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