Designed to be seen
The first rule of heraldic design is practical: the shield must be recognizable from a distance. Medieval arms are bold, with large areas of flat color and simple shapes, because they were seen across a battlefield, a tournament field or a crowded church. Fine detail was less useful than a strong, memorable pattern.
This article looks at the building blocks of that design and at how artists and craftsmen put it into practice.
The tinctures
Heraldic colors are called tinctures, and they fall into three groups.
- Metals: or (gold, often painted yellow) and argent (silver, usually shown as white).
- Colors: gules (red), azure (blue), sable (black) and vert (green), with purpure (purple) less common.
- Furs: ermine, a white field with small black tail-shaped marks, and vair, a pattern of blue and white shapes derived from squirrel skins. Variants exist.
The French-derived names show the origin of the vocabulary. The words survive in English usage because the system formed in the age of Anglo-Norman and French-speaking aristocracy.
The rule of tincture
A widely stated principle is that a color should not be placed on a color, nor a metal on a metal. The reasoning is about contrast: gold on white or red on blue would be hard to distinguish from far away, while gold on red or white on blue is easy to see. Sticking to this habit made arms legible.
It was, however, a guideline more than an absolute law. Exceptions are known, including some well-known royal arms that were later cited as deliberate departures. If you see a design that appears to break the rule, it may be an old, special or regional case. It is wise not to treat the rule as universal for the entire period.
Dividing the shield
The surface of a shield, called the field, can be divided in several ways. Common divisions include:
- Per pale: split down the middle vertically.
- Per fess: split across the middle horizontally.
- Per bend: split on a diagonal from the upper left (from the viewer’s perspective, the bearer’s right) to the lower right.
- Per chevron: split in an inverted V shape.
- Per saltire: split by diagonal lines into four parts.
- Quarterly: split into four equal sections, a division that became especially common when families combined arms.
Lines of division need not be straight. Wavy, indented, embattled (like castle battlements) and other lines were used to make designs more distinctive.
The terms “dexter” and “sinister” mean right and left from the point of view of the person carrying the shield, which is the reverse of what a viewer sees.
Ordinaries and charges
Bold geometric bands and crosses, called ordinaries, are among the oldest and simplest elements. The most common include the chief (a band across the top), the fess, the pale (a vertical band), the bend, the chevron, the cross and the saltire. Because they are simple, they could be recognized and painted easily.
Charges, which are the figures laid on the field, vary from beasts to tools. Heraldic artists drew them in a stylized way: a lion is not a naturalistic cat but a bold, often elongated shape with a lifted tail and spread claws. The stylization is deliberate and helps with clarity, and the symbolism of common charges is addressed in the article on heraldic charges.
Blazon: describing arms in words
A blazon is a precise verbal description of arms, so an artist can draw them from the text. A short example, in the traditional style, is “Gules, a lion rampant or”: a red field with a gold lion standing on its hind legs. The order is fixed: first the field, then the main charge, then additional details. Because a blazon records the pattern rather than the exact drawing, different artists could paint the same arms in slightly different styles.
This flexibility is an important feature. The blazon fixes the identity of the arms; the artist chooses the style.
How arms were made
Heraldic art appears across a surprising range of materials, and each had its own craft.
- Painted shields and banners: shields were made of wood covered in leather or cloth, with paint applied over a prepared surface. Painters used pigments mixed with a binding medium. Banners and surcoats used dyed and embroidered cloth, and the natural dyes available shaped the colors.
- Manuscripts: scribes and painters added arms to books, often using gold leaf and bright mineral and plant pigments. Heraldry was frequent in illuminated manuscripts, where the arms of an owner or patron marked a book as theirs.
- Stained glass: glass painters set arms into windows, using colored glass pieces held with lead. The simple, high-contrast shapes of heraldry suited the technique well. Stained glass making involved its own specialized trade.
- Stone and wood carving: masons and carpenters carved arms into tombs, gateways, bosses in vaults and church furniture. Here color was often added with paint, though much has faded.
- Seals and metalwork: engravers cut reversed designs into seal matrices, and goldsmiths enameled arms on metal objects.
- Floor tiles and household goods: decorated floor tiles, dishes and textiles also carried arms, and these everyday objects are valuable sources for historians.
Style over time
Early arms are simple and sturdy, matching the practical needs of the battlefield. As heraldry spread into art and display, designs became more elaborate. By the later Middle Ages, shields were often shown with crests above a helmet, mantling (a cloth-like decorative drapery), and supporters. Artists drew these with growing flourish. Even so, the heart of the design remained a simple, readable shield.
Why the craft matters
Heraldic art tells us that medieval design was shaped by function. The strong colors, clear outlines and limited vocabulary made arms usable in many settings. Understanding the basic rules makes it much easier to read medieval monuments, windows and manuscripts, and to appreciate how much skill went into doing something that looks, at first glance, simple.