Rules of heraldry

Here are some rules of Scottish Heraldry:

• Each coat of arms should be unique
• The arms should be distinguishable at a distance, so the majority of components should be large, simple and composed of a very few tinctures (colours)
• The main charge (design on the shield) should cover its field (the whole of the space available on the shield)
• There are two metals, four main tinctures (colours) and a few furs. The metals are Or (gold) and Argent (silver but depicted white); the four tinctures are Gules (red), Azure (blue), Vert (green), and Sable (black), plus the rare Purpure (purple), Tenne (tawny) and Murrey (sanguine); the main furs are Ermine, Pean, Vair and Potent, with variants of these.

• Metals may not be displayed on top of metals; for example, do not display an Or charge on an Argent field unless the charge is outlined in a tincture

• Do not display a tincture on top of another tincture; for instance, an Azure charge may not be displayed upon a Gules field unless the charge is outlined in a metal

Of course, there are exceptions: a charge may overly a partition of the field and contrast cannot be avoided.  When Godfrey of Bouillon was made King of Jerusalem he chose arms with five crosses Or potent on a field of Argent.

For more on design of arms, see Heraldic Design from the Scottish Heraldry Society at www.heraldry-scotland.co.uk/design.html.