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HOW TO READ A COAT
OF ARMS |
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How to read a Coat of Arms
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using the
Arms of
Duncan of Ardownie as an example. |
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The “Blazon” (heraldic description) of the Arms is;
Gules, on a
chevron between three cinquefoils in chief Argent and a hunting-horn
in base of the same, tipped and garnished Azure, three buckles of the
third. (1698)
[Where the term “of the same” is used it
refers to the previously mentioned colour (tincture) or metal;
similarly where the term “of the second” (or third etc) is used it
refers to the second mentioned colour/metal.] |
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Gules -
The very first word always describes the colour (tincture) or metal of
the shield. NOTE this is called a shield, NOT a crest. The crest is
the device that sits on top of the shield (on a helmet in the full
achievement). |
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Gules, on a chevron - We now know that upon
the shield is a chevron. To find out what colour the chevron is we
must go to the next mentioned colour - in heraldry all things
mentioned BEFORE a colour are of that colour. We note that the next
mentioned colour is Argent (Silver - more often illustrated as White)
so that is what we paint the chevron. We also note that the words “on
a chevron” means that eventually there will be
something or some things (charge or charges) on the chevron itself. |
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3
Cinquefoils |
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Argent, on a chevron between three cinquefoils in chief Argent
- From this we know that the chevron is between three
cinquefoils and that the cinquefoils are
in chief
(at the top of the shield) and of the colour (tincture)
Argent
(White). |
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Argent, on a
chevron between three cinquefoils in chief Argent
and a hunting-horn in base of the same
- This tells us that
in the
base of the shield is a
hunting-horn
and that it is the
same colour as that last
mentioned (Argent). |
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Gules, on a chevron between three cinquefoils in chief
Argent and a hunting-horn in base of the same,
tipped and garnished Azure -
This tells us that the hunting- horn is garnished Azure
(the decoration on the horn is blue). |
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So - this is what it
looks like so far but don’t forget we are still waiting for something
to go on the chevron itself (Remember the “on a chevron”
bit?) |
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Gules,
on a chevron between three
cinquefoils in chief
Argent and a hunting-horn in base of the
same, tipped and garnished Azure,
three buckles of the third.
So we place our three buckles onto
our chevron
and the of the third
tells us that the colour of the buckles is Azure (Blue).
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And it all adds
together to produce:
Gules, on a chevron between three cinquefoils in chief Argent and a
hunting-horn in base of the same, tipped and garnished Azure, three
buckles of the third. |
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Let us now deal
with the CREST - remember what we said earlier - this is the
device that sits on top of the helmet. It is NOT the shield.
The Duncan of
Ardownie Crest is described (blazoned) thus:
A
grey-hound issuing from the wreath, proper, collared Or. |
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The blazon for the
Crest starts with the words: On a Helm with a Wreath Argent
and Gules This tells us that we have a helmet and upon the
helmet is a Silver and Red Wreath. |
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The wreath fits on top of the helmet and it "holds"
the device called the Crest onto it. |
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[Not mentioned in the blazon but almost always drawn
is the "mantling". This is the cloth used to shade the wearer from
the sun. It is sometimes drawn shredded and sometimes drawn whole.] |
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A
grey-hound issuing from the wreath, proper
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This is fairly straight forward, what we have is a greyhound of
natural colour (proper) issuing from the wreath (coming out of the
wreath). |
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A
grey-hound issuing from the wreath, proper, collared Or.
This tells us that the grey-hound is wearing a collar and that the
collar is Or (Gold). |
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Putting it all together we
get the full achievement:
Arms:
Gules, on a chevron between three cinquefoils in chief Argent and a
hunting-horn in base of the same, tipped and garnished Azure, three
buckles of the third.
Crest: On a Helm with a Wreath Argent and Gules
A
grey-hound issuing from the wreath, proper, collared Or. |
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