In heraldry, a pile is a charge usually counted as one of the ordinaries (figures bounded by straight lines and occupying a definite portion of the shield). 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.
Though the pile issues from the top of the shield by default, it may be specified as issuing from any other part of the edge or as extending from edge to edge of the shield. Although it is not supposed to issue singly from the base, this rule is frequently ignored.
When a shield has more than one pile, and they are angled so that they touch at the base, they are described as piles in point. A few heraldry authorities from the Middle Ages such as Sir Thomas Holme and Nicholas Upton believed that whenever piles issued from the chief, they should automatically meet in point, but this view eventually fell out of favour and it has become common practice that unless otherwise specified, they should be drawn perpendicularly. [1] However, it is still possible to see examples of the previous school of thought. [2]
Like any ordinary, a pile may have other charges on it, may have its edges ornamented by any of the lines of variation, and may have any tincture or pattern.
Occasionally piles have more than one point, appear in large numbers, have their points truncated or ornamented, have their edges ornamented, or are charged with other piles.
A collection of charges in a converging arrangement may be blazoned as pilewise or in pile.
The distinction between a pile and a field divided per chevron inverted, or between a pile inverted and a field per chevron, can be uncertain.
The arms shown here, for the Elsenburg College of Agriculture, was blazoned by the South African Bureau of Heraldry as Per pile embowed inverted throughout gules, vert and argent; dexter a single share plough and sinister a garb, or, in base an anchor azure, cabled gules; but it could as easily be blazoned as Per pale gules and vert; on a pile inverted embowed argent, between a plough and a garb Or, an anchor azure cabled gules.
The coat of arms of Nunavut was granted by a warrant of Roméo LeBlanc, Governor General of Canada, dated 31 March 1999, one day before the territory of Nunavut, Canada, was created. The same document specified the flag of Nunavut.
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, the field (background) of a shield can be divided into more than one area, or subdivision, of different tinctures, usually following the lines of one of the ordinaries and carrying its name. Shields may be divided this way for differencing or for purposes of marshalling, or simply for style. The lines that divide a shield may not always be straight, and there is a system of terminology for describing patterned lines, which is also shared with the heraldic ordinaries.
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.
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.
The coat of arms of Yukon is the heraldic symbol representing the Canadian territory of Yukon. The arms was commissioned by the federal Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and designed by well-known heraldry expert Alan Beddoe in the early 1950s. It was officially approved by Queen Elizabeth II in 1956.
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.
The coat of arms of Toronto is a heraldic symbol used to represent the city Toronto. Designed by Robert Watt, the Chief Herald of Canada at the time, for the City of Toronto after its amalgamation in 1998. The arms were granted by the Canadian Heraldic Authority on 11 January 1999.
The coat of arms of Sunderland is the official heraldic arms of the City of Sunderland in England.
The coat of arms of Edmonton is the heraldic symbol used to represent the city. The coat of arms was granted to Edmonton on 28 October 1994.
The coat of arms of Namibia is the official heraldic symbol of Namibia. Introduced at the time of independence in 1990, it superseded the earlier coat of arms used by the South African administration of the territory.
The Spanish autonomous community and province of La Rioja has a coat of arms, which was assigned to the former province of Logroño in 1957, and to the present autonomous community on its foundation in 1982. It consists of a shield which is divided vertically into two halves, featuring respectively the Cross of Saint James and a castle, and is surmounted by a royal crown. Also depicted are Monte Laturce and the Ebro river.
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.
The coat of arms of Kropyvnytskyi is one of the city's symbols reflecting its past and the controversies of its history.
The coat of arms of Burnaby was granted originally to the Corporation of the District of Burnaby by the Canadian Heraldic Authority in 1991, and then reconfirmed for the city of Burnaby in 2005 as the corporation's successor. The grant included the full coat of arms as well as a flag and a badge, both derived from the arms.
The coat of arms of Sint Eustatius consists of a shield and the motto. It was established on 9 November 2004 by the Island council of Sint Eustatius, when it was still part of the Netherlands Antilles. It remained the coat of arms of Sint Eustatius after the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles and the subsequent change of Sint Eustatius's constitutional status into a special municipality of the Netherlands in 2010.
Coats of arms and seals of the County and Duchy of Cornwall, the Diocese of Truro, and of Cornish boroughs and towns.
The coat of arms of the London Borough of Camden were granted on 10 September 1965. The borough was formed by the merger of three former boroughs, namely the Metropolitan Borough of Hampstead, the Metropolitan Borough of Holborn and the Metropolitan Borough of St. Pancras, from whose arms elements were utilised in the arms of the new borough.
The coat of arms of the London Borough of Hackney is the official heraldic arms of the London Borough of Hackney, England. The coat of arms were granted on 25 July 1969.
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