Ordinary

Ordinaries and their diminutives

An ordinary is an area of tincture that covers a large part of the shield. Ordinaries drawn with thinner lines are referred to as diminutives. As a rule of thumb, an ordinary should cover 1/3 of the area of the shield.

One-edged ordinaries

• base
• chief
• pile
• tierce

Two-edged ordinaries

• bend
  • bendlet
  • baton
• bend sinister
• chevron
  • chevronnel
• fess
  • bar
• pale
  • pallet

Three-edged ordinaries

• pall
• pall reversed

Four-edged ordinaries

• cross
• saltire

Sub-ordinaries

Sub-ordinaries are less frequently used ordinaries and usually smaller in size. They are often considered secondary charges, and are mentioned after any ordinaries in a blazon.

• annulet
• billet
• bordure
• canton
• flanches
• fret
• fusil
• gyron
• inescutcheon
• label
• lozenge
• mascle
• orle
• quarter
• roundel
• rustre
• tressure

Cotising and Fimbriation

As ordinaries and sub-ordinaries are simple charges they may be cotised, fimbriated or voided, so long as they are not peripheral ordinaries (such as a bordure or chief).