Goutte Vert
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A goutte is a droplet-shaped
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 ...
used in
heraldry 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, Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and genealo ...
. Its name derives from the
Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...
for "droplet". A goutte may be blazoned by its tincture (heraldry)">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 ...
, as in a ''goutte argent'' (literally "a silver droplet"). Alternatively, there are special names given to gouttes of various tinctures, as in a ''goutte d'eau'' (literally "a droplet of water"). In some medieval and Renaissance depictions of coat of arms, coats of arms, the goutte was drawn with wavy sides (as shown above). More modern depictions have smoothed the sides to make the droplets fatter and more symmetrical - as also seen in the arms on the personal seal used from 1353 by Elizabeth de Burgh, Lady of Clare, and on the 1359 seal of
Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the Unive ...
. In their earliest uses, gouttes were
semé In heraldry, variations of the field are any of a number of ways that a field (or a charge) may be covered with a pattern, rather than a flat tincture or a simple division of the field. Patterning with ordinaries and subordinaries The diminuti ...
: strewn upon the field of a coat of arms. Rather than ''semé de gouttes'', this is termed goutty, gutté, or gutty (). It was only much later that the goutte came to be used individually in heraldry as a charge in its own right.


See also

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Tincture (heraldry) Tinctures are the colours, metals, and furs used in heraldry. Nine tinctures are in common use: two metals, ''Or (heraldry), or'' (gold or yellow) and ''argent'' (silver or white); the colours ''gules'' (red), ''Azure (heraldry), azure'' (blue), ...
*
Roundel (heraldry) A roundel is a circular charge in heraldry. Roundels are among the oldest charges used in coats of arms, dating from the start of the age of heraldry in Europe, ''circa'' 1200–1215. Roundels are typically a solid colour but may be charged wit ...


References

* * * * * Heraldic charges {{heraldry-stub fr:Liste des meubles héraldiques#Goutte