Heraldry uses a small set of colors called tinctures: two metals, or (gold) and argent (silver); five main colors, gules (red), azure (blue), vert (green), sable (black) and purpure (purple); and furs such as ermine and vair. The basic rule is that a metal should not be placed on a metal, nor a color on a color, which keeps designs bold and legible. The virtues often attached to each color, such as generosity for gold or loyalty for blue, come from later writers and are not official meanings.
The tinctures at a glance
| Tincture | Plain English | Type | Hatching in black and white |
|---|---|---|---|
| Or | Gold (often painted yellow) | Metal | Dots |
| Argent | Silver (usually painted white) | Metal | Left plain |
| Gules | Red | Color | Vertical lines |
| Azure | Blue | Color | Horizontal lines |
| Vert | Green | Color | Diagonal lines from upper dexter to lower sinister |
| Purpure | Purple | Color | Diagonal lines the other way |
| Sable | Black | Color | Horizontal and vertical lines crossed, or solid black |
| Murrey or sanguine | Mulberry or blood red | Stain | Both diagonals crossed |
| Tenné | Orange-tawny | Stain | Horizontal lines crossed with purpure’s diagonal |
| Ermine, vair and variants | Furs | Fur | Drawn as the fur pattern itself |
Remember that heraldry describes a shield from the bearer’s side, so “dexter” is on your left as you look at it. If that is new to you, see how to read a coat of arms.
The two metals
Or is gold and argent is silver. Arthur Charles Fox-Davies noted in A Complete Guide to Heraldry (1909) that yellow had always been used for gold in the register books of the College of Arms, and that silver was usually shown as white because no silver paint kept its color. In practice, a yellow lion and a gold lion are the same lion.
The five colors
- Gules (red) and azure (blue) are the most familiar.
- Vert (green) is called sinople in French heraldry.
- Sable (black) is counted as a color, though Fox-Davies observed that it is “not really a colour”.
- Purpure (purple) is rare but long established. The earliest instance Fox-Davies knew was the arms of Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln (died 1311): a purple lion rampant on gold.
The College of Arms says there are no fixed shades for any of these. As long as “the blue is not too light and the red not too orange, purple or pink,” the artist chooses the exact tone.
The stains: murrey, sanguine and tenné
Many textbooks add the “stains”: murrey or sanguine, a dark red between gules and purpure, and tenné, an orange-tawny. Older books claimed they were used for abatements, marks of dishonor supposedly added to the arms of people guilty of faults such as drunkenness. Fox-Davies called the abatement system one of heraldry’s “pleasant little insanities” and stated that no example of an abatement had ever been found. The stains were used mostly for liveries, the colors worn by servants and retainers. He did record one genuine coat with a sanguine field, the arms of Clayhills of Invergowrie, entered in the Lyon Register in Scotland.
The furs: ermine and vair
Medieval nobles lined their cloaks with expensive furs, and heraldry adopted two of them.
- Ermine is a white field with black spots, representing the black tail tips of the animal’s winter coat. Variants include ermines (white spots on black), erminois (black spots on gold) and pean (gold spots on black).
- Vair comes from squirrel fur, blue-gray on the back and white underneath. Sewn together, the skins made rows of cup or bell shapes, which heraldry turned into a regular pattern. Plain vair is always blue and white; in other colors it is called vairy. A variant with T-shaped pieces is called potent.
Proper: natural colors
A charge shown in its natural colors is blazoned proper, such as a tree proper or a stag proper. Fox-Davies noted that the term is not found in very ancient arms and did not encourage it, but it is common in later grants.
The rule of tincture
“One of the earliest rules one learns in the study of armory,” wrote Fox-Davies, “is that colour cannot be placed upon colour, nor metal upon metal.” A gold charge goes on red, blue, green, black or purple, and a red charge goes on gold or silver. He called it a rule “which must practically always be rigidly observed.” The usual explanation is contrast: metal against color can be read at a distance.
Like most rules, it has exceptions and refinements:
- The famous exception: the arms of the kingdom of Jerusalem, “Argent, a cross potent between four crosslets or”, deliberately place gold on silver.
- Continental practice: breaches are more common outside Britain. François Velde’s heraldry site calls the rule “far from absolute”.
- Furs and proper: these can go on either metal or color. German heralds describe them as “amphibious”.
- Mixed charges: a charge made of both a metal and a color can sit on either. The arms of Stewart, “Or, a fess chequy azure and argent”, put a blue-and-silver checked band on gold.
- Crests and supporters: Fox-Davies noted the rule is often set aside for them; a gold collar on a silver crest is common.
Hatching: color without color
Engravers, bookplate makers and printers needed a way to show colors in black and white. According to Fox-Davies, the earliest scheme was devised by Francquart in the Low Countries around 1623, followed by several rival systems. The one that prevailed is usually credited to the Jesuit scholar Silvester Petra Sancta, who used it in his Tesserae Gentilitiae of 1638. Velde adds that it was in use earlier and did not become widespread until the early eighteenth century. Its patterns are the ones shown in the table above.
Interestingly, the College of Arms never used hatching in its own records. Fox-Davies explains that the official registers are either painted or “tricked”: drawn in outline with the colors written in abbreviations such as “O” or “or” for gold, “A” or “arg” for argent, “G” or “gu” for gules and “S” or “sa” for sable. Azure was often written “B” (for blue), to avoid confusing “ar” and “az”.
So what do the colors mean?
Medieval and later heraldic writers loved to elaborate. Some blazoned colors by precious stones, using topaz for gold, pearl for silver, ruby for red, sapphire for blue, emerald for green and diamond for black, with amethyst usually given for purple. Others used the planets: the sun for gold, the moon for silver, Mars for red, Jupiter for blue, Venus for green, Saturn for black and Mercury for purple. A fifteenth-century treatise on colors attributed to the herald known as Sicily developed these links further.
Fox-Davies was unimpressed. He called blazon by planets an “aberration of intellect” and said he knew of no English patent of arms that used it. He also rejected moral meanings outright, denying “that an argent field meant purity” or “that a field of gules meant royal or even martial ancestors.”
Even so, lists of virtues are everywhere, so it helps to know what they say:
| Tincture | Association often repeated in popular guides |
|---|---|
| Or (gold) | Generosity |
| Argent (silver) | Peace, sincerity |
| Gules (red) | Courage, military strength |
| Azure (blue) | Loyalty, truth |
| Vert (green) | Hope, joy |
| Sable (black) | Constancy, grief |
| Purpure (purple) | Royalty, justice |
Treat these as folklore. No heraldic authority assigns official meanings to colors, and the rule of tincture shows that contrast, not symbolism, was the practical concern built into the system. If a coat of arms connected with your surname uses red and gold, the honest answer to “what does it mean?” is that the meaning, if there was one, belonged to the person who chose it. Our guide to heraldry symbols and their meanings takes the same approach to lions, stars and crosses.
A few practical tips
- If you are commissioning a painting of arms you are entitled to, work from the blazon. The College of Arms is clear that any reasonable shade is correct.
- If you are reading an old engraving or bookplate, look for hatching lines; they will tell you the colors even without paint.
- If you are researching arms for your surname, remember that the same colors turn up in thousands of unrelated coats. Color alone proves no connection. See what a family coat of arms really is and how to verify a coat of arms.
See the arms recorded for your surname →
Sources
- Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, A Complete Guide to Heraldry (London, 1909), chapter on the field of a shield and the heraldic tinctures, and chapter on the antiquity of heraldry. Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/41617
- College of Arms, “FAQs: heraldry” (no fixed shades for heraldic colors). https://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/resources/faqs
- François Velde, “Tinctures”, Heraldica.org. https://www.heraldica.org/topics/tincturs.htm
- College of Arms, “Granting of Arms” (the blazon defines the arms). https://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/services/granting-arms
- Sir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales (London, 1884), for abbreviated tinctures in printed blazons. Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/generalarmoryofe00burk
Frequently asked questions
What are the main heraldic colors?
There are two metals, or (gold) and argent (silver), and five main colors: gules (red), azure (blue), vert (green), sable (black) and purpure (purple). Heraldry also uses furs, chiefly ermine and vair, and occasionally the stains murrey or sanguine and tenné.
What does red mean on a coat of arms?
Popular guides often link gules, the heraldic red, with courage or military strength, but this is a later tradition, not an official meaning. The heraldic writer Arthur Charles Fox-Davies specifically rejected the idea that a red field meant royal or martial ancestors. Whatever it meant to the first person who chose it, red carries no fixed meaning in heraldry.
What is the rule of tincture?
It is the principle that a metal should not be placed on a metal, nor a color on a color, so a gold charge goes on a red or blue field rather than on silver. Fox-Davies called it a rule that must practically always be observed, but there are well-known exceptions, such as the arms of the kingdom of Jerusalem, with gold crosses on silver.
Why are some coats of arms drawn with dots and lines?
This is hatching, a way of showing colors in black-and-white printing. In the system most often credited to the Jesuit Silvester Petra Sancta in 1638, dots mean gold, a plain surface silver, vertical lines red, horizontal lines blue and crossed lines black. Fox-Davies notes that earlier systems existed, the first around 1623.
What is ermine in heraldry?
Ermine is a fur shown as a white field with black spots, which represent the black tail tips of the animal’s winter coat. Variants include ermines (white spots on black), erminois (black spots on gold) and pean (gold spots on black).
Are there official shades for heraldic colors?
No. The College of Arms says there are no fixed shades: as long as the blue is not too light and the red not too orange, purple or pink, the artist may choose. What defines the arms is the written blazon, not a particular paint color.