Ordinary

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. Smaller geometric shapes are often called subordinaries.

Types of Ordinaries

One-Edged Ordinaries

• base
• chief
• pile
• tierce
• bordure

Two-Edged Ordinaries

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

Three-Edged Ordinaries

• pall
• pall reversed

Four-Edged Ordinaries

• cross
• saltire

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).