Thread (heraldry)

The end of the thread protruding from a shuttle in the coat of arms of Sontheim

The thread has multiple meanings in heraldry .

• The thread as a heraldic figure is often represented in connection with shuttle boats , spindles or reels in the heraldic field as yarn or wool. It is rarely mentioned in the description . If it is wound on a spool and has a different tinge , the thread color should be mentioned.

• The thread is also used as a marker ( e.g. bastard thread ). If the inclined bar is made in bar thickness, the designation as "thread" remains questionable. A thread should be a very narrow bar of distinguishable color.

• As a designation for particularly narrow herald pictures , such as B. narrow beams or stakes , the expression is viewed critically by heraldists . The bar is displayed with 1/3 to 2/7 of the coat of arms width. If it is half as wide, it is called a bar (bar beam); if it is narrower, it becomes a "thread". In the opinion of many, the beam should then be referred to as a "narrow bar", the pile as a "narrow bar" and a sloping beam as a "sloping narrow beam". Instead of “ crosshairs ”, the cross could also mean “narrow inguinal cross”, but this is not common.

Please note that when several bars or piles are shown in the escutcheon, the width decreases in relation to the shield, but the images still remain bars or piles.

• 

  normal stake

• 

  narrow rod

• 

  Five stakes

literature

• Gert Oswald : Lexicon of Heraldry. Battenberg, Regenstauf 2011, ISBN 978-3-86646-077-5 , p. 123.