Fillet (heraldry)

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Fillet supporting chief (Fr. Divise sous chef) Fillet with chief demo 2.svg
Fillet supporting chief (Fr. Divise sous chef)

In English-language heraldry, the fillet is considered a diminutive of the chief. It is defined as occupying one fourth the width of the chief and typically positioned at its bottom edge. [1] When so positioned the chief is blazoned as supported by the fillet; but, when the chief is charged by the fillet, as when the fillet positioned at its top edge [2] or middle, the chief is blazoned as surmounted. [3] In French heraldry, terms for this charge are divise [4] and filet en chef. [5] The term chef retrait has also been used. [6] The fillet or divise placed beneath the chief is of a different tincture than the field, [7] evidently to avoid violations of the rule of tincture (see Berry 1828 [8] ).

Contents

There are other uses of the English fillet that are similar to its use above as diminutive of the chief. The term is used by some for a diminutive of the fess narrower than the bar, as a synonym for barrulet. [9] It is also used by some more generally for a narrow band as charge that can be positioned variously on the field—as a diminutive of the bend, as synonym of riband [10] as well as the fess, as synonym of barrulet. This latter use parallels that of the cognate term filet in French heraldry, where it is possible to speak of the filet "en fasce, en pal, en bande, en barre, en croix, en sautoir, en chevron, en parle" (fillet in fess, in pale, in bend, in bend sinister, in cross, in saltire, in chevron, in pall). [11] (See #Fillet as adjective below.)

Such uses of the term fillet in English (or filet in French) often employ it as term for a component element of other devices such as the cross parted and fretted, [12] the ordinary the fret, or the variation of the field fretty. [13] 'Fretted' and 'fretty' refer to the interlacing of the fillets. [14] The Jumelle (Eng. bar gemel, etc.) and Tierce are other charges also said to be composed of filets. [15] The cottise, or cost, has been described as having the "appearance of a fillet placed beside the principal ordinary" [16] and at least one author terms it a fillet. [17] The pentagram has even been described as a "star reduced to an interlaced fillet". [18]

This use of the term, as the diminutive of an ordinary or component of a complex charge, is to be distinguished from other uses of the term fillet in heraldry. See section #Other uses of fillet in a heraldic context below.

Fillet as adjective

In English-language heraldry, diminutives of the cross, saltire, and pall reduced to one-fourth the thickness of the ordinary are known as the fillet cross, fillet saltire, and fillet pall. [19] The adjective 'fillet' is used to denote a mode of diminution achieved by a reduction in thickness, to typically one-fourth that of the ordinary, [20] without any corresponding reduction in the extent of the charge, in terms of length or width, or both. The fillet cross and fillet saltire occupy the full length and breadth field, as the cross and saltire as ordinaries do. In French heraldry, there is also the filet en pairle, or 'fillet pall'. [21] Other diminutives of ordinaries reduced the thickness of a fillet (1/4 or less of the ordinary) have more specific names proper to themselves in both English and French heraldry. In French heraldry, the 'fillet bordure', adhering to the outer edges of the field in the same manner as the bordure, is the filière. [22] In English heraldry, the 'fillet chevron' is the couple-close. [23]

Filleting and fimbriation

The terms fillet and fimbriation share etymological roots with words associated with clothing, sewing and stitching. The word fillet derives from the Middle English and Old French filet, a diminutive of thread. [24] But the heraldic use may derive more proximately from use of the term for an item of clothing, a headband of white silk or linen worn to indicate sovereignty. [25] In its practical inspiration dating to the Age of Chivalry, as a cloth worn around the helmets of knights, sometimes by sons of nobles as a mark of cadency, the fillet is related to another heraldic charge, the lambel or label. [26] But the meaning of the word fillet extends to bands of metal historically worn around the head as marks of distinction, as crowns. [27] For its part, fimbriate derives from the Latin for 'fibers, fringe, and thread' and more proximately from the word for the skirt or hem of a garment, "implying an ordinary or charge bordered all round". [28] The use of the term 'fimbriation' for the bordering of ordinaries like crosses and bends that extends only to the edge of the field and does not fully encompass the charge, though common, is considered by authorities like William Berry to be likely mistaken. [29]

Other uses of fillet in a heraldic context

Aside from the use of the term fillet for the diminutive of an ordinary as a narrow band, the term is also used in a figurative-representational manner drawing on the meanings of fillet discussed above, as ribbon, cloth headband, or band of metal. In the first case, it is used to describe a decorative element of an achievement of arms, the figurative representation of a ribbon entwined around a helmet. The fillet in this sense is also frequently incorporated (twisted into) the torse. [30] In the second, the term is used for representations of cloth wrapped around the heads of 'Moors' or 'Saracens'. [31] When used thusly, the human figures portrayed with a candida fascia, after the diadem of the Roman kings, are blazoned diadameté. [32] A third use, resembling the two preceding, is for the representation of a band of cloth or bandage used to bundle a sheaf of wheat or arrows together. [33] Finally, the term is used for representations of a metal band, of gold, as a plain crown or as a component of a more elaborate crown. [34] A derivative of this usage, is the use of fillet to describe a design component of some heraldic representations of the fleur-de-lis, [35] such as that seen on the Flag of Quebec or the Flag of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (see section #Band as design element of fleur-de-lis below).

Coats of arms

See also the Coat of arms of the Harvard Medical School, blazoned as "sustained by a fillet compony".

Fillet in base

Fillet cross and fillet saltire

As component of crosses parted and fretted

As component of fretty variation of the field

On flags

The use of the fillet as diminutive of the chief is, on flags, quite rare. [36] [37] However, the fillet as narrow band is used in a similar manner to offset other ordinaries like the base or sides (for examples, see the section #Fillet-adjacent diminutives* below). There are examples of the fillet as narrow band used on its own as a diminutive of charges such as the fess or bend (see same). There are examples of the fillet cross, fillet saltire, and fillet bordure (filière). And there are examples of the fillet used as component of other charges such as the Fret, the Jumelle, and the Tierce.

Fillet-adjacent diminutives*

Fillet pale, or endorse
Fillet fess, or barrulet
Fillet bend, or ribbon, riband
Fillet chevron, or couple-close
Fillet bordure, or filière
Fillet orle or tressure

See also Flag of Athens, Greece

Fillet cross and saltire

Fillet pall

*In English language vexillology, many of these would likely be blazoned as instances of fimbriation or cottissing. [38] For 'fillet esquarre' as border of canton on two sides, see Esquarre (heraldry).

As cost or single cottice

As component of Fret

As component of cross parted and fretted

As component of cross otherwise interlaced

As component of Jumelle and similar

As component of Tierce and other charges parted

Other uses of term fillet

As headband or diadem
As ribbon tying sheaf
Band as design element of fleur-de-lis

See also

Chief (heraldry)
Fimbriation
Esquarre (heraldry)
Ordinary (heraldry)
Charge (heraldry)
Liste de pièces héraldiques

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saltire</span> Heraldic and vexillogical symbol in the form of a diagonal cross

A saltire, also called Saint Andrew's Cross or the crux decussata, is a heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross. The word comes from the Middle French sautoir, Medieval Latin saltatoria ("stirrup").

In heraldry, variations of the field are any of a number of ways that a field may be covered with a pattern, rather than a flat tincture or a simple division of the field.

Ordinaries in heraldry are sometimes embellished with stripes of colour alongside them, have lumps added to them, shown with their edges arciform instead of straight, have their peaks and tops chopped off, pushed up and down out of the usual positions, or even broken apart.

In heraldry, an ordinary is one of the two main types of charges, beside the mobile charges. An ordinary is a simple geometrical figure, bounded by straight lines and running from side to side or top to bottom of the shield. There are also some geometric charges known as subordinaries, which have been given lesser status by some heraldic writers, though most have been in use as long as the traditional ordinaries. Diminutives of ordinaries and some subordinaries are charges of the same shape, though thinner. Most of the ordinaries are theoretically said to occupy one-third of the shield; but this is rarely observed in practice, except when the ordinary is the only charge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lozenge (heraldry)</span> Heraldic charge

The lozenge in heraldry is a diamond-shaped rhombus charge, usually somewhat narrower than it is tall. It is to be distinguished in modern heraldry from the fusil, which is like the lozenge but narrower, though the distinction has not always been as fine and is not always observed even today. A mascle is a voided lozenge—that is, a lozenge with a lozenge-shaped hole in the middle—and the rarer rustre is a lozenge containing a circular hole in the centre. A lozenge throughout has "four corners touching the border of the escutcheon". A field covered in a pattern of lozenges is described as lozengy; similar fields of mascles are masculy, and fusils, fusily. In civic heraldry, a lozenge sable is often used in coal-mining communities to represent a lump of coal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fimbriation</span> Small stripe of colour around common charges or ordinaries, in heraldry and vexillology

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 aesthetic preferences, or for a more technical reason to avoid what would otherwise be a violation of the rule of tincture. While fimbriation almost invariably applies to both or all sides of a charge, there are very unusual examples of fimbriation on one side only. Another rather rare form is double fimbriation, where the charge or ordinary is accompanied by two stripes of colour instead of only one. In cases of double fimbriation the outer colour is blazoned first. The municipal flag of Mozirje, in Slovenia, show an example of fimbriation that itself is fimbriated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roll of arms</span> Record of coats of arms

A roll of arms is a collection of coats of arms, usually consisting of rows of painted pictures of shields, each shield accompanied by the name of the person bearing the arms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chief (heraldry)</span> Ordinary in heraldic blazon; horizontal band at the top of a coat of arms

In heraldic blazon, a chief is a charge on a coat of arms that takes the form of a band running horizontally across the top edge of the shield. Writers disagree in how much of the shield's surface is to be covered by the chief, ranging from one-fourth to one-third. The former is more likely if the chief is uncharged, that is, if it does not have other objects placed on it. If charged, the chief is typically wider to allow room for the objects drawn there.

In heraldry, an avellane cross is a form of cross which resembles four hazel filberts in their husks or cases, joined together at the great end. The term comes from the Latin name for the hazel, originally Nux avellana. It was fairly rare in English heraldry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bordure</span> Heraldic ordinary or subordinary

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.

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 visual depiction of a coat of arms or flag has traditionally had considerable latitude in design, but a verbal blazon specifies the essentially distinctive elements. A coat of arms or flag is therefore primarily defined not by a picture but rather by the wording of its blazon. Blazon is also the specialized language in which a blazon is written, and, as a verb, the act of writing such a description. Blazonry is the art, craft or practice of creating a blazon. The language employed in blazonry has its own vocabulary, grammar and syntax, which becomes essential for comprehension when blazoning a complex coat of arms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Attitude (heraldry)</span> Orientation and pose of a creature in heraldry

In heraldry, the term attitude describes the position in which a figure is emblazoned as a charge, a supporter, or as a crest. The attitude of a heraldic figure always precedes any reference to the tincture of the figure and its parts. Some attitudes apply only to predatory beasts, exemplified by the beast most usual to heraldry – the heraldic lion; other terms apply to docile animals, such as the doe, usually emblazoned as a "hind".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bar (heraldry)</span>

In heraldry, a bar is an ordinary consisting of a horizontal band across the shield. If only one bar appears across the middle of the shield, it is termed a fess; if two or more appear, they can only be called bars. Calling the bar a diminutive of the fess is inaccurate, however, because two bars may each be no smaller than a fess. Like the fess, bars too may bear complex lines. The diminutive form of the bar is the barrulet, though these frequently appear in pairs, the pair termed a "bar gemel" rather than "two barrulets".

In heraldry, a mount is a representation of a hill or mountain as a curved terrace in base. When the mount is included in the lower part of the shield, it may be considered an ordinary rather than a charge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belgian heraldry</span>

Belgian heraldry is the form of coats of arms and other heraldic bearings and insignia used in the Kingdom of Belgium and the Belgian colonial empire but also in the historical territories that make up modern-day Belgium. Today, coats of arms in Belgium are regulated and granted by different bodies depending on the nature, status, and location of the armiger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Order of the Golden Stole</span>

The Order of the Golden Stole or Stola d'Oro was an adjunct order of the Order of Saint Mark, in the Republic of Venice. It had a single class, that of knight. Its members were those members of the Order of Saint Mark who were of patrician rank, and wore a golden, flower-embroidered mantle as a token of this.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Side (heraldry)</span>

The side, or flank, is a heraldic ordinary resembling a pale that has been displaced to either the dexter or sinister edge of the field. Pierre-Barthélemy Gheusi, following M. Aug. Tailhades, groups the sides with the chief and base as ordinaries that are affixed to an edge of the field by their longest side.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Base (heraldry)</span>

The base, more formally the terrace in base or champagne, is a heraldic charge that occupies the lower third of the field. It is in that sense the inverse correlate of the chief. In French heraldry, the champagne is considered an ‘honourable ordinary’, but in English heraldry it is frequently omitted from lists of the ‘honourable ordinaries’, and grouped, if at all, with the subordinaries. The diminutive of the base, occupying one half the height of the ordinary, is termed ‘plaine’ in French heraldry. Another, now less common, English language term for the base is the ‘Foot’, a usage the recalls the Germanic Schildfuß, Danish skjoldfod, or Dutch schildvoet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Esquarre (heraldry)</span> Heraldic charge

Esquarre is a name for both a heraldic ordinary and a set of related mobile charges. As an ordinary, the Esquarre is defined as a charge that borders a quarter on its two interior edges abutting the field. The Esquarre isolates the quarter from the rest of the field. De Galway suggested that the Esquarre is employed when both quarter and field are the same tincture. The shape of the ordinary is likened to a carpenter's square, a tool formed of two arms joined perpendicularly. When the two arms are of unequal length, the term potence (Fr.) is also used, a term likening the form of this variant to a joined post and crossbeam, or gallows/scaffold.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Esquire (heraldry)</span> Anglophone heraldry charge

The Esquire is a heraldic charge that is classed as a subordinary in Anglophone heraldry. Its form is defined as resembling the Gyron, as formed of a right triangle; but, with the difference that whereas the Gyron extends from the outer edge of the field to the center, the Esquire extends across the whole of the field, from one edge to its opposite.

References

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