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The ordinaries, tinctures, attitudes and charges of heraldry — a formal grammar rather than a set of similar symbols.
Heraldry is read in a fixed order and a fixed vocabulary. Ordinaries divide the shield, tinctures colour it, attitudes pose the beasts and charges are the things borne. The single most common source of error is direction: dexter and sinister are named from behind the shield, so dexter appears on the viewer's left.
Tinctures carry no fixed meaning. The claim that azure signifies loyalty and gules military fortitude is rejected by the College of Arms and demolished at length by the standard English authority, and it is repeated by essentially every commercial family-crest site.
These records say so themselves — the setting appears in the symbol's own reviewed description or in one of its documented meanings.
Showing the 48 most firmly placed of 86. Browse by domain to see every symbol in the catalogue.
A plain ring marking a fifth son.
Its summary places it there: “…English cadency an annulet, a plain ring, marks the arms of a fifth son and his descendants”
The heraldic tincture silver or white, one of the two metals.
Its description places it there: “The heraldic tincture silver or white, one of the two metals”
The heraldic tincture blue, one of the colours.
Its description places it there: “The heraldic tincture blue, one of the colours”
The lower portion of a heraldic shield, and a band occupying it.
Its description places it there: “The lower portion of a heraldic shield, and a band occupying it”
A bear, frequently muzzled and collared in blazon.
Its description places it there: “A bear, frequently muzzled and collared in blazon”
A diagonal band running from the top left of a shield to the bottom right, as the bearer sees it.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “…single most common source of error in reading a blazon”
A small upright rectangle borne as a charge.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “…is one of the standard strewn arrangements of blazon”
A label claiming a book.
Its visual description places it there: “…inside front cover carrying a name, often with a coat of arms, a motto or a pictorial device”
A band following the whole edge of a shield, like a frame.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “…is the standard mark of difference by which the arms of cadet branches are distinguished from those of…”
A small charge added to arms to distinguish one son from another.
Its summary places it there: “A cadency mark is a small charge added to a coat of arms to distinguish the sons of one father: in the…”
A winged staff with two serpents wound around it, originally the attribute of Hermes (Mercury), the messenger god.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “…insignia, on postal and courier emblems, and in the arms of chambers of commerce, where nothing medical is…”
Two towers joined by an embattled wall with a gateway between them.
Its summary places it there: “In blazon a castle is specifically two towers linked by…”
A cross with a ring encircling the intersection of its arms.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “…the sun, or as a structural device supporting the arms of a tall stone cross. The structural explanation…”
An inverted V-shaped band spanning a shield, like a rafter or a roof gable.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “Frequently explained in later heraldic writing as representing a roof or rafter, and…”
A charge of disputed identity, drawn as ranked pipes.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “…rest and an organ have all been proposed, and heraldic authorities do not agree”
A beast lying down with its head raised.
Its summary places it there: “…body on the ground, head up. Distinguished in blazon from 'dormant', which is lying down asleep with…”
An embossed or printed device making a document an official copy.
Its visual description places it there: “…or printed in a single colour, containing a coat of arms or device with the court's name curving round…”
A crescent moon with its horns pointing upward.
Its summary places it there: “…crescent borne with its horns upward by default. Blazon has separate terms for the other orientations…”
A crescent marking a second son.
Its summary places it there: “In English cadency a small crescent placed on a shield marks the arms of a second son and his descendants”
A red and white chequered shield of twenty-five squares.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “Denotes Croatia as the central element of its coat of arms: a shield of twenty-five alternating red and…”
A vertical and a horizontal band crossing at the centre of a shield, spanning it in both directions.
Its summary places it there: “The plain heraldic cross: a pale and a fess combined, reaching the…”
A cross with forked ends marking an eighth son.
Its summary places it there: “…whose arms end in forked and curled tips, marks the arms of an eighth son and his descendants”
A cross whose arms widen outward and end in three flowing points each.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “…fleurs-de-lis, though the two are drawn so similarly that heraldic writers disagree about individual examples”
A cross with narrow arms that flare broadly at the ends.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “…Cross among them — the decoration takes the heraldic shape, and the shape carries no military meaning…”
A cross whose arms each end in a crossbar, forming T-shapes.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “…crosses in the quarters forms the Jerusalem Cross, the arms of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem — a coat famous…”
A circlet with raised ornaments, borne as a charge or worn by another charge.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “…United Kingdom their use is regulated by the heraldic authorities”
A bird shown from the front with both wings spread open.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “The conventional attitude for the heraldic eagle, and the form taken by most national and…”
A stylised fish-like dolphin, drawn arched with a spiny crest.
Its summary places it there: “The heraldic dolphin looks almost nothing like the animal…”
An eagle with two heads facing opposite ways.
Its visual description places it there: “…turned away from each other, often crowned, on a shield or field”
A four-legged winged reptile with a barbed tail.
Its summary places it there: “…separate charge — the distinction is real in blazon and constantly ignored outside it”
A stylised eagle, usually shown displayed with wings spread.
Its summary places it there: “After the lion, the commonest heraldic beast, and the emblem of imperial authority across…”
A stylised eagle facing left with a shield on its breast.
Its summary places it there: “The Eagle of Saladin appears on the arms of Egypt, Iraq, Palestine and formerly others, and…”
A white field scattered with small black tail-shaped marks.
Its summary places it there: “The best known heraldic fur: white powdered with black ermine spots…”
A scallop shell, shown with its ribbed outer face toward the viewer.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “…shell was the pilgrim's badge — one of the few heraldic charges whose symbolic association is documented…”
A stylised lily of three petals bound at the base, long used in French heraldry.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “A stylised lily used as a heraldic charge, most strongly associated with the French…”
The stylised lily charge as used in blazon, and the cadency mark of a sixth son.
Its description places it there: “The stylised lily charge as used in blazon, and the cadency mark of a sixth son”
A stylised lily marking a sixth son.
Its summary places it there: “In English cadency a fleur-de-lis marks the arms of a sixth son and his descendants”
A bound sheaf of wheat.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “…sheaf of corn, understood to be wheat unless the blazon names another grain”
A creature with an eagle's head, wings and forelegs on a lion's body.
Its summary places it there: “One of the principal heraldic monsters: eagle above, lion below. A male griffin…”
The heraldic tincture red, one of the colours.
Its description places it there: “The heraldic tincture red, one of the colours”
An eagle marking national origin.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “…pre-Hispanic iconography also carried on the national coat of arms, tying a modern trade mark to a much older visual…”
A gold crown with a visibly bent cross on top.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “Denotes Hungary, appearing atop the national coat of arms, and depicts the actual Holy Crown held in the…”
A blue roundel.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “…bruise, though the derivation is uncertain and heraldic writers disagree about it”
A small shield borne on a shield.
Its description places it there: “A small shield borne on a shield”
Stacked stones in a rough human form with outstretched arms.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “Appears on the flag and coat of arms of Nunavut, adopted in 1999 when the territory…”
A cross within a square outline.
Its visual description places it there: “A plain cross set inside a square outline, the arms of the cross stopping short of the enclosing frame”
A single motif in a circular field, drawn in one colour.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “…identical crests — the opposite of European heraldic practice”
A key with a ringed bow and a toothed bit, often borne in crossed pairs.
Its summary places it there: “…borne in saltire — two crossed. Crossed keys are the arms of the Holy See and appear in the arms of many bishoprics…”
These belong to a system or a curated family that lives here. A laundry care symbol is met on a clothing label whether or not its own wording happens to say so.
A ship's anchor with a ring, stock, shank and two flukes.
A plain ring, and the cadency mark of a fifth son.
A narrow horizontal band, borne in multiples across a shield.
A circlet with six silver balls, four shown.
A diagonal band running from the top right of a shield to the bottom left, as the bearer sees it.
A gold roundel, named for a coin.
A wild boar with prominent tusks and a bristled back.
A small square in the upper corner of a shield, usually the dexter side.
A circlet with rays each ending in a star.
A wreath of leaves with four flowers.
A broad horizontal band across the top of a shield, occupying roughly the upper third.
A cross each of whose arms is itself crossed near the end.
A cross whose arms end in fleurs-de-lis.
A cross whose arms split and curl outward at the ends, like a millrind.
A circlet with strawberry leaves and no balls.
A circlet with balls raised on points above leaves.
A circlet with plain triangular points.
A star of six wavy rays.
A horizontal band across the middle of a shield, about a third of its depth.
A pair of arcs cut in from the shield sides.
A roundel barry wavy of blue and white.
A lozenge interlaced with two crossing diagonal bands.
A beast with its head turned to face the viewer.
A triangular wedge running to the shield centre.
A narrow horizontal bar with short depending tags, marking an eldest son.
A cross of four arrowhead-shaped arms meeting at a point, with eight outer points.
A circlet alternating leaves and balls on the rim.
A narrow band inside and clear of the shield edge.
A vertical band down the centre of a shield, about a third of its width.
A circlet set with pointed stakes.
A narrow vertical band, half the width of a pale.
Gold ermine spots on a black field.
A latticed gate with spiked feet and chains at its upper corners.
Interlocking crutch shapes in alternating tinctures.
A stylised five-petalled rose shown from the front, with sepals between the petals.
A plain circular charge.
A lozenge pierced with a round hole.
A beast sitting on its haunches, forelegs straight on the ground.
A device cut in reverse into a ring's face, to be read in its impression.
A thistle head with spiny leaves, the plant badge of Scotland.
A red roundel.
A narrow orle, usually drawn doubled.
A horse-like beast with a single spiral horn, cloven hooves and a lion's tail.
A circlet with sixteen silver balls in a row.
A yoke with two hanging water skins.
If you can describe what you saw as well as where, say both: “winged skull on a gravestone” narrows a list of 131 to a handful.