Section 6: Ordinaries and Subordinaries

In the last section, we covered the field, and while I’d love to see more field-only armory, I can see that you’re looking for more. So let’s look at the most basic of charges, the ordinaries.

As a reminder, charges must adhere to the Rule of Tincture. They can be divided the same way as the fields (see previous section) or left plain.

There are eight ordinaries in heraldry. They are:

Pale
Chevron
Fess
Cross
Bend
Saltire
Bend sinister
Pall

Apart from the ordinaries, there is a separate set of charges known as subordinaries. These charges are also known as peripheral charges, as they stay away from the center of the shield. They are:

Chief
Gyron
Base
Bordure
Tierce
Orle
Quarter
Gore
Canton
Flaunches

Ordinaries and subordinaries make up a substantial part of period heraldry. If you wanted a super-easy-to-sew, period device, you’d be hard pressed to do better than taking a field and an ordinary, and nothing else. If, however, you’re still looking for more, you’ll find it on the next page.

Previous Page ~ Next Page