riggs.org.uk - RIGGS SURNAME STUDY: NOTES FOR RIGGS in Heraldry
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RIGGSOLOGY: symbolic coat of arms for RIGGS
A STUDY OF THE
RIGGS SURNAME

dividing line
suit of armour RIGGS IN HERALDRY

NOTES ON
coats of arms, crests
and mottoes granted
to specific families of
RIGGS and RIGG
suit of armour
Heraldry for RIGGS RIGG This page Sources
Return to Home Page GLOSSARY OF HERALDIC TERMS Go to next Section
The same source, Brooke-Little's "An Heraldic Alphabet" [S1], has been
used for all of the following definitions, unless stated otherwise.

Use one of the following keys to navigate
your way through this list, by clicking the
initial letter of the term you're looking for.


A B C D E F G H I     L M
  O P   R S T   V W      


ACHIEVEMENT
The complete armorial bearings. Used in contradistinction to its various parts - arms, crest, supporters, motto, etc.

ANNULET
A ring.

ARGENT
The metal silver. It is usually represented by white, as silver tarnishes. In engraving, the surface is left plain.

ARMIGER
person entitled to heraldic arms (The Concise Oxford Dictionary).

ARMED
Used to describe the offensive and defensive portions of a creature's anatomy when of a different tincture from that of the body. It comprehends horns, claws, talons, beaks and tusks but does not preclude the use of more specific terms, such as 'beaked' and 'horned', if these are preferred.

AZURE
The colour blue. It is usually represented by a bright blue such as cobalt. In engraving, it is indicated using horizontal lines.

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BAR
An ordinary which, like the fess, traverses the centreof the shield horizontally. It differs from the fess inasmuch as it is narrower and several may be borne on the shield. Textbooks often state that it cannot be borne singly but this is not so as there are several examples of a single bar.

BAR GEMEL
Two narrow bars close together i.e. twin (Latin - gemellus) bars: rather like train lines. A bar gemel is seldom, if ever, borne singly. In fact, in early blazon the two bars were simply called 'a gemel'.

BASE
A division, corresponding to a chief but at the bottom of the shield; also the area at the foot of the shield.

BEND
A broad band extending from dexter chief to sinister base. When charges are placed on a shield in the direction taken by a bend they are said to be 'in bend'.

BIRDBOLT
A short, blunt arrow used for shooting birds. The ends of bird bolts vary in design, some being flat, some round, whilst others are forked.

BLAZON
To blazon arms is to describe them in correct armorial terminology so that they can be correctly rendered from the verbal description, which is itself called a blazon.

BORDURE
A border running round and up to the edge of the shield.

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CADENCY
The first principle of heraldry is 'one man one coat' and the requirement that each male member of a family should bear distinctive arms is known as cadency. Small charges ('brisures') are added to arms to distinguish the male members of the family one from the other. The label of the eldest son is depicted in the upper half of the shield and id discarded on his father's death. The brisures of younger sons are usually placed centrally or at the top of the shield. They are hereditary to all legitmate descendants in the male line, though they may be dispensed with when quarterings are added to make the arms distinctive from those of the senior male branch of the family.[S18] English custom reserves argent marks to the royalty and gules marks are preferred for others:
1st son - label
2nd son - crescent
3rd son - mullet
4th son - martlet
5th son - annulet
6th son - fleur-de-lis
7th son - rose
8th son - cross moline
9th son - octofoil (i.e. double quatrefoil)

CANTONED
Said of a cross placed between four charges.

CHAIN
Unless specifically blazoned a chain may be drawn with oval, round or square links, the first being the most usual.

CHARGE
Anything borne on a shield or on another charge. Anything which has a charge on it is said to be 'charged'.

CHEVRON
An ordinary issuing from the base of the shield shaped like an inverted V.

CHIEF
An ordinary consisting of the top part (usually about a third) of the shield. A charge in the top portion of the shield is said to be 'in chief'.
COCK
This refers to the common farmyard fowl. He is frequently beaked, legged, combed and wattled of a different tincture from his body.

COLLAR
There are various collars used in heraldry but the unqualified word refers to a plain circlet.

COMB
The crest of a cock. If this is of a different tincture from the body he is usually termed 'combed' although 'crested' is also used.

CRESCENT
A half-moon with the horns pointing upwards.

CREST
An hereditary device, modelled onto the top of the helm and part of an achievement.

CROSS
An ordinary consisting of a broad cross throughout. Some authors state that there are over three hundred varieties of cross.

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DEXTER
The right-hand side of the shield from the point of view of the bearer, but the left as observed from the front. Unless otherwise mentioned, all charges, whether in arms or crest, which are capable of facing a given direction, face the dexter.

DIFFERENCE, MARKS OF
(see "CADENCY")

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ENGRAILED
A line of partition, which is curvilinearly drawn, with the points of the cups facing outwards.

ERASED
Torn off roughly so as to leave a jagged edge. The term is usually applied to parts of living creatures rudely severed from their bodies.

ERMINE
One of the two principal furs used in heraldry. It consists of black ermine tails (drawn in a variety of stylised forms) on a white field.

ESCALLOP
The scallop shell. That shown in heraldry is normally the back of the convex left shell with the point in chief and the 'ears' showing. The scallop...was favoured by pilgrims as an invaluable general service utensil. It was carried by a cord which passed through two holes in the 'beak' of the shell, which holes are sometimes found in heraldic representations. It is a very popular misconception that the incidence of a scallop shell in a coat of arm argues an ancestor who went on a crusade. In very ancient coats it could mean this but usually there is no connection.

ESCUTCHEON
A shield. When a shield is borne as a charge, it is normally termed an escutcheon or inescutcheon. An escutcheon of pretence is a small shield containing the arms of an heraldic heiress, which is placed in the centre of her husband's arms in their marital achievement.

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FEATHERED
Referring to the feathers of an arrow.

FESS
An ordinary consisting of a broad horizontal band drawn across the centre of the shield.

FIELD
The surface of the shield on which the charges are placed.

FIELD, OF THE
If a charge is 'of the field', then it is the same colour as the field or surface.

FLANK
Fleshy part of side of body between ribs and hip. [S9]

FLEUR-DE-LYS
A stylised form of lily which can be drawn in a variety of ways.

FLORY
A cross with each arm terminating in a fleur-de-lys is sometimes described as 'fleuretty' or 'floretty', but such a cross is also sometimes blazoned 'flory' or 'fleury'. (See also 'patonce' below).

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GARB
A sheaf of wheat, unless the blazon specifies some other type of grain. It is always banded, but the band is not blazoned unless of a different tincture from the garb.

GORGED
Collared. If a creature is simply blazoned as being gorged, a plain collar is implied.

GULES
The colour red. It is usually pure vermilion. In engraving, it is indicated by vertical lines.

GUTTÉ-DE-POIX
Gutté (or Gutty, Goutty, or Goutté) means strewn with drops. Instead of blazoning a field or charge 'gutté sable', 'gutté gules',etc., more picturesque descriptions are used: 'gutté de poix' is used to describe black drops. The current fashion in official armory is to use the spelling 'gutty' but the other spellings are frequently employed.

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HEART
The stylised 'playing-card' type is always used. It is sometimes blazoned a 'human heart'.

HEIRESS
An heiress (or co-heiress if she is not an only daughter) is a daughter who has no brothers or whose brothers have died without surviving issue. If she marries, then while her father is still alive (i.e. she is his heiress apparent) her arms are impaled with her husband's but when her father dies they are displayed as an escutcheon of pretence in the centre of her husband's shield. On her death, her husband ceases to bear his wife's escutcheon of pretence, and her children quarter their arms.

HELM OR HELMET
The helmet is included in an achievement of arms simply because the crest was anciently fixed to the top of it; it is therefore the appropriate vehicle for the display of the crest. Different types of helm were assigned to different ranks of people. Knights and baronets have a 'barriers helm', which is shown facing the observer and with the visor raised, as in the case of Sir John RIGGS-MILLER.[S18] Esquires, gentlemen and corporations have a 'tilting helm', which is shown facing to the observer's left with the visor closed.[S18]

HERALDS' VISITATIONS
Pedigrees of people who had a right to Arms, collected by the officers of the College of Arms between 1530 and 1687, and printed from their records or from early "improved" copies of them.

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IMPALED
Division of the shield per pale (vertically in half) with one coat placed on the dexter and another on the sinister side. A husband, when showing his marital coat, impales his wife's arms unless she is an heraldic heiress, in which case he places them on an escutcheon of pretence.

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LABEL
A horizontal band from which depend three vertical pieces.

LAST, OF THE
If a charge is 'of the last', then it is the same colour as the last colour previously specified in the blazon.

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MANTLING
The short mantle fixed to and flowing from the helmet. Where a helmet is shown in an achievement of arms, the mantling is an essential concomitant.

MARTLET
In appearance, the martlet is similar to the house-martin, swallow and swift but is depicted without feet or claws, because the bestiaries claimed that it lived its entire life in the air and had no need to touch the ground.[S18]

MOLINE
A 'cross moline' is a cross with each arm terminating in two crown-like prongs.[S18]

MULLET
Originally the mullet was a spur rowel, from the French word molette, but it now has a stereotyped form and more often symbolizes a star than a spur rowel. Unless otherwise blazoned it is five-pointed and unpierced. If pierced the colour of the hole must be indicated, but if the field shows through there is no real need to state that it is pierced 'of the field' for it is reasonable to assume that this is the case.

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OR
The metal gold. It is frequently represented by yellow, a pale yellow ochre being favoured. In engraving, it is indicated by small dots.

ORDINARY
Certain basic geometrical charges are, for convenience, termed ordinaries.

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PASSANT
Used to describe beasts who are walking along with the dexter fore-paw raised.

PATÉE
(or Paty). The cross formy was frequently so termed but today the older blazon is generally used.

PATONCE
A cross with each arm terminating in three crown-like prongs is described as a 'cross patonce'. Frequently no distinction is made between the cross flory (see above) and the cross patonce, although some draw a distinction between the ways in which the traverse of the two crosses are drawn, with the patonce tapering towards the centre.

PLUMED
Synonym for 'feathered', referring to the feathers of an arrow. [S9]

PROPER
When a charge is shown in its natural colour it is so termed...It is abbreviated ppr.

PURPURE
The colour purple. It is usually shown as mauve rather than a deep purple. In engraving, it is indicated by diagonal lines in bend sinister.

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QUARTERING
Quartering, as its name suggests, is the division of a shield vertically and horizontally to form four quarters. For example, on the death of an heiress (i.e. the daughter of an armiger) who has married, her children quarter their arms by dividing the shield into four and placing the paternal arms in the first and fourth quarters and the maternal arms in the second and third.

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ROSE
The heraldic rose is a five-petalled rose of the common sweet briar or dogrose variety. The sepals show between the petals and the centre of the seeds, as in the natural rose, is large.

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SABLE
The colour black. It is usually a slightly greyish shade. In engraving, it is indicated by cross-hatching.

SALTIRE
An ordinary consisting of a cross placed diagonally on the shield. Charges on a saltire are normally placed erect but sometimes, without it being mentioned in the blazon, saltirewise.

SECOND, OF THE
If a charge is 'of the second', then it is the same colour as the second colour specified in the blazon.

SHELDRAKE
Bright-plumaged coastal wild duck. [S9]

SINISTER
The left-hand side of the shield from the point of view of the bearer - the right as observed from the front.

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TALBOT
The heraldic dog. It has a mastiff's body with hound's head and bloodhound's long drooping ears.

THIRD, OF THE
If a charge is 'of the third', then it is the same colour as the third colour specified in the blazon.

TINCTURES
This term refers to all the colours, metals and furs in the heraldic paint-box.

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VAIR
One of the two principal furs used in heraldry. It consists of small animals' skins joined together head to tail. In early armory it was drawn like jointed cups ('vair ancient') but later the pelts were drawn like ugly shields with 'ears' and a pointed base ('vair en point'). The skins are always alternatively argent and azure.

VERT
The colour green. In engraving, it is indicated by diagonal lines in bend.

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WATER SPANIEL
Large spaniel of variety used for retrieving water-fowl. [S9]

WATTLED
Referring to the wattles (fleshy appendages on the throat) of a cock. 'Jelloped' or 'jowlopped' are synonymous.

WOLF
The wolf is a rare device in modern heraldry. Though common throughout Europe in medieval times, he is not often found. [S8]

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This page was last updated: 27th January 2006
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