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In heraldry, a compartment is a design placed under the
shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of a ...
, usually rocks, a grassy mount (''mount vert''), or some sort of other landscape upon which the supporters are depicted as standing. Care must be taken to distinguish true compartments from items upon which supporters are merely resting one or more feet, or, sometimes, mere heraldic badges or pure decoration under the shield, and, conversely, care must also be taken in very unusual cases such as the
coat of arms of Belize The coat of arms or national seal of Belize was adopted upon independence, and the current coat of arms is only slightly different from that used when Belize was a British colony (the Union Jack has been removed, and a Mestizo woodcutter has rep ...
, in which what may be taken to be a crest, the mahogany tree rising above the shield, is really part of the compartment. It is sometimes said to represent the land held by the bearer. As an official part of the blazon it is a comparatively late feature of heraldry, often derived from the need to have different supporters for different families or entities, although sometimes the compartment is treated in the
blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visu ...
separately from the supporters.


Background

If the compartment is mentioned in the blazon it forms part of the grant and is an integral part of the arms e.g. the current royal arms of the United Kingdom are required to have a compartment with plant badges. If no compartment is specified in the blazon then whether to draw one is at the discretion of the artist. The current arms of the
Commonwealth of Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
are usually depicted on a compartment of a wreath of
wattle Wattle or wattles may refer to: Plants *''Acacia sensu lato'', polyphyletic genus of plants commonly known as wattle, especially in Australia and South Africa **''Acacia'', large genus of shrubs and trees, native to Australasia ** Black wattle, ...
, the national flower. It would be acceptable to omit the wattle or substitute something else as it does not form part of the grant. The decorative flourish which was often placed by heraldic artists under the feet, hooves or paws of supporters, chiefly in the 19th century, was disparagingly known by some as the "gas bracket," although this term never had any official currency; the only case in which something similar was ever actually mentioned in the blazon was the "arabesque" vert on which the whale supporters of Zaanstad,
North Holland North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...
, the Netherlands, balance. The compartment of the coat of arms of Michigan is similar. A rare instance in which the supporters stand on the motto scroll is in the arms of New Jersey. The
coat of arms of the Netherlands The coat of arms of the Kingdom of the Netherlands was originally adopted in 1815 and later modified in 1907. The arms are a composite of the arms of the former Dutch Republic and the arms of the House of Nassau, it features a checkered shield wit ...
, likewise, features the two lion supporters standing on the motto scroll. Usually when arms are augmented by supporters, a compartment will be added too. In rare cases, a compartment might be granted as an augmentation. A compartment without supporters is possible but practically unknown, with the exception of the
Coat of Arms of South Australia The coat of arms of South Australia is the official symbol of the state of South Australia. It was granted by Queen Elizabeth II on 19 April 1984. They replaced a coat of arms granted to the State in 1936 by King Edward VIII. The shield has the ...
. A compartment is usually some kind of landscape (in the case of Scottish chiefs it is generally a "mount vert" - ''grassy mount'' covered with the clan's flower) or seascape, and these can be quite elaborate. These elaborate designs particularly feature in more recent
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source o ...
grants, such as the compartment of the University of Northern British Columbia, in which the female Kermode bear and woodland caribou buck stand on a forest, mountain peaks and ears of wheat, all rising out of the conventionalised heraldic representation of water, which is itself charged with an orca.University Of Northern British Columbia
online Public Register of Arms, Flags and Badges. Vol. II, p. 321
Compartments can have a specific piece of geography; Kenya's compartment is Mount Kenya and the compartment of
Arbeláez Arbeláez () is a town and municipality in the Cundinamarca Department, Colombia. It borders Fusagasugá, Pasca and other municipalities of the Sumapaz Province. Arbeláez is recognized as a quiet and friendly city of Colombia. It is known for it ...
, Cundinamarca, Colombia is a globe. There are some unusual compartments. The compartment of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada is a quadrangle. The arms of the former Cumberland County Council have a wall as a compartment, while the
Canadian Academy of Engineering The Canadian Academy of Engineering (french: L'Académie canadienne du génie) is a national academy of distinguished professional engineer Regulation and licensure in engineering is established by various jurisdictions of the world to encourage l ...
has a bridge spanning water.The Canadian Academy of Engineering
online Public Register of Arms, Flags and Badges. Vol. II, p. 169
The chief of
Clan Donnachaidh Clan Donnachaidh (Scottish Gaelic: Clann Donnchaidh ), also known as Clan Robertson or Clan Duncan is a Scottish clan. History Origins There are two main theories as to the origins of the Clan Donnachaidh: #That the founder of the clan, Donn(a) ...
has a man in chains as a compartment, while that of Dundas of that Ilk is "a salamander in flames of fire". Recent compartments can also feature indigenous non-European features. The arms of Gisborne, New Zealand contain another unique compartment, a Māori
waka Waka may refer to: Culture and language * Waka (canoe), a Polynesian word for canoe; especially, canoes of the Māori of New Zealand ** Waka ama, a Polynesian outrigger canoe ** Waka hourua, a Polynesian ocean-going canoe ** Waka taua, a Māori ...
(canoe).


Examples

File:Coat of arms of Malta (1964–1975).svg, A seascape compartment in the former
coat of arms of Malta The coat of arms of Malta is the national coat of arms of the country of Malta. The present coat of arms is described by the Emblem and Public Seal of Malta Act of 1988 as a shield showing an heraldic representation of the national flag of Malta ...
. File:Coat of Arms of Anne, the Princess Royal.svg, A mount vert compartment in the coat of arms of
Anne, Princess Royal Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of Ki ...
of the United Kingdom. File:Middle Coats of arms of Austrian Countries (1915).png, A vegetal compartment (branches) in a 1915 depiction of the
Austrian coat of arms The current coat of arms of the Republic of Austria has been in use in its first forms by the First Republic of Austria since 1919. Between 1934 and the German annexation in 1938, the ''Federal State (Bundesstaat Österreich)'' used a different ...
. File:Wappen Deutsches Reich - Reichswappen (Mittleres).svg, A pedestal (terrace) compartment in the middle version of the coat of arms of the German Emperor until 1918. File:Grand Royal Coat of Arms of France.svg, A cloud compartment in the coat of arms of the Kingdom of France. File:Coat of arms of Iceland.svg, A compartment of
columnar basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% of a ...
in the Icelandic coat of arms.


References


Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Compartment (Heraldry) External devices in achievements