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The original purpose of a coat of arms was to clearly display a mark
of identity which was visible from a distance and could easily be
distinguished; it therefore follows that the tinctures, the metals
and colours (and furs) used in armory were of the greatest importance.
Many a coat of arms facilitates the accurate identification of armorial
devices by using a striking contrast of colours; it is a fundamental
rule of armory that metal (gold and silver) shall not be used on metal,
and that colour shall not lie on colour, in order to enhance the contrast.
The use of geometrically divided fields of a shield will therefore
fulfil this basic requirement to a much greater degree than shields
which display figures and complex symbols. Thus there are numerous
coats of arms without pictorial representations; but you will find
none without colours.
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The
necessary contrast between the different fields of a shield
can only be achieved by the use of bright, shining and unstained
colours. The use of colours in armory is therefore limited to
the four primary colours Gules (red), Azure (blue), Vert (green),
and Sable (black), in addition to the two metals Or (gold, often
depicted as yellow) and Argent (silver, usually depicted as
white). |
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any blazon or description of a coat of arms, the metals Or and
Argent are indeed indispensable even if in actual practice both
metals often have to be replaced by the colours yellow and white,
as for example with standards and flags. In addition to the
four primary colours, Purpure (purple) is used as a special
colour in crowns, in hats of princes and magnates, in armorial
coats, and for the lining of helmets. |
 
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Skin colour is allowed as the only natural colour for human faces
and bare parts of the body; this colour is not subject to the tincture
conventions, and may therefore be used lying on metal as well as on
colour. Blue-grey, the colour of steel or iron, is the common colour
of helmets. The colours brown and grey as well as the dull mixtures
of colours used in the period of the Heraldry of Decadence have to
be avoided.
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Arms
of Community:
Barcelona |
Arms
of Community:
London |
Arms
of Community:
District of Munich |
Arms
of Community:
District of Günzburg |
One of the oldest rules of armory prescribes the use of one primary
colour and one metal only; the use of more, or the use of no colour
and no metal at all, was not allowed without a good reason. Every
coat of arms must accordingly contain either Or or Argent (gold or
silver). As mentioned before, it was also decreed that colour should
always lie on metal or be used adjacent to it, and that metal should
be placed respectively, in order to achieve an optimal signal effect.
This tincture convention applies to all essential components of a
full armorial achievement, i.e. to the shield, to the crest, and to
the mantling. Deviations, however, cannot be avoided in view of the
fact that shields may display combinations of three or more parted
and varied fields, and that 'charges' (pictorial representations or
geometrical figures depicted in relief on a shield of arms) can be
added to one or more of these fields, or that a dismembered figure
(one whose members are severed but depicted) may be shown on a single
tincture.
Meaning of the colours:
The colours were associated with meanings which referred them mostly
to (chivalric) virtues:
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Or
(gold, or yellow)
stands for grandeur, renown, majesty, dignity, and wealth |
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Argent
(silver, or white)
implies purity, chastity, innocence, wisdom, and happiness |
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Vert
(green)
indicates freedom, cheerfulness, hope, loveliness, and health |
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Gules
(red)
refers to right, strength, bravery, dignity, and love |
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Azur
(blue)
symbolizes fame, honour, sincerity, faithfulness, and constancy |
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Sable
(black)
denotes steadfastness, humility, peace, death, doom, and sadness |
If coats of arms have to be presented uncoloured, for example if they
are printed in black and white or engraved on silver, their tinctures
may best be indicated by a reference to the Petra Sancta system of
hatching. The colours of the shield, the crest, the wreath, and the
mantling (excluding the colour of the helmet) are then indicated by
particular and different hatches. This simple and clearly less artistic
method of presenting a coat of arms and its full achievement was developed
by engravers at the beginning of the 17th century.
(We would like to take this opportunity to express our thanks
to Professor Wilhelm Busse of the Chair of Medieval English Literature
and Historical Linguistics at the University of Düsseldorf in
Germany for his kind support in translating this text and possible
supplements.)
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