Lymphad

Last updated September 08, 2024

A lymphad or galley is a charge used primarily in Scottish heraldry. It is a single-masted ship propelled by oars.^[1] In addition to the mast and oars, the lymphad has three flags and a basket. The word comes from the Scottish Gaelic long fhada, meaning a long ship or birlinn. It usually indicates a title associated with islands, such as Lord of the Isles, specifically those on the west coast of Scotland, including the Hebrides - but is not limited to Scottish arms: prominent examples including the coats of arms of New Zealand and New Brunswick.

Although the drawing of the lymphad for heraldic design purposes naturally became standardized, there are minor differences. These usually involve the position of the sails and oars and the tincture of the flags. There are other variations as well, such as the tincture of the ship. Additionally, the basket may be afire and a crew may be depicted.

Gallery

Hamilton arms quartered with the lymphad for the Earldom of Arran
Somerville-MacAlister of Loup and Kennox
Maclean of Duart and Morven
MacDonell of Glengarry
Duke of Argyll
New Zealand
Inverness-shire

Examples

The Captain of Clan Chattan field: Or, lymphad: Azure, sail furled, oars shown in saltire over the boat, flags Gules.

Lordship of the Isles field: Or, lymphad: Sable, sail furled, oars in action, flags Gules.

MacAlister of the Loup The lymphad is shown on an eagle's breast, Gules, lymphad Sable, sail furled, oars in action, flags Sable.

Macdonald, Lord of the Isles field: Or, lymphad Sable, sail furled, oars in action, flags Gules, with an eagle displayed on the boat.

MacDougall of MacDougall field: Or, lymphad Sable, sail furled, oars in action, flags Gules, with a fire basket fired on top of the mast.

McBain of Kinchyle field: Or, lymphad Azure, sails furled (Argent), oars in saltire, Gules, flags Gules.

Macfie of Colonsay field: Or, lymphad Sable, full sails Argent, no oars, flags Gules.

MacGillivray of Dunmaglass field: Azure, lymphad Or, sails furled, oars in action, flags Gules.

MacIain of Ardnamurchan field: Or, lymphad Sable, sails furled, oars in action, flags Gules.

Mackinnon of Mackinnon field: Or, lymphad Sable, sails furled, oars in saltire, flags Gules.

The Mackintosh field: Or, lymphad Azure, sails furled, oars in saltire (gules), flags Gules.

Maclachlan of Maclachlan field: Or, lymphad Sable, sail furled, no oars, flags Gules.

Maclaren of Maclaren field: Or, lymphad Sable, sail furled, oars in action, flags Sable.

Maclean of Duart field: Or, lymphad Sable, sails furled, oars in saltire, flags Gules.

MacNeil of Barra field: Or, lymphad Sable, sails furled, oars in action, flags Gules.

Cluny Macpherson field: per fesse (divided horizontally) Or and Azure, lymphad Or on the Azure, Azure on the Or (i.e.counterchanged), sails furled, oars in action, flags Gules.

The Captain of Clan Ranald field: Or, lymphad Sable, sail furled, oars in saltire, flags Gules.

Shaw of Rothiemurchus field: Or, lymphad Azure, sail furled, oars in saltire (azure), flags Gules. Despite the English surname, Shaw, the arms have a "Highland", Gaelic appearance.

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar

External links

Related Research Articles

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").

Tincture is the limited palette of colours and patterns used in heraldry. The need to define, depict, and correctly blazon the various tinctures is one of the most important aspects of heraldic art and design.

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.

Bleu celeste is a rarely occurring and non-standard tincture in heraldry. This tincture is sometimes also called ciel or simply celeste. It is depicted in a lighter shade than the range of shades of the more traditional tincture azure, which is the standard blue used in heraldry.

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.

In British heraldry, sable is the tincture equivalent to black. It is one of the five dark tinctures called colours.

The coat of arms of Newcastle is the official heraldic arms of the City of Sunderland in England.

The rule of tincture is a design philosophy found in some heraldic traditions that states "metal should not be put on metal, nor colour on colour". Heraldic furs such as ermine and vair, and charges described as "proper", are generally exempt from the rule of tincture.

Bute Pursuivant of Arms is a Scottish pursuivant of arms of the Court of the Lord Lyon.

Islay Herald of Arms is a Scottish herald of arms of the Court of the Lord Lyon.

Douglas-Hamilton is the family surname of the Dukes of Hamilton and Earls of Selkirk. The name originates from the marriage of Anne Hamilton, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton to William Douglas, 1st Earl of Selkirk in 1656. Anne was Duchess in her own right and head of the "House of Hamilton". William was a younger son of the Marquess of Douglas.

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.

In heraldry, a pile is a charge usually counted as one of the ordinaries. It consists of a wedge emerging from the upper edge of the shield and converging to a point near the base. If it touches the base, it is blazoned throughout.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coat of arms of the City of Christchurch</span>

The coat of arms of the City of Christchurch, also known as the armorial bearings, is the official symbol of the City of Christchurch, New Zealand. They were granted to the city by the College of Arms by letters patent on 21 February 1949.

A number of cross symbols were developed for the purpose of the emerging system of heraldry, which appeared in Western Europe in about 1200. This tradition is partly in the use of the Christian cross an emblem from the 11th century, and increasingly during the age of the Crusades. Many cross variants were developed in the classical tradition of heraldry during the late medieval and early modern periods. Heraldic crosses are inherited in modern iconographic traditions and are used in numerous national flags.

The Heraldry Society of New Zealand, established in 1962, is the principal New Zealand learned society concerned with the scholarly study of heraldry.

Coats of arms and seals of the County and Duchy of Cornwall, the Diocese of Truro, and of Cornish boroughs and towns.

The Macleans of Ardgour are a Scottish family and a branch of the ancient Clan Maclean, a Scottish clan of the Scottish Highlands. In Scottish Gaelic they are known as Mac Mhic Eoghainn, which means the son of the son of Owen.

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 with an item or be any of the furs used in heraldry. Roundels are similar to the annulet, which some heralds would refer to as a false roundel.

References

↑ Boutell, Aveling, Charles, Steven Thomas (1873). Heraldry: ancient and modern. Including Boutell's Heraldry, ed. and revised, with additions. Oxford University.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Boutell, Aveling, Charles, Steven Thomas (1873). Heraldry: ancient and modern. Including Boutell's Heraldry, ed. and revised, with additions. Oxford University.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[1]