Passion nail

Five passion nails in the Maillane coat of arms

The passion nail is a common figure in heraldry and does not appear frequently in coats of arms .

As a rule, three nails are shown based on depictions of the crucifixion of Christ . They are represented primarily in the tincture of silver. The nail head is mostly used in a faceted version in the coat of arms. The arrangement in the coat of arms is very different, but follows the rules for the common figure. Often the passion nails are combined with other tools of suffering such as the crown of thorns , the cross or iconographic attributes such as the Veronica's handkerchief in the coat of arms.

There are also coats of arms with five passion nails, like that of the French commune of Maillane . In this number they embody the five wounds of Christ .

Examples

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  Lommerange

• 

  Wingerode

• 

  Saint-Maur-des-Fossés

• 

  Nagold

• 

  Heart with three passion nails inserted

literature

• Gert Oswald : Lexicon of Heraldry. Bibliographical Institute, Leipzig 1984.