Heraldic Divisions and Ordinaries
Heraldic divisions of the field and ordinaries explained: per pale, per fess, chief, bend, chevron, saltire and more, with real coats of arms that use each one.
By the Coat of Arms Creator team
The heraldic divisions of the field are the lines that split a shield into two or more parts of different tinctures, like per pale (down the middle) or per fess (across the middle). Ordinaries are different: they are bold geometric bands laid on top of the field, such as the fess, the bend or the chevron.
Most divisions take their name from an ordinary, which makes them easy to learn together. Per bend follows the line of a bend, per chevron follows a chevron, and so on.
What Is the Field in Heraldry?
The field is the background of the shield, the surface everything else sits on. It can be one plain tincture, split by a division, or covered with a repeating pattern. Whatever goes on top of the field is a charge, and the simple geometric charges are called ordinaries.
Heralds describe a shield from the point of view of the person holding it, so dexter and sinister are reversed from what you see. Dexter (the holder’s right) is on your left.
Divisions of the Field
A division splits the whole shield edge to edge. Each part gets its own tincture, and in a blazon the dexter or upper part is named first.
| Division | How the shield is split |
|---|---|
| Per pale | One vertical line down the middle |
| Per fess | One horizontal line across the middle |
| Per bend | Diagonal from top left to bottom right (as you look) |
| Per bend sinister | Diagonal from top right to bottom left (as you look) |
| Per chevron | An upside-down V |
| Per saltire | Two diagonals crossing, making four triangles |
| Quarterly | One vertical and one horizontal line, four parts |
| Per pall | A Y shape, three parts |
| Tierced in pale | Three vertical parts |
| Tierced in fess | Three horizontal parts |
Swiss cantons show the simple divisions well. Lucerne is per pale azure and argent, Solothurn is per fess gules and argent, and Zürich is per bend argent and azure. The House of Hohenzollern bore a plain quarterly shield of argent and sable.
Quarterly has a second meaning. It’s also how heralds combine more than one coat of arms on a single shield, with each set of arms in its own quarter. The royal arms of the United Kingdom are quartered this way, with England, Scotland and Ireland.
What Are the Heraldic Ordinaries?
The ordinaries are some of the oldest charges in heraldry. Writers disagree on exactly which shapes count, and some split them into “honourable ordinaries” and “subordinaries.” The list below covers the twelve most people mean.
| Ordinary | What it looks like | Real arms that use it |
|---|---|---|
| Chief | A band across the top of the shield | Graham, Dukes of Montrose: Or, on a chief sable three escallops of the first |
| Fess | A horizontal band across the middle | Austria: Gules, a fess argent |
| Pale | A vertical band down the middle | Erskine: Argent, a pale sable |
| Bend | A diagonal band from top left to bottom right (as you look) | Baden: Or, a bend gules. Scrope: Azure, a bend or |
| Bend sinister | The bend reversed, top right to bottom left (as you look) | Burne-Jones baronets: Azure, on a bend sinister argent, between seven mullets or, three pairs of wings purpure |
| Chevron | An upside-down V | Stafford: Or, a chevron gules |
| Cross | A vertical and horizontal band crossing | England (St George): Argent, a cross gules |
| Saltire | An X-shaped cross | Scotland (St Andrew): Azure, a saltire argent |
| Pall | A Y shape | Cunningham: Argent, a shakefork sable (a pall with cut-off ends) |
| Pile | A wedge pointing down from the top | Chandos: Or, a pile gules |
| Bordure | A border around the edge of the shield | Portugal: a red bordure with seven gold castles |
| Canton | A small square in the top left corner (as you look) | Baronets of England and Ireland: a canton argent with a red hand (the badge of Ulster) |
The famous Scrope arms led to one of the first heraldry lawsuits, Scrope v Grosvenor in the 1380s, when two knights turned out to be using the same “Azure, a bend or.” The court gave the arms to Scrope.
Each ordinary has smaller versions too. A narrow bend is a bendlet, a narrow chevron is a chevronel, and a narrow pale is a pallet. The arms of the Clare family, for example, show three red chevronels on gold. The Heraldry Society’s guide to blazon explains how these names fit into a written description.
Variations of the Field
A variation covers the field with a repeating pattern of two tinctures, usually one metal and one colour.
| Variation | Pattern | Real example |
|---|---|---|
| Paly | Vertical stripes | Kingdom of Aragon: Or, four pallets gules |
| Barry | Horizontal stripes | Ancient arms of Hungary: barry gules and argent |
| Bendy | Diagonal stripes | Ancient arms of Burgundy: bendy or and azure, a bordure gules |
| Chequy | A checkerboard | Warenne, Earls of Surrey: chequy or and azure |
| Gyronny | Triangles meeting at the center, like a pinwheel | Campbell: gyronny of eight or and sable |
Barry and paly usually have an even number of pieces, and blazons often give the number, as in “barry of eight.”
Lines of Partition
Division lines and the edges of ordinaries don’t have to be straight. Heralds use decorated lines to make two similar coats of arms different from each other.
| Line | What it looks like |
|---|---|
| Engrailed | A row of small scallops with the points facing outward |
| Invected | The reverse of engrailed, with the scallops bulging outward |
| Wavy | Smooth waves, often used for water |
| Embattled | Like the top of a castle wall |
| Indented | Many small sharp teeth |
| Dancetty | A few large zigzags |
| Nebuly | Interlocking curves like stylized clouds |
The coat of arms maker draws straight lines only, so you won’t find these decorated edges in the editor. A straight line is the plain default in heraldry, and a design that uses one looks just as correct.
How to Use Divisions and Ordinaries in Your Design
Start with the field, then add one ordinary or one main charge. Don’t put a busy variation like chequy under a lot of small charges, or nothing will read clearly. Keep the rule of tincture in mind: a gold chevron on a red field works, but a red chevron on a blue field blurs together.
A few combinations that look classic:
- Per pale in two colours with a lion across both halves
- A plain field with a chief carrying three small charges
- Quarterly with a different charge in each quarter, for a family with several roots
Every division and ordinary listed above is in the Shield tab of the free coat of arms maker. Pick plain field, any of the ten divisions, any of the twelve ordinaries or the five patterns, then click any part of the shield to change its tincture. Add charges from the coat of arms symbols list, check the parts of a coat of arms for what goes around the shield, or follow how to make a coat of arms from start to finish.
Frequently asked questions
What are the divisions of the field in heraldry?
They are the ways a shield is split into two or more parts of different tinctures. The main ones are per pale (down the middle), per fess (across), per bend (diagonal), per chevron, per saltire, quarterly, per pall and tierced. Each line follows the same path as the ordinary it is named after.
What are the ordinaries in heraldry?
Ordinaries are the simple, bold geometric shapes laid on top of the field, such as the chief, fess, pale, bend, chevron, cross and saltire. Many writers also include the pall, pile, bordure and canton. They are among the oldest and most common charges in heraldry.
What is the difference between per pale and a pale?
Per pale is a division: the whole shield is split down the middle into two halves. A pale is an ordinary: a vertical band laid over the center of the field, with the field showing on both sides. The same pattern applies to per fess and a fess, per bend and a bend.
What does quarterly mean on a coat of arms?
Quarterly means the shield is divided into four parts by one vertical and one horizontal line. Quarters are numbered from the top left as you look at the shield. The term also describes combining several coats of arms on one shield, a practice called quartering.