The Rule of Tincture
The rule of tincture in plain English: why heralds put metal on colour, what doesn't count, the famous Jerusalem exception, and good and bad color pairs.
By the Coat of Arms Creator team
The rule of tincture says you should never put a metal on a metal or a colour on a colour. In heraldry the two metals are gold and silver, and the colours are red, blue, green, black and purple, so a gold lion on a red field follows the rule, and a red lion on a blue field breaks it.
It’s the first and best-known rule of heraldry. The Welsh writer Humphrey Llwyd put it this way in 1568: metal should not be put on metal, nor colour on colour.
What Are the Metals and Colours?
Heralds group the tinctures into three families. The rule only cares about the first two.
| Group | Heraldic name | Plain color |
|---|---|---|
| Metal | Or | Gold or yellow |
| Metal | Argent | Silver or white |
| Colour | Gules | Red |
| Colour | Azure | Blue |
| Colour | Vert | Green |
| Colour | Sable | Black |
| Colour | Purpure | Purple |
| Fur | Ermine, vair | Patterned furs |
The rarer stains, such as tenné (orange), sanguine (blood red) and murrey (mulberry), count as colours. The guide to heraldry colors and their meanings covers every tincture in more detail.
Why Does the Rule of Tincture Exist?
The rule comes down to visibility. A coat of arms was a way to recognize someone at a glance, on a battlefield, at a tournament or on a seal. Light metals against dark colours stand out from far away. Two dark colours side by side, like blue on red, blur together, especially in poor light. Two light metals, like gold on silver, do the same.
The same idea works today. A design that follows the rule still reads clearly as a tiny phone icon, an embroidered patch or a tattoo.
Good and Bad Tincture Combinations
| Field | Charge | Result | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gules (red) | Or (gold) | Good | Colour with metal |
| Azure (blue) | Argent (silver) | Good | Colour with metal |
| Or (gold) | Sable (black) | Good | Metal with colour |
| Argent (silver) | Vert (green) | Good | Metal with colour |
| Azure (blue) | Gules (red) | Breaks the rule | Colour on colour |
| Sable (black) | Vert (green) | Breaks the rule | Colour on colour |
| Argent (silver) | Or (gold) | Breaks the rule | Metal on metal |
| Ermine | Gules (red) | Fine | Furs are exempt |
A well-known real example of the good pattern is England’s St George’s cross: a red cross on silver. Scotland’s saltire, a silver saltire on blue, is another.
What Counts as Breaking the Rule?
The rule is about one thing lying on top of another. Many cases don’t count, and heralds list a lot of exceptions.
Furs
Ermine and vair are neither metal nor colour. You can put a gold charge or a red charge on ermine and not break anything.
Charges Shown Proper
A charge blazoned “proper” is shown in its natural colors, like a brown oak tree or a realistic bird. Proper isn’t a true tincture, so the rule doesn’t apply to it.
Divisions of the Field
When a field is split, for example per pale red and blue, the two halves sit side by side, not one on top of the other. That’s allowed. A charge placed across a field made of metal and colour, such as a lion over a field per pale gold and red, may be either a metal or a colour.
Charges Made of Both
A charge that is itself part metal and part colour can go on either kind of field.
Small Details
A lion’s claws and tongue, an eagle’s beak or a stag’s antlers are often a different tincture from the animal. Heralds don’t treat those details as breaking the rule. Marks of cadency, which show younger branches of a family, are also exempt.
Fimbriation
A thin border around a charge, called fimbriation, is a common way around the rule. A red cross with a thin white edge can sit on a blue field. You can see the same idea on the Union Flag, where a white edge separates the red cross from the blue.
The Kingdom of Jerusalem Exception
The most famous coat of arms to break the rule is the Kingdom of Jerusalem, formed after the First Crusade. Its arms show a large gold cross potent with four small gold crosses on a silver field. That’s metal on metal.
Heralds don’t think it was a mistake. Arms that break the rule were called armes à enquérir, “arms of enquiry,” because they made you ask why. The usual answer for Jerusalem is that gold and silver, the two most precious metals, marked the holy city as special. The Vatican’s flag and arms also put gold with silver, with a similar meaning.
Other Famous Exceptions
Jerusalem is often called the only exception, but it isn’t. The Wikipedia article on the rule of tincture lists several real examples:
| Arms | What breaks the rule |
|---|---|
| Kingdom of Jerusalem | Gold crosses on silver |
| Albania | Black double-headed eagle on red |
| Hungary | Green triple mount on red |
| Slovakia | Blue triple mount on red |
| Trøndelag, Norway | Gold cross on silver |
| Galicia and Lodomeria | Red fess on blue |
Some writers from Central and Eastern Europe treat sable (black) as both a metal and a colour, which would explain the Albanian eagle. French heraldry also often sets a coloured chief on a coloured field and calls it cousu, meaning “sewn on,” to get around the rule.
Should You Follow the Rule of Tincture?
For your own design, yes, almost always. It’s the easiest way to make a coat of arms look like real heraldry and not just a logo. Break it only when you mean to, and know why you’re doing it.
A quick test: shrink your design to the size of a postage stamp. If any charge disappears into the field, swap one of the tinctures for a metal or a colour so they contrast.
How the Coat of Arms Maker Helps
The free coat of arms maker keeps the rule in mind for you. When you add a charge from the Charges tab, it picks a contrasting tincture automatically: gold on a dark field and red on a light field. You can still click the charge and choose any tincture by name (Or, Argent, Gules, Azure, Vert, Sable, Purpure and more) if you want something else.
The rule also applies to ordinaries like a fess or a chevron. Read heraldic divisions and ordinaries to see how each one sits on the field, or follow how to make a coat of arms for the full design process.
Frequently asked questions
What is the rule of tincture?
It is the first rule of heraldry: never put a metal on a metal or a colour on a colour. The metals are gold (Or) and silver (Argent). The colours include red, blue, green, black and purple. So a red lion on gold is correct, while a red lion on blue breaks the rule.
Why does the rule of tincture exist?
Coats of arms had to be recognized quickly, often from a distance or in poor light. Light metals and dark colours contrast strongly. Two dark colours, or two light metals, blur together. Following the rule keeps a design readable on a shield, a flag or a small seal.
Which coat of arms breaks the rule of tincture?
The most famous example is the Kingdom of Jerusalem, with gold crosses on a silver field. Heralds explain it as deliberate, marking the special status of the holy city. Other examples include the arms of Albania, with a black eagle on red, and Hungary, with a green mount on red.
Do furs follow the rule of tincture?
No. Furs such as ermine and vair are a separate group that is neither metal nor colour, so they can sit next to either. Charges shown in their natural colours, blazoned proper, are also exempt, and so are small details like a lion's claws and tongue.