Colours Used In Coats Of Arms..

Any colour can be used for the family crest - the part on top of the helmet, and the charges - the decoration on the shield, but few colours will be used in the remainder of the coat of arms.

If you come across a description of a coat of arms you will find it is in Old French. The following table has the traditional names of the colours, and the meaning of each.

Colour Name Meaning
Red Gules Military fortitude and magnanimity
Blue Azure Loyalty and truth
Black Sable Constancy, and sometimes grief
Green Vert Hope, joy and sometimes loyalty in love
Purple Purpure Royal majesty, sovereignty and justice
Gold Or Worthy ambition
Silver Argent Peace and sincerity

The two metals, gold and silver, are usually shown as yellow and white.

As well as colours, a coat of arms may contain furs. These are:

Ermine White background with black spots
Ermines Black background with white spots
Erminois Gold background with black spots
Vair Shield shaped divisions of blue and white
Potent T-shaped divisions of blue and white

When engraving, colour is not possible so there is a correct way to use shading to denote the colours.

Or Dots on a clear background
Argent Clear
Gules Vertical lines
Azure Horizontal lines
Sable Checks of horizontal and vertical lines
Vert Diagonal lines from top left to bottom right
Purpure Diagonal lines from top right to bottom left

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A coat of arms uses few colours. Why? The family crest - that part on top of the helmet, and the charges, the decoration on the shield,  may use many more colours, but only five at most are used for the rest of the coat of arms and each has a meaning.
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