Charge

A charge is any figure or shape placed on the field of a shield. Charges range from simple geometric bands, called ordinaries, to animals, birds, plants, weapons, buildings and everyday objects. A shield described as charged with something simply has that thing drawn on it.

Heralds split charges into ordinaries, such as the fess or chevron, and common charges, which covers everything else. The cross, the lion and the eagle did the most to shape the look of heraldry, and the cross alone has grown into hundreds of varieties. Charges can sit on other charges too, as when a small shield is placed on a saltire.

The Charges tab of the coat of arms maker holds about 157 charges in groups: Beasts, Birds, Monsters, Sea and sky, Plants, Arms and armor, Buildings and things, Helmets and crests, and Symbols. Each one can be recolored, resized, rotated, flipped and layered. The coat of arms symbols guide explains what the common ones are said to mean.