In heraldry, a charge is any emblem or device occupying the field of an escutcheon (shield). That may be a geometric design (sometimes called an ordinary) or a symbolic representation of a person, animal, plant, object, building, or other device. In French blazon, the ordinaries are called pièces, and other charges are called meubles ('mobile [things]').
The term charge can also be used as a verb; for example, if an escutcheon depicts three lions, it is said to be charged with three lions; similarly, a crest or even a charge itself may be "charged", such as a pair of eagle wings charged with trefoils (as on the coat of arms of Brandenburg). It is important to distinguish between the ordinaries and divisions of the field, as they typically follow similar patterns, such as a shield divided "per chevron", as distinct from being charged with a chevron.
While thousands of objects found in religion, nature, mythology, or technology have appeared in armory, there are several charges (such as the cross, the eagle, and the lion) that have contributed to the distinctive flavour of heraldic design. Only these and a few other notable charges (crowns, stars, keys, etc.) are discussed in this article.
In addition to being shown in the regular way, charges may be blazoned as umbrated (shadowed), detailed, outlined, shaded in silhouette, futuristic, stylized or simplified.
Ordinary charges – Ordinaries and sub-ordinaries
Unlike mobile charges, the ordinary chargesThe UK Linguistics Olympiad 2018 on www.uklo.org reach to the edge of the field. Some heraldic writers distinguish, albeit arbitrarily, between (honourable) ordinaries and sub-ordinaries. While some authors hold that only nine charges are "honourable" ordinaries, exactly which ones fit into this category is a subject of constant disagreement. The remainder are often termed sub-ordinaries, and narrower or smaller versions of the ordinaries are called diminutives. While the term ordinaries is generally recognised, so much dispute may be found among sources regarding which are "honourable" and which are relegated to the category of "sub-ordinaries" that indeed one of the leading authors in the field, Arthur Charles Fox-Davies (1871–1928), wrote at length on what he calls the "utter absurdity of the necessity for any [such] classification at all", stating that the ordinaries and sub-ordinaries are, in his mind, "no more than first charges". Apparently ceding the point for the moment, Fox-Davies lists the generally agreed-upon "honourable ordinaries" as the bend, fess, pale, pile, chevron, cross, saltire, and chief. Woodcock sheds some light on the matter, stating that earlier writers such as Leigh, Holme and Guillim proposed that "honourable ordinaries" should occupy one-third of the field, while later writers such as Edmondson favoured one-fifth, "on the grounds that a bend, pale, or chevron occupying one-third of the field makes the coat look clumsy and disagreeable". Woodcock goes so far as to enumerate the ordinaries thus: "The first Honourable Ordinary is the cross", the second is the chief, the third is the pale, the fourth is the bend, the fifth is the fess, the sixth is the inescutcheon, the seventh is the chevron, the eighth is the saltire, and the ninth is the bar, while stating that "some writers" prefer the bordure as the ninth ordinary. Volborth, having decidedly less to say on the matter, agrees that the classifications are arbitrary and the subject of disagreement, and lists the "definite" ordinaries as the chief, pale, bend, fess, chevron, cross and saltire. Boutell lists the chief, pale, bend, bend sinister, fess, bar, cross, saltire and chevron as the "honourable ordinaries". Thus, the chief, bend, pale, fess, chevron, cross and saltire appear to be the undisputed ordinaries, while authors disagree over the status of the pile, bar, inescutcheon, bordure and others.
Honourable ordinaries Several different figures are recognised as honourable ordinaries, each normally occupying about one-fifth to one-third of the field. As discussed above, much disagreement exists among authors regarding which ordinary charges are "honourable", so only those generally agreed to be "honourable ordinaries" will be discussed here, while the remainder of ordinary charges will be discussed in the following section.
The chief is the upper portion of the field. The bend is a stripe running from the upper left to the lower right, as \, as seen by the viewer. The bend sinister runs from the upper right to the lower left, as /. (In heraldry sinister (Latin: left) refers to the left side of the shield from the perspective of the one wearing it, hence the right side from the viewer's perspective.) The pale is a vertical stripe in the centre of the field. The fess is a broad horizontal stripe across the centre of the field. The chevron is a construction shaped like an inverted letter V. The cross is a geometric construction of two perpendicular lines or bands, vertical and horizontal. It has hundreds of variants, most of which are mobile charges rather than ordinaries; some of these will be discussed below. The saltire is a diagonal cross, often called Saint Andrew's cross.
Most of the ordinaries have corresponding diminutives, narrower versions, most often mentioned when two or more appear in parallel: bendlets, pallets, bars (multiples of the fess), and chevronels.
Honourable ordinaries or sub-ordinaries In addition to those mentioned in the above section, the following are variously called "honourable ordinaries" by different authors, while others of these are often called sub-ordinaries. The bordure is a border touching the edge of the field. The pile is a wedge issuing from the top of the field and tapering to a point near the bottom. Its length and width vary widely. Piles may occur in any orientation, e.g. pile reversed, pile bendwise and so on. The pall or pairle is shaped like the letter Y.
Sub-ordinaries The quarter is a rectangle occupying the top left quarter of the field, as seen by the viewer. The canton is a square occupying the left third of the chief (sometimes reckoned to be a diminutive of the quarter). The orle may be considered an inner bordure: a reasonably wide band away from the edge of the shield, it is always shown following the shape of the shield, without touching the edges. The tressure is a narrower version of the orle, rarely seen except in the double tressure flory and counter-flory, an element of the royal coat of arms of Scotland and of many other Scots coats. The base or terrace in base is the lower portion of the field. The fret originally consisted of three bendlets interlaced with three bendlets sinister; other depictions form the outer bendlets into a mascle through which the two remaining bendlets are woven. This has also been called a Harington knot, as in the arms of Harington. Flaunches, flanches or flasks are regions on the sides of the field, bounded by a pair of circular arcs whose centers are beyond the sides of the shield. A label is a horizontal strap, with a number of pendants (usually called points) suspended from it; the default is three, but any number may be specified. The label is nearly always a mark of cadency in British and French heraldry, but is occasionally found as a regular charge in early armory and even in the 20th century. It is sometimes called a file, as in the canting arms of Belfile, a label with a bell hanging from each point. There are some examples in which the strap is omitted, the points issuing from the top of the shield. The gyron is a right triangle occupying the lower half of the first quarter: its edges follow per bend and per fess from the dexter side to the centre of the field. A gyron sinister, much rarer, is a similar figure in the sinister chief. Gyrons are sometimes blazoned to be shown in other positions – as in 'the sun in his splendour .. along with in dexter base a sixth gyron voided'
Mobile charges The so-called mobile charges (or sometimes common charges) are not tied to the size and shape of the shield, and so may be placed in any part of the field, although whenever a charge appears alone, it is placed with sufficient position and size to occupy the entire field. Common mobile charges include human figures, human parts, animals, animal parts, legendary creatures (or "monsters"), plants and floral designs, inanimate objects, and other devices. The heraldic animals need not exactly resemble the actual creatures.
Geometric charges A number of geometric charges are sometimes listed among the subordinaries (see above), but as their form is not related to the shape of the shield – indeed they may appear independent of the shield (i.e. in crests and badges) – they are more usefully considered here. These include the escutcheon or inescutcheon, lozenge, fusil, mascle, rustre, billet, roundel, fountain, and annulet. The escutcheon is a small shield. If borne singly in the centre of the main shield, it is sometimes called an inescutcheon, and is usually employed to combine multiple coats. It is customarily the same shape as the shield it is on, though shields of specific shapes are rarely specified in the blazon. The lozenge is a rhombus generally resembling the diamonds of playing cards. The fusil: A more acute lozenge. The mascle: A lozenge voided (i.e. with a lozenge-shaped hole). The rustre: A lozenge pierced (i.e. with a round hole). The billet is a rectangle, usually at least twice as tall as it is wide; it may represent a block of wood or a sheet of paper. Billets appear in the shield of the House of Nassau, which was modified to become that of the kingdom of the Netherlands. The roundel is a solid circle, frequently of gold (blazoned a bezant). A fountain is depicted as a roundel barry wavy argent and azure. An annulet is a roundel voided (i.e. a ring).
Several other simple charges occur with comparable frequency. These include the mullet or star, crescent and cross: The mullet is a star of (usually five) straight rays, and may have originated as a representation of the rowel or revel of a spur (although "spur revels" do appear under that name). Mullets frequently appear pierced. An unpierced mullet is sometimes called a "star" in Scottish heraldry, and stars also appear in English and continental heraldry under that name (often with six points). The "spur revel" is also found in Scottish heraldry. The estoile: A star with (usually six) wavy rays is called an estoile (the Old French word for 'star'; modern French étoile). The comet is shown as a mullet with a bendwise wavy tail, rather than naturalistically. The crescent, a symbol of the Moon, normally appears with its horns upward; if its horns are to dexter it represents a waxing moon (increscent), and with horns to sinister it represents a waning moon (decrescent).
The cross: One of the most frequently found charges in heraldry, if not the most, is the cross, which has developed into, some say, 400 varieties. When the cross does not reach the edges of the field, it becomes a mobile charge. The plain Greek cross (with equal limbs) and Latin cross (with the lower limb extended) are sometimes seen, but more often the tip of each limb is developed into some ornamental shape. The most commonly found crosses in heraldry include the cross botonny, the cross flory, the cross moline, the cross potent, the cross patée or formée, the cross patonce and the cross crosslet.
In English heraldry the crescent, mullet, martlet, annulet, fleur-de-lis and rose may be added to a shield to distinguish cadet branches of a family from the senior line. It does not follow, however, that a shield containing such a charge necessarily belongs to a cadet branch. All of these charges occur frequently in basic (undifferenced) coats of arms.
Human or humanlike figures