In heraldry, a mount (also mountain, hill, hillock) is a representation of a hill or mountain as a curved terrace in base. [1] When the mount is included in the lower part of the shield, it may be considered an ordinary rather than a charge.
A trimount, also called a mount mounted, shapournet shapourned, or (in German) Dreiberg, is a representation of a mount with three tops. [2] The trimount can be found throughout heraldic traditions (Gallo-British, German-Nordic, and Latin), but it is especially common in Switzerland. [3]
A design of six hills (Sechsberg) can also be found in Swiss and Italian heraldry. For mounts with more than three tops, the number of tops is blazoned as coupeaux, e.g. German Sechsberg would be a mount of six coupeaux, and German Zehnberg as a mount of ten coupeaux. [3] A mount with more than six tops can also be blazoned as Schroffen in German heraldry. In medieval German heraldry, mounts could have more than ten peaks. [4]
A terrace in base curved is blazoned mount, hill, or hillock when represented in vert; sometimes as a mount vert for clarity. A terrace in base curved may occasionally be blazoned as mount even when not tinctured vert; this is mostly found in cases where the base represents a hill for one or several of the charges in the coat of arms. Classification of a mount as either an ordinary or a charge, is, in many cases, a matter of interpretation.
The coats of arms of Hungary and Slovakia depict a trimount with a double cross, first used in the seal of Stephen V of Hungary (r. 1270–1272). At first, it was only a small element at the bottom of the coat of arms, later it became a regular heraldic figure. Originally it represented biblical Golgotha. [5] [6] [7] Modern day Slovak interpretation is that it represents three mountain ranges of the Kingdom of Hungary: the Tatra, Fatra, and Mátra. [8] [9] [10]
The representation of three pointed mountains (not a heraldic trimount) in the 1991 coat of arms of Slovenia symbolises Triglav, the highest mountain in Slovenia.
In heraldry, tenné is a "stain", or non-standard tincture, of orange, light brown or orange-tawny colour.
In heraldry, a compartment is a design placed under the shield, usually rocks, a grassy mount, or some sort of other landscape upon which the supporters are depicted as standing. Care must be taken to distinguish true compartments from items upon which supporters are merely resting one or more feet, or, sometimes, mere heraldic badges or pure decoration under the shield, and, conversely, care must also be taken in very unusual cases such as the coat of arms of Belize and Gabon, in which what may be taken to be a crest, trees in both coats of arms rising above the shield, is really part of the compartment. It is sometimes said to represent the land held by the bearer. As an official part of the blazon it is a comparatively late feature of heraldry, often derived from the need to have different supporters for different families or entities, although sometimes the compartment is treated in the blazon separately from the supporters.
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.
The lines in heraldry used to divide and vary fields and charges are by default straight, but may have many different shapes. Care must be taken to distinguish these types of lines from the use of lines as charges, and to distinguish these shapes from actual charges, such as "a mount [or triple mount] in base," or, particularly in German heraldry, different kinds of embattled from castle walls.
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.
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.
Odrowąż is a Polish coat of arms of probably Moravian origin. It was used by many noble families known as szlachta in Polish in medieval Poland and later under the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, branches of the original medieval Odrowążowie family as well as families connected with the Clan by adoption.
The coat of arms of Hungary was adopted on 11 July 1990, after the end of communist rule. The arms have been used before, both with and without the Holy Crown of Hungary, sometimes as part of a larger, more complex coat of arms, and its elements date back to the Middle Ages.
The coat of arms of the Slovak Republic consists of a red (gules) shield, in early Gothic style, charged with a silver (argent) double cross standing on the middle peak of a dark blue mountain consisting of three peaks. Extremities of the cross are amplified, and its ends are concaved. The double cross is a symbol of its Christian faith and the hills represent three symbolic mountain ranges: Tatra, Fatra, and Matra.
A royal badge for Wales was approved in May 2008. It is based on the arms borne by the thirteenth-century Welsh prince Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, with the addition of St Edward's Crown atop a continuous scroll which, together with a wreath consisting of the plant emblems of the four countries of the United Kingdom, surrounds the shield. The motto which appears on the scroll, PLEIDIOL WYF I'M GWLAD, is taken from the national anthem of Wales; it was also an element of the Welsh designs for £1 coins minted from 1985 until 2000. The badge formerly appeared on the covers of Assembly Measures; since the 2011 referendum, it now appears on the cover of Acts passed by the Senedd and its escutcheon, ribbon and motto are depicted on the Welsh Seal.
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.
In British heraldry, vert is the tincture equivalent to green. It is one of the five dark tinctures called colours.
Johannes Baptista Rietstap was a Dutch heraldist and genealogist. He is most well known for his publication of the Armorial Général. This monumental work contains the blazons of the coats of arms of more than 130,000 European families. It is still one of the most complete works of its kind.
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.
Hungarian heraldry generally follows German heraldry in its artistic forms, but has its own distinctive character. It is classified to Central and Eastern European heraldry.
Finnish heraldry has a common past with Swedish heraldry until 1809 and it belongs to German heraldric tradition.
The coat of arms of Dalmatia is the heraldic symbol used for the historical region of Dalmatia on the eastern coast of Adriatic Sea. It is also featured on the crest of the coat of arms of Croatia. The arms have three golden lion heads, facing front, with golden crowns and red tongues, on a blue shield. The blazon, or formal heraldic description, isazure, with three crowned golden leopards' heads affrontés caboshed Or, langued in gules. The Lions' heads affrontés were historically referred to as leopards, but this refers to their pose rather than species.
In heraldic achievements, the helmet or helm is situated above the shield and bears the torse and crest. The style of helmet displayed varies according to rank and social status, and these styles developed over time, in step with the development of actual military helmets. In some traditions, especially German and Nordic heraldry, two or three helmets may be used in a single achievement of arms, each representing a fief to which the bearer has a right. For this reason, the helmets and crests in German and Nordic arms are considered essential to the coat of arms and are never separated from it.
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.
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 German Schildfuß, Danish skjoldfod, and Dutch schildvoet.