rule of tincture
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The most basic rule of
heraldic Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branc ...
design is the rule of tincture: metal should not be put on metal, nor colour on colour (
Humphrey Llwyd Humphrey Llwyd (also spelled Lhuyd) (1527–1568) was a Welsh cartographer, author, antiquary and Member of Parliament. He was a leading member of the Renaissance period in Wales along with other such men as Thomas Salisbury and William ...
, 1568). This means that the heraldic metals or and
argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to b ...
(gold and silver, represented by yellow and white) should not be placed on each other, nor may any of the ''colours'' (i.e. azure,
gules In heraldry, gules () is the tincture with the colour red. It is one of the class of five dark tinctures called "colours", the others being azure (blue), sable (black), vert (green) and purpure (purple). In engraving, it is sometimes depict ...
,
sable The sable (''Martes zibellina'') is a species of marten, a small omnivorous mammal primarily inhabiting the forest environments of Russia, from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia, and northern Mongolia. Its habitat also borders eastern Kaza ...
, vert and purpure, along with some other rarer examples) be placed on another colour. Heraldic furs (i.e. ermine,
vair Vair (; from Latin ''varius'' "variegated"), originating as a processed form of squirrel fur, gave its name to a set of different patterns used in heraldry. Heraldic vair represents a kind of fur common in the Middle Ages, made from pieces of ...
and their variants) as well as "proper" (a
charge Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * '' Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * ''Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...
coloured as it normally is in naturealthough that may be as defined by heralds) are exempt from the rule of tincture. The rule seems to have operated from the inception of the age of heraldry, i.e. about 1200–1215, but seemingly was never written down. It was rather deduced by later commenters as a rule which must have existed, based on the evidence it produced. Although the vast majority of coats of arms ever used across the whole of Europe follow the rule, a very few coats which contravened the rule were borne in the mediaeval era by certain families or corporate bodies for many centuries without effective censure by the heraldic authorities. The reason for the original contraventions and for the toleration of them is unknown, although in the case of the arms of the
Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem ( la, Regnum Hierosolymitanum; fro, Roiaume de Jherusalem), officially known as the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem or the Frankish Kingdom of Palestine,Example (title of works): was a Crusader state that was establishe ...
, clearly extremely high status was involved.


Application

The main duty of a
heraldic Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branc ...
device is to be easily recognisable. Certain
tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...
pairs are difficult to distinguish when placed atop or over each other. Specifically, a dark colour is very difficult to distinguish if it is placed on top of another dark colour, and likewise a light metal is very difficult to distinguish on top of the other light metal. Though this is the practical genesis of the rule, the rule is technical and appearance is not used in determining whether arms conform to the rule. Another reason sometimes given to justify this rule is that it was difficult to paint with enamel (colour) over enamel, or with metal over metal.


Lawful exceptions

The rule of tincture does not apply to
furs Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an insulating blanket t ...
, nor to charges
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 vis ...
ed "proper" (displayed in their natural colour, which need not be a normal heraldic tincture).Fox-Davies, p. 86. The blazoning of a charge “proper” is not a loophole when its natural coloration equates to or approaches another heraldic tincture. When an animal, plant, weapon, or any other object appears in colours perceived to be their natural colours, they ''must'' always be blazoned as proper. Hugh Clark’s An Introduction to Heraldry states that “In the blazoning of charges, be they of what nature or kind soever, whether animate or inanimate, if you perceive them to be of the natural and proper colours of the creatures or things they represent, you must always term them proper, and not argent, or, gules, or by the like terms of this science.” As such, if the blazon for the historical coat of arms of
Samogitia Samogitia or Žemaitija ( Samogitian: ''Žemaitėjė''; see below for alternative and historical names) is one of the five cultural regions of Lithuania and formerly one of the two core administrative divisions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...
were to term the black bear as “a black bear proper,” a colour on colour violation would not exist by the bear appearing on a field gules. Another example would be ''a white horse proper'', since without breaking the rule of no metal on metal it could be placed on a field Or (gold), but ''a horse argent'' (silver horse), although visually indistinguishable, could not. Furs and charges blazoned as proper can be placed on colour, metal, fur, or charges blazoned as proper. The rule of tincture does not apply, as well, when a charge is described in heraldic tinctures and those heraldic tinctures include both colour and metal. Fox-Davies wrote that “A charge composed of more than one tincture, that is, of a metal and colour, may be placed upon a field of either.” As such, while the
coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...
of
Szczecin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major s ...
,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
appears to violate the colour on colour rule, it instead adheres to the exceptions to the rule of tinctures – as long as the griffin’s head is blazoned proper, or it is blazoned in tinctures so that the arms (beak) are termed Or (gold), the charge may lawfully appear on a field of either colour or metal. The rule of tincture does not apply in regards to the arms (claws and tongue) of beasts of prey, and presumably to the arms of birds of prey, as well. Fox-Davies wrote that “A lion rampant and any other beast of prey is usually represented in heraldry with the tongue and claws of a different colour from the animal. If it is not itself gules, its tongue and claws are usually represented as of that colour, unless the lion r beast of preybe on a field of gules. They are then represented azure, the term being ‘armed and langued’ of such and such a colour.” Hugh Clark’s An Introduction to Heraldry states the same, yet in more depth. The rule of tincture does not apply when a colour which represents a metal in heraldry, such as white representing argent, is blazoned as the colour and not as the metal. Fox-Davies wrote that “the distinction between white and silver is marked, and a white label upon a gold lion is not metal upon metal.” The same is true of a white charge upon an argent charge, when blazoned as such, even though argent is depicted as white in heraldry. Simple
divisions of the field In heraldry, the field (background) of a shield can be divided into more than one area, or subdivision, of different tinctures, usually following the lines of one of the ordinaries and carrying its name (e.g. a shield divided in the shape of a ...
are considered to be ''beside'' each other, not one on top of the other; so the rule of tincture does not apply. In practice, however, fields divided into multiple partitions, such as barry or checky, use (with extremely rare exceptions) an alternating pattern of metal and colour for adjacent units. The rule also does not apply to charges placed upon party-coloured (divided) or patterned fields; a field party or patterned of a colour and metal may have a charge of either colour, metal, or party or patterned, placed on it (and there is a small body of precedent that a field party of two colours or two metals may have a charge or charges of either colour, metal, or party or patterned on it; examples of this certainly exist). Likewise, a party-coloured (of colour and metal) charge may be placed on either a colour or metal background. Neither does the rule apply to the tongue, horns, claws, hoofs of beasts (for instance, a lion Or on an azure field could be ''langued'' ith his tongue
gules In heraldry, gules () is the tincture with the colour red. It is one of the class of five dark tinctures called "colours", the others being azure (blue), sable (black), vert (green) and purpure (purple). In engraving, it is sometimes depict ...
) when of a different tincture than the rest of the animal, or other parts of charges that are "attached" to them; for instance, a ship sable on an Or field may have argent sails as the sails are considered to be attached on the ship rather than charged on the field. One important distinction, according to Fox-Davies, is that the rule of tincture also does not apply to crests or supporters, except in such cases as the crest or supporter itself is treated as a field and ''charged with'' one or more objects.Fox-Davies, p. 87. For instance, a gold collar about the neck of an argent supporter is common, but if eagle wings are used as a crest and charged with a trefoil (such as the
coat of arms of Brandenburg This article is about the coat of arms of the German state of Brandenburg. History According to tradition, the ''Märkischer Adler'' ('Marcher eagle'), or red eagle of the March of Brandenburg, was adopted by Margrave Gero in the 10th cent ...
), the trefoil must conform to the rule of tincture. Another apparent violation that is not regarded as such is the "very uncommon" practice of a
bordure In heraldry, a bordure is a band of contrasting tincture forming a border around the edge of a shield, traditionally one-sixth as wide as the shield itself. It is sometimes reckoned as an ordinary and sometimes as a subordinary. A bordure encl ...
of the same tincture of the field being blazoned as "embordured"; while well known in former times this is unusual in the extreme today. How technical the rule is can be seen by the fact that if this were blazoned as ''Gules... a bordure of the field...'', though of identical appearance, it would be considered a blatant violation. The colours
bleu celeste Bleu celeste (, "sky blue") is a rarely occurring and non-standard tincture in heraldry (not being one of the seven main colours or metals or the three ''staynard colours''). This tincture is sometimes also called ciel or simply celeste. It ...
and the U.S. Institute of Heraldry-invented
buff Buff or BUFF may refer to: People * Buff (surname), a list of people * Buff (nickname), a list of people * Johnny Buff, ring name of American world champion boxer John Lisky (1888–1955) * Buff Bagwell, a ring name of American professional ...
have sometimes been treated (with respect to the rule of tincture) as if they are metals, though such a treatment is certainly of debatable propriety. Marks of
cadency In heraldry, cadency is any systematic way to distinguish arms displayed by descendants of the holder of a coat of arms when those family members have not been granted arms in their own right. Cadency is necessary in heraldic systems in which ...
(whether bordures, the marks of the English cadency system, or any other mark), and presumably
marks of distinction A mark of distinction, in heraldry, is a charge showing that the bearer of a shield is not (as defined by the rules or laws of heraldry in most, though not all, countries and situations) descended by blood from the original bearer. The "mark of d ...
, can be exceptions to this rule. For example, many members of the French royal house had a red border or bend against the blue field. Also, in
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
, cantons added to indicate
baronetcy of Ulster A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...
(''argent, a hand couped gules'') ignore this rule; otherwise they could be displayed by no one with a metal field. Augmentations and abatements do not have to conform to the rule. Another violation which is usually not worried about is a green mount on a blue field representing the sky, and some of the methods of depicting the
sea The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...
,
wave In physics, mathematics, and related fields, a wave is a propagating dynamic disturbance (change from equilibrium) of one or more quantities. Waves can be periodic, in which case those quantities oscillate repeatedly about an equilibrium (res ...
s or the like are similarly treated. A green trimount also appears in the coat of arms of
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
(shown below). In this case the field is gules (red); the rule of tincture should therefore exclude this use of a vert (green) trimount. Instead, there is a trimount vert used in violation of the rule. However, it has been argued by some that the mount vert or trimount issues from the base of the shield rather than being a charge on it, causing the rule not to apply.
Fimbriation In heraldry and vexillology, fimbriation is the placement of small stripes of contrasting colour around common charges or ordinaries, usually in order for them to stand out from the background, but often simply due to the designer's subjective ...
, the surrounding of a charge by a thin border, can obviate what would otherwise be a violation of the rule, as in the
Union Jack The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...
(which, although a flag rather than a shield, was designed using heraldic principles). The ''divise'', a thin band running underneath the chief in French heraldry, can also obviate a violation, as can the parallel ''fillet'' in English heraldry.


Violations

This rule is so closely followed that arms that violate it are called ''armes fausses'' (false arms) or ''armes à enquérir'' (arms of enquiry). Any violation is presumed to be intentional, to invite the viewer to ask how it came to pass.


Metal on metal

One of the most famous ''armes à enquérir'' (often erroneously said to be the only example) was the
Jerusalem cross The Jerusalem cross (also known as "five-fold Cross", or "cross-and-crosslets") is a heraldic cross and Christian cross variant consisting of a large cross potent surrounded by four smaller Greek crosses, one in each quadrant. It was used as t ...
said to have been chosen by
Godfrey of Bouillon Godfrey of Bouillon (, , , ; 18 September 1060 – 18 July 1100) was a French nobleman and pre-eminent leader of the First Crusade. First ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1099 to 1100, he avoided the title of king, preferring that of princ ...
in 1099 (pre-heraldic and thus strictly speaking
attributed arms Attributed arms are Western European coats of arms given retrospectively to persons real or fictitious who died before the start of the age of heraldry in the latter half of the 12th century. Arms were assigned to the knights of the Round Table ...
) and later used by his brother Baldwin of Boulogne when he was made
King of Jerusalem The King of Jerusalem was the supreme ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, a Crusader states, Crusader state founded in Jerusalem by the Latin Church, Latin Catholic leaders of the First Crusade, when the city was Siege of Jerusalem (1099), conqu ...
. These attributed arms of "Argent, a cross potent between four plain crosslets or", displayed five gold crosses on a silver field. A use of metal on metal is also seen on the Bishop's mitre in the arms of Andorra and in the arms of the county of
Trøndelag Trøndelag (; sma, Trööndelage) is a county in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County ( no, Trondhjems Amt); in 1804 the county was split into Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag by the King of Denmar ...
in Norway, based on the arms of St. Olav as described in the Sagas of
Snorri Snorri (; ) is a masculine given name. People with the name include: * Snorri Þorbrandsson, a character in the Icelandic ''Eyrbyggja saga'' * Snorri Goði or Snorri Þorgrímsson (963–1031), a prominent chieftain in Western Iceland, featured i ...
. It may indicate the exceptional holy and special status of this particular coat of arms.


Colour on colour

An example of "colour on colour" is the arms of
Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
, with its two-headed eagle sable on a field gules. However, some writers in Central and Eastern European heraldry consider sable to have properties of both a metal and a colour, not exclusively a colour as it is in Western Europe, so that black-on-colour combinations are not uncommon. This rule is perhaps most often violated by a chief, leading some commentators to question whether the rule should apply to a chief, or even whether a chief should be considered a charge at all rather than a division of the field. These violations usually occur in the case of landscape heraldry and augmentations. French civic heraldry, with its frequent chiefs of ''France'' (i.e. "Azure, three
fleurs-de-lys The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol. The fleur-de-lis has been used in th ...
or", anciently "Azure, semée-de-lys or"), often violates this rule when the field is of a colour. The coat of arms appearing on the famous tapestry of ''
The Lady and the Unicorn ''The Lady and the Unicorn'' (french: La Dame à la licorne) is the modern title given to a series of six tapestries created in the style of ("thousand flowers") and woven in Flanders from wool and silk, from designs (" cartoons") drawn in Par ...
'' (Paris, c.1500) was attributed until now by specialistes to the older branch and to the chief of the family Le Viste, Jean IV Le Viste, but it blatantly breaks the rules of French Heraldry. A new study of the tapestry suggests the probability of the intervention of a descendant of the younger branch, Antoine II Le Viste, as a sponsor of the tapestry, and indicates that the incorrect superposition of colours could have been a mere
difference Difference, The Difference, Differences or Differently may refer to: Music * ''Difference'' (album), by Dreamtale, 2005 * ''Differently'' (album), by Cassie Davis, 2009 ** "Differently" (song), by Cassie Davis, 2009 * ''The Difference'' (al ...
. An example of a contravention from medieval England quoted by
John Gibbon John Gibbon (April 20, 1827 – February 6, 1896) was a career United States Army officer who fought in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. Early life Gibbon was born in the Holmesburg section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the four ...
in 1682 is the arms of
Denys Denys ( uk, Денис) is both a form of the given name Denis and a patronymic surname. Amongst others, it is a transliteration of the common Ukrainian name ''Денис''. Closely related forms are ''Denijs'' and ''Dénys''. Notable people wit ...
of
Siston Siston (pronounced "sizeton") is a small village in South Gloucestershire, England. It is east of Bristol at the confluence of the two sources of the Siston Brook, a tributary of the River Avon. The village consists of a number of cottages ...
, Gloucestershire, "Gules, three leopard's faces or jessant-de-lys azure over all a bend engrailed of the third". A modern contravention of the rule is in the arms of
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...
, "Azure, a chief gules".


Cousu

In French heraldry, the term ''cousu'' ("sewn") is sometimes in blazon used to get around what would otherwise be a violation of the rule; though this is used generally, occasionally a distinction is drawn between the ''cousu'' of colour on colour and the ''soudé'' ("soldered") of metal on metal, though this has fallen from fashion to a large degree. In Italian heraldry terms such as ''per inchiesta'' are used in the blazons of the extremely rare violations of the rule, to acknowledge their exceptionality or impropriety. Image:Coat of arms of Albania.svg, Image:Small Coat of Arms of Samogitia.svg, Image:Coat of Arms of Hungary.svg, Image:Coat of arms of Slovakia.svg, Image:POL Galicja COA.svg, Image:POL Szczecin COA.svg,


Modern design principle

The rule of tincture has had an influence reaching far beyond heraldry. It has been applied to the design of flags, so that the flag of
Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (german: Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach) was a historical German state, created as a duchy in 1809 by the merger of the Ernestine duchies of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach, which had been in personal union since 1741. It was ra ...
was modified to conform to the rule. Pragmatically, it is a useful
rule of thumb In English, the phrase ''rule of thumb'' refers to an approximate method for doing something, based on practical experience rather than theory. This usage of the phrase can be traced back to the 17th century and has been associated with various t ...
for the design of logos, icons and other symbols.


References


Sources

* Balfour Paul, James (1893). ''An Ordinary of Arms Contained in the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland''. William Green and Sons. * Boutell, Charles and A. C. Fox-Davies (2003). ''English Heraldry''. Kessinger Publishing. . * Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles and Graham Johnston (1978). ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry''. New York: Bonanza Books. . * Heim, Bruno Bernard (1994). ''Or and Argent''. Gerrards Cross, UK: Van Duren. . * Llwyd of Denbigh, Humphrey (c1568). ''Dosbarth Arfau''. * Neubecker, Ottfried (1997). ''Heraldry: Sources, Symbols and Meaning''. London: Tiger Books International. . * Spener, Philip Jacob (1690). ''Insignium Theoria''. Frankfurt
Library of Congress record
* Woodcock, Thomas and John Martin Robinson (1988). ''The Oxford Guide to Heraldry''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. .


External links

{{color topics, state=collapsed Techniques and principles related to heraldic tinctures