Heraldry - Tinctures

he minimum requirement of a coat of arms is the field otherwise described as the background colour of the shield. Tinctures in heraldry are the names given to the colours that are used on the shields or flags. There are six main colours: yellow, white, black, red, blue and green. These are also known as or, argent, sable, gules, azure and vert respectively. These colours are shown below plus some colours that was less commonly used. When means of colouring is not available a system of patterns allows the tinctures to be depicted without the use of the real colours. The patterns are shown alongside the real colours below.

One of the rules of heraldry is that gold or silver must appear on the shield. These colours are known as the metals and are represented by the colours yellow and white. The metals are then used alternately with the other colours. The order of most frequently used colours is red, blue, black and green.

An ordinary colour can be used for the ground (background) of the shield, but when that occurs some other part of the shield should be displayed using one or more of the metals.

Ermine is a fur, a type of tincture, made up of a white background with a pattern of black shapes representing the winter coat of the ermine (a species of weasel with white fur and a black-tipped tail). It has several variations shown below.

The term vair, or variegated, comes from the squirrel fur which was used commonly in the Middle Ages. The greyish-blue fur from the backs of squirrels was sewn together with pieces of the animals' white underbellies.