Tears (heraldry)
The tears , which are also called drops or French Goutte , are a common figure in heraldry and are usually represented in multiple numbers as a small drop-shaped coat of arms. This motif is suitable for sprinkling shield surfaces or for covering other heraldic motifs.
Blason and representation
Depending on the tincture, there are different names for the common figure in the blason (for example, drops in silver are called goutte d'eau or, in German, water drops ). If the drops in red color in the coat of arms shown, they are drops of blood embody.
| Metals | Colours | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
goutte d'or gold drop, golden tear |
goutte d'eau water drop |
goutte the noisy tear |
goutte de sang drops of blood, tear of blood |
goutte de poix drops of tar, tear of tar |
goutte d'huile (olive) oil drop, tear from oil |
|
On golden plate color are tears as flames , flames , described .
If the tears are shown quite large and their number is small, they are unheraldically referred to as "sacks".
In the Gothic and Renaissance periods, the gouttes were depicted with wave-like sides (see above). More recent representations have smoothed the sides and show the droplets in a bolder and more symmetrical manner.
Examples
A well-known example of a Goutte coat of arms is the Cologne coat of arms . The eleven black (tar) drops (in Cologne unheraldically one speaks of “flames” or “tears”) have adorned the city's coat of arms since the 16th century and actually represent ermine tails .
Coat of arms of the independent city of Cologne
"Sacks" in the coat of arms of the Allerquelle administrative association
Real “sacks” in the Säcke family coat of arms
Drops in the coat of arms of Salzbergen
Drops in the Tarbek coat of arms
Diocese of Bangor
Kangasala with seven (2; 2; 2; 1) tears
literature
- Václav Vok Filip: Introduction to heraldry (= basic historical sciences in individual representations. Vol. 3). Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-515-07559-3 , p. 129.
- Gert Oswald : Lexicon of Heraldry. Bibliographisches Institut, Mannheim u. a. 1985, ISBN 3-411-02149-7 .
Web links
Individual evidence
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↑ Arthur Charles Fox-Davies: A Complete Guide to Heraldry. Dodge Pub. Co., New York NY 1909, pp. 89-90 (Reprinted. Bonanza Books, New York NY 1978, ISBN 0-517-26643-1 ).
Charles Boutell, Arthur Charles Fox-Davies: The Handbook to English Heraldry. 11th edition, thoroughly revised. Reeves & Turner, London 1914, p. 168 ( limited preview in Google book search).