are peripheral charge groups. When placed on another charge, strewn charges are considered a tertiary charge group. Strewn charges are not considered a field treatment. Ermine spots in an ermined tincture are not considered strewn charges; they are considered part of a separate tincture.

SENMURV - The front half of a dog and the wings and rear body of a bird (usually drawn in Persian style).

SEPS - a serpent with pointed ears, whose poison is so strong that what it eats is instantly liquefied.

SIMURGH - (also called a Persian Peacock) a peacock with separated, long twisting tail feathers (usually drawn in Persian style).

SEXED - having genitals of a different color than rest of body

SHAFTED - referring to the shaft of a tool or weapon

SHUT - of a book when closed

SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE - in armory, a level of difference which would have been considered by heralds in period to be a cadency step; in most cases, a sufficient amount of difference to grant a Clear Difference. A Significant Difference is a lesser level of difference of charge type from Substantial Difference. For example, a pine tree is significantly different from an oak tree (because they have widely differing shapes), but they are not substantially different from each other (because they are both trees). In names, two name phrases are significantly different if they are readily distinguishable both in sound and appearance.

SINISTER - right side of the shield when observed from the front; left side of person wearing the shield

SINOPLE - equivalent to and more commonly referred to as "vert" (green).

SIREN - creature that has the upper body of a woman but the lower half of a web-footed sea bird and large wings

SIRRUSH - a creature that is serpent-like, with the head a scaly head and skin of a snake, with the forefeet of a cat, and birds claws for hind feet.

SLIPPED - having a stalk (refers to plants)

SLOT MACHINE HERALDRY - the popular name given to the part of Rule for Submissions which states that three or more types of charges should not be used in the same [charge] group. In "Argent, in fess a cherry gules, a bell sable, and a lime vert", there are three types of charges (cherry, bell, and lime) in the primary charge group; in "Argent, two lions combattant and a sword and axe crossed in saltire purpure", there are also three types of charges (lion, sword, and axe) in the primary charge group.

SOARING - flying upward

SOCIETY - the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc.

SOCIETY NAME - in the SCA, the name under which the College of Arms records, including armory registrations, are kept.

SOLEIL, EN - surrounded by rays of the sun <e.g. a rose en soleil>

SPANCELLED - fettered (usually a horse)

SPHINX - a creature with the body of a lion, wings and a human face. A version called the Gyno-Sphinx is depicted with a woman's head and breasts. The Egyptian Sphinx (also called an Ando-Sphinx), has a man's head, wearing a pharaonic head-dress and has no wings. .

SPLENDOR, IN HIS - a full sun with a face

SPRINGING - of a deer when salient; deer leaping with forelegs raised and bent and both hindlegs on ground

SPURRED - having spurs <e.g. a rooster spurred>

STATANT - standing, with all feet on the ground

STATIC - in a design context, this means all the elements appear fixed and unmoving. Heraldic postures usually appear to place the weight of any beast firmly on its feet and the body posed unnaturally in a stiff position. Designs are balanced around the center of the shield so that the design looks rigid. Static designs are typical of period heraldry. The opposite of static is dynamic.

STEELED - being composed of steel; greyish in tincture

STRIKING - flying downward in an attack

STRINGED - having a string or strings <e.g. a harp stringed, a bow stringed>

STUDDED - having studs

STYLE - the way elements are combined to form a complete name or armory submission.

SUBMISSION - a name or piece of armory that is presented to the SCA College of Arms for registration.

SUBMITTER - the person who presents a submission to the SCA College of Arms for registration.

SUBSTANTIAL DIFFERENCE - in armory, a level of difference would have been considered by heralds in period to be more than a cadency step. A greater level of difference of charge type than significant difference. In most cases the use of a charge as a main charge that has a substantial difference from the main charge of another device will automatically clear any conflict with the other device. For example, a sword is substantially different from a sun. Thus "Gules, a sword Or" is clear of conflict from "Gules, a sun Or." 

Sufflexed - it means "bent under"; usually applied to a creature's tail being bent under the body or a creature's head greatly bowed down.

SUPPORTERS - in a full achievement, the human, natural or fabulous/mythical creatures which stand on either side of an escutcheon and support/protect it.

SUPPRESSED - overlaid

SUR LE TOUT - overall

SURGIANT - bird or wing creature rising from the ground

SURJEANT - bird or wing creature rising from the ground

SURNAME - a byname passed to all the offspring in a family, and therefore also called family names. Modern English surnames usually come last, so Francis Drake's surname is Drake. Other cultures may place their hereditary surnames in other positions in the name. The alternate term "Inherited Surname" is also used to refer to this type of byname. Hereditary surnames are often called simply surnames, but this usage is ambiguous and should be avoided.

SURTOUT - (more commonly called "overall") a term applied to charges that cross over both edges of another charge to lie on the field on either side. For instance, Or, a lion rampant purpure and overall a fess sable has the fess starting on the field on one side, crossing over the center of the lion, and lying on the field on the other side.

SUSTAINED CHARGES - large objects that are held by an animate charge are often said to be sustained, such as a lion rampant sustaining a polearm. A charge is said to be sustained if it is large enough to count towards difference. The rule of thumb is whether, if the charge and the charge sustained were separated, the two charges would be so nearly equivalent in size that they could reasonably be blazoned as a single group of two equally important charges. Another term for sustained charges is supported charges, such as a lion rampant supporting a polearm. An object that is being held that is not large enough to count for towards a difference is considered to be maintained, rather than sustained.

SWORD AND DAGGER RULE - in regards to SCA heraldry, the popular name given to rulings which disallow the use of similar but non-identical charges together on the field or in the same charge group. In "Gules, a dragon and a wyvern combattant argent" the dragon and the wyvern are both on the field, and are similar but not identical; therefore this design violates the rule. Closely related are the rulings which disallow the use of the same charge in a primary and secondary group. In "Gules, a mullet and in chief three mullets Or", both groups of mullets are on the field; therefore this design violates the rule. Conversely, in "Gules, a mullet and on a chief Or three mullets gules" the rule is not violated, as the two groups of mullets are not both on the field.

SYMMETRY - a pattern of repeating design. Mirror symmetry reflects a design across an imaginary line to form a like design that is the mirror image of it. Two lions combatant are mirror symmetric. Radial symmetry repeats a design at regular intervals around an imaginary center. Two fish in annulo are radially symmetric. None of these forms of symmetry is common in heraldic design, as they change the orientation and facing of objects. Period heraldry usually keeps them oriented the same way.

T

TALENT - an Or colored roundel (represents a coin)

TASSELLED - having tassels

TERGIANT - turned so that the back faced the observer <e.g. a turtle tergiant>

TERTIARY CHARGE GROUP - any group of charges placed entirely on other charges. Tertiary charges in a group may be together, such as three charges on a chief, or may each be on members of the same charge group. "Per chevron argent and sable, two roses and a fleur-de-lys counterchanged and on a chief purpure three hearts argent" has one group of tertiary charges on the chief. "Gules, a chevron between three roses Or, each charged with a cross fitchy sable" has one group of tertiary charges, the crosses. "Or, on a fess gules an escallop between two millrinds Or, all within a bordure vert charged with eight roundels argent" has two groups of tertiary charges, one group with the escallop and millrinds and the other with the roundels. Each tertiary group contributes to difference independently.

THEA - alternate name for Theow, a creature that is a wolf with cloven feet and a mane of many colors

THEOW - a creature that is a wolf with cloven feet and a mane of many colors

THOS - alternate name for Theow, a creature that is a wolf with cloven feet and a mane of many colors

THROUGHOUT - extending to the edge(s) of the escutcheon

TIERCE - one-third of the shield palewise,(usually the dexter or sinister side)

TIERCED PER PALL - divided into three sections in a "Y" shape

TINCTURE - in regards to SCA heraldry, one of the seven standard hues used in SCA armory, or a fur. The tinctures are the colors azure (blue), gules (red), purpure (purple), sable (black), and vert (green) and the metals argent (white/silver) and Or (yellow/gold). Furs include the ermined furs and vair, potent, scaly, papelonny, and their variations.

TITLE - a word that indicates the rank of the person using it. In regards to the SCA, (1) A form of address that indicates the rank of the person using it. These titles may only be used as authorized in Corpora. (2) A heraldic title is the name of a heraldic office (such as Pelican and Wreath) and is unrelated to rank. 

TITLE, ALTERNATE - the SCA has formally reserved the titles used in the SCA and their translations into languages other than English. These titles may only be used as authorized in Corpora. . 

TORQUED - wreathed

TORSE - a band of twisted strands (of material) of the primary metal and primary metal used in the device

TORTEAU - a gules colored roundel (represents a round loaf of bread or tart)

TORTEAUX - plural of torteau

TOWERED - having towers

TOYOTA, RULE OF - an informal term referring to the idea that the submitter may register armory that is not the best style or taste so long as it does not violate the Rules for Submissions. This is based on the advertising slogan "You Asked for It, You Got It!"

TRAGOPAN - an eagle with curved horns

TRANSFIXED - pierced

TRANSFLUENT - water flowing through or beneath

TRAVERSED - facing to sinister

TREFLEE - semy of trefoils

TREFOIL - a stylized three-leaf plant with a short stalk

TRIAN ASPECT, IN - position of a charge that gives three dimensional appearance (few period charges done as such)

TRICORPORATE - three creatures pallwise sharing the same head

TRIPPANT - a deer in the passant position

TROGODICE - a reindeer with forward-curving horns

TROTTING - of a horse

TRUSSED - of birds when devouring prey

TRUSSING - of birds when devouring prey

TUFTED - having tufts of hair on tail, limbs, etc.

TYGER - the heraldic tyger has a body like a wolf with a thick mane and a lion tail, and has massive jaws and a pointed snout

TYPE, CHARGE - The kind of a charge in a piece of armory. "Gules, a chevron between two candles and a lantern Or" has three types of charges: chevrons, candles, and lanterns. "Argent, on a pale purpure between two lions combatant gules three lions passant Or" has two types of charges: pales, and lions in two different postures.

U

ULULANT - howling, wailing. Applied to a creature (usually a wolf) with its head upraised, as if howling at the moon.

UNGULED - describes the hoofs of animals

UNICORN - the heraldic unicorn has a horse’s body, a single long horn, a lion’s tail, tufted hocks and cloven hoofs like a goat, and a beard

UPON - an ambiguous term which should be avoided in blazon.

URDÉ - pointed

URDY - pointed

URIANT - of a fish when diving head downward, belly to sinister

URINANT - of a fish when diving head downward, belly to sinister

V

VAIR - a fur (originally squirrel). It is depicted in heraldry in several stylized forms, alternating the tinctures argent and azure.

VAIRY - a heraldic fur, depicted in the style of vair, but using tinctures other than the argent and azure combination.

VAMBRACED - of an arm wearing armour

VARIANTS, LINGUISTIC - different spellings or pronunciations of the same word. Spelling was not fixed during the period studied by the Society, and often changed over time, so a single word may have several variant forms. To be registered, variants must be documented as plausible following the guidelines in the SCA College of Arms Rules for Submission.

VEILED - having a veil

VEINED - when the veins of a leaf are a different tincture than the rest of the leaf

VENERATION, IN - kneeling as if in prayer

VERT - the heraldic tincture (color) green

VERVELLED - having thongs with rings attached to them

VESTED - clothed (usually of vestments)

VIGILANCE, IN ITS - of a crane when standing on one leg and holding a stone in the other

VIROLED - having decorative bands

VOIDABLE CHARGE - a charge which can be voided, that is, have the middle cut out, allowing the field or other tincture to show through. The cutout portion should both be of the same shape as the charge and follow along the outline of the charge. In general, a simple geometric charge such as a pale, roundel, or a heart is voidable, while a charge with a more complex outline such as a lion is not. Charges in the center of the field are considered voidable and charges elsewhere on the field are not. This does not, of course, affect charges that are voided as part of their nature, such as mascles and annulets.

VOIDED - of a charge, the center removed

VOL - two wings joined, the tips upward

VOLANT - flying horizontally

VOLUTED - encircled

VORANT - devouring

VULNED - wounded

VULNING - wounding to produce blood

W

WATTLED - referring to the wattles

WEIRDNESS - an informal term referring to the idea that the College can usually accept a name or armorial design that has one break with the usual period style provided that it is not overly obtrusive.

WEIRDNESSES, RULE OF TWO - A name or device that has two violations of period style, or two weirdnesses, is less likely to be registered.

WINGED - having wings

WODEHOUSE - a wild man of the woods, depicted as covered in green hair except where the flesh is visible; in the face, elbows, knees, hands and feet

WREATH - in regards to SCA heraldry, the Wreath Sovereign of Arms, who is a principal heraldic officer of the Society after the Laurel Principal Sovereign of Arms.

WREATH, LAUREL - a laurel wreath is a circular charge, with its chiefmost ends nearly touching. Two sprigs (straight branches) crossed to form a V is not a wreath. Imagine a Laurel Wreath, kind of like a horse shoe, but with greenery."

WREATHED - encircled by

WREATHED ABOUT - encircled by

WYVERN - scaly, dragon-like creature with wings and two legs

X

Y

YALE - an antelope-like or horse-like creature with the tusks of a boar and two horns, one going each direction, and covered with roundels (usually depicted as white with red spots)

YPOTRYLL - a creature with a boar face and tusks, a camel body with two hairy humps, and the legs, hooves and mane of an ox.

Z

ZULE - another term for a chess rook. It is found in the arms of Zuleistein: "Gules, three zules argent; a label of three points of the last."

©1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 Ron "Modar" Knight
Baron Modar Neznanich, OPel
e-mail: modar@everestkc.net

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