![]() ![]() ![]() Woodcock sheds some light on the matter, stating that earlier writers such as Leigh, Holme and Guillim proposed that "honourable ordinaries" should occupy one-third of the field, while later writers such as Edmondson favoured one-fifth, "on the grounds that a bend, pale, or chevron occupying one-third of the field makes the coat look clumsy and disagreeable". Apparently ceding the point for the moment, Fox-Davies lists the generally agreed-upon "honourable ordinaries" as the bend, fess, pale, pile, chevron, cross, saltire, and chief. While the term ordinaries is generally recognised, so much dispute may be found among sources regarding which are "honourable" and which are relegated to the category of "sub-ordinaries" that indeed one of the leading authors in the field, Arthur Charles Fox-Davies (1871–1928), wrote at length on what he calls the "utter absurdity of the necessity for any classification at all", stating that the ordinaries and sub-ordinaries are, in his mind, "no more than first charges". The remainder are often termed sub-ordinaries, and narrower or smaller versions of the ordinaries are called diminutives. While some authors hold that only nine charges are "honourable" ordinaries, exactly which ones fit into this category is a subject of constant disagreement. Some heraldic writers distinguish, albeit arbitrarily, between (honourable) ordinaries and sub-ordinaries. Unlike mobile charges, the ordinary charges reach to the edge of the field. Ordinary charges – Ordinaries and sub-ordinaries There are also several units in the United States Air Force with charges blazoned as "mythical", or beasts as "chimerical", but those conceptions are meaningless and irrelevant to the conception of heraldry, and it does not affect the appearance of those charges. In addition to being shown in the regular way, charges may be blazoned as umbrated (shadowed), detailed, (rather incorrectly) outlined, highly unusually shaded and rather irregularly in silhouette or, more ambiguously, confusingly, and unhelpfully, futuristic, stylized or simplified. Only these and a few other notable charges (crowns, stars, keys, etc.) are discussed in this article. While thousands of objects found in religion, nature, mythology, or technology have appeared in armory, there are several charges (such as the cross, the eagle, and the lion) which have contributed to the distinctive flavour of heraldic design. It is important to distinguish between the ordinaries and divisions of the field, as that typically follow similar patterns, such as a shield divided "per chevron", as distinct from being charged with a chevron. The term charge can also be used as a verb for example, if an escutcheon depicts three lions, it is said to be charged with three lions similarly, a crest or even a charge itself may be "charged", such as a pair of eagle wings charged with trefoils (as on the coat of arms of Brandenburg). In French blazon, the ordinaries are called pièces, and other charges are called meubles (" mobile "). That may be a geometric design (sometimes called an ordinary) or a symbolic representation of a person, animal, plant, object, building, or other device. In heraldry, a charge is any emblem or device occupying the field of an escutcheon (shield). ![]()
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