From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Lozenge (heraldry)

Heraldic charge

Escutcheon showing ''Argent, a lozenge gules''

The lozenge in heraldry is a diamond-shaped rhombus charge (an object that can be placed on the field of the shield), usually somewhat narrower than it is tall. It is to be distinguished in modern heraldry from the fusil, which is like the lozenge but narrower, though the distinction has not always been as fine and is not always observed even today. A mascle is a voided lozenge—that is, a lozenge with a lozenge-shaped hole in the middle—and the rarer rustre is a lozenge containing a circular hole in the centre. A lozenge throughout has "four corners touching the border of the escutcheon". A field covered in a pattern of lozenges is described as lozengy; similar fields of mascles are masculy, and fusils, fusily (see Variation of the field). In civic heraldry, a lozenge sable is often used in coal-mining communities to represent a lump of coal.

A lozenge-shaped escutcheon is used to depict heraldry for a female (in continental Europe especially an unmarried woman), but is also sometimes used as a shape for mural monuments in churches which commemorate females, as a shield was considered inappropriate for women who did not generally participate in combat; for the same reason, clergymen were also sometimes given oval-shaped arms. Funerary hatchments are generally shown within lozenge-shaped frames, for both male and female deceased.

Types

Lozenge: a diamond-shaped rhombus, usually somewhat narrower than it is tall
Lozenge throughout or grand Lozenge: a lozenge "with four corners touching the borders of the escutcheon".
FusilFusil: a thin lozenge; very much taller than it is wide.
Mascle: a voided lozenge (i.e. with a largish lozenge-shaped hole)
Rustre (very rare): a lozenge pierced (i.e. with a smallish round hole) File:Blason Guillaume de Haer (selon Gelre).svg|3 lozenges—Gules, three lozenges argent— Guillaume de Haer (according to Gelre) File:Fusil freeman wiki.jpg|3 fusils—Per fess azure and vair ancient; three fusils in chief and a crescent in base, or; a bordure engrailed argent—Freeman of Murtle, Scotland File:Blason fam fr Rohan.svg|9 mascles—Gules, nine mascles or—Rohan family of France File:Rustre dalrymple wiki.jpg|5 rustres—Argent; on a saltire gules five rustres argent, in chief a lion rampant of the second (gules)—Dalrymple of Woodhead, Scotland File:Blason ville fr Douzens (Aude).svg|"Or, a lozenge sable" File:Blason ville fr Le Faouët (Morbihan).svg|Fusils File:Blason fam fr du Puy du Fou.svg|Mascles File:Blason ville fr Montlaur (Haute-Garonne).svg|A rustre

Lozengy

The blason Lozengy is a form of variation of the field or of another charge (for example a chevron lozengy) which consists of lozenges semée, or sown like seeds (Latin: semen, a seed), or strewn across the field, but in an organised contiguous pattern. The arms granted to the Canadian John Francis Cappucci bring an example of lozengy voided, the same as "lozengy" but with a smaller lozenge-shaped hole cut out of each segment.

Examples

File:WarbeltonArms.png|Lozengy or and azure (effectively a field azure semée with lozenges or) File:LozengyOrAndAzure.png|Lozengy azure and or (effectively a field or semée with lozenges azure) File:Armoiries d'Ellenz.svg|A lozengy shield File:Lozenge flag of Monaco.svg|An alternative flag of Monaco, blazoned as a field "lozengy gules and argent" File:Flag of Bavaria (lozengy).svg|A variant flag of Bavaria, an array of 21 or more lozenges bendwise of white and blue (blazoned as a field "fusilly in bend" or sometimes "bendy lozengy"). File:Coat of Arms of Margareth of Parma Before her Marriage.svg|The personal arms of Margaret of Parma File:Coat of Arms of Infanta Isabella of Spain as Governor Monarch of the Low Countries.svg|The arms of Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain File:Coat of Arms of Anne, the Princess Royal.svg|The personal coat of arms of Anne, Princess Royal displayed on a lozenge. File:Escut de Borredà.svg|Arms of Borredà, a municipality in Catalonia

Lozenges on flags

Lozenge

Lozenge throughout

Mascle

Rustré

|Flagge Behlendorf.png|Flag of Behlendorf, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany |Flagge Duvensee.png|Flag of Duvensee, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

Lozengy

|Flag of Bavaria (lozengy).svg|Flag of Bavaria (variant) |Lozenge flag of Monaco.svg|Civil ensign and national flag (variant) of Monaco

[[:w:Variations of ordinaries#Nowy|Nowy lozengy]]

||Flag of Birobidzhan, Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Russia |Flag of New Milford, Connecticut.svg|Flag of New Milford, Connecticut, USA |Forest Finns flag.svg|Flag of the Forest Finns

References

(1909). "A Complete Guide to Heraldry". T. C. & E. C. Jack.
(January 3, 2010). "Coat-of-arms is Bishop Maurus Caruana's".
For example, the lozenge-shaped monument to Arabella Morgan (1741-1828) in [[St Andrew's Church, High Ham]], Somerset, see image [[:File:St Andrew's Church, High Ham2.jpg]]
(1722). "A System of Heraldry Speculative and Practical : with the Truc Ant of Blazon, According to the Most Approved Heralds in Europe : Illustrated with Suitable Examples of Armorial Figures, and Atchievements of the Most Considerable Svinames and Families in Scotland, Etc, Together with Historical and Genealogical Memorials Relative Thereto, Volume 1". J. MackEuen.
(1909). "A Complete Guide to Heraldry". T. C. & E. C. Jack.
(12 November 2020). "Public Register of Arms, Flags and Badges".

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

heraldic-charges

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Lozenge (heraldry) — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report