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Heraldic Dictionary: 3. Ordinaries

See also:

HERALDRY III: The Ordinaries

There is a set order to the BLAZONING or description of a coat of arms in English heraldry.

First comes the FIELD (background), then the principal CHARGES (objects placed on the shield), other charges, minor charges placed upon other charges, MARKS OF CADENCY. These are special markings designed to indicate that the arms bearer is a descendant of the holder of the arms of a family or peerage.

Next comes details of any overall charge, covering all the parts of the shield. NEXT, details of any HELM, WREATH, CREST and/or MANTLING are listed. These all sit on the top of the shield (although the mantling, stylised folds of material, surrounds the shield at the sides as well). Finally, details of a MOTTO and SUPPORTERS are listed.

In keeping with this, and having described the FIELD in previous sections, I'll now move on to the CHARGES. These are objects placed upon the shield and fall into three broad categories, ORDINARIES (more formally called HONOURABLE ORDINARIES), SUB-ORDINARIES and other CHARGES. Ordinaries and Sub-Ordinaries are large objects, many of which overlap in meaning and name with the partitions mentioned in the last section of this series. Thus, for example, where PER BEND means divided diagonally, a BEND is a wide diagonal band running from one edge of the shield to another.

The other Charges, which I will deal with in a future part of this series, include such objects as MONSTERS (eg, Dragons), BEASTS (animals), BIRDS, PLANTS, PEOPLE or INANIMATE OBJECTS such as castles, wheels or crowns.

There are quite a large number of Ordinaries and Sub-Ordinaries, many of which, as I have said, are very similar in name to the partitions mentioned in part II of this series. The Ordinaries include (with an example from a flag where possible):

CHIEF: This is a broad band across the top of the shield or flag (e.g., Canada's province of New Brunswick)
See also: Chief in IV: Sub-Ordinaries.

FESS: A broad horizontal band across the middle of the shield/flag (e.g., Spain, Austria). Note that although these flags could be described as Tierced in Fess, the central band technically is seen as sitting on a continuous background, unlike the flag of the Netherlands, say, where three different colours are involved. Thus Spain's flag is Gules, a Fess Or.

BAR: This is a smaller (thinner) version of a Fess, and is rarely found singly, although the flag of Nauru is one instance where a single bar is found. Again, as in the note on the Fess, if the flag or shield can be pictured as being a series of bars of a single coloured background, then this is how it is described (f