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Bar (heraldry)

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Argent a bar gules

In English heraldry, the bar is an heraldic ordinary consisting of a horizontal band extending across the shield.[1] In form, it closely resembles the fess but differs in breadth: the bar occupies one-fifth of the breadth of the field of the escutcheon (or flag); the fess occupies one-third.[2] Heraldists differ in how they class the bar in relation to the fess. A number of authors consider the bar to be a diminutive of the fess.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9] But, others, including Guillim (1638), assert that the bar is a separate and distinct ‘honorouble ordinary’.[10][11][12][13] As an honourable ordinary, it is co-equal with the other nine of the English system.[14] Some authors who consider the bar a diminutive of the fess class it as a subordinary.[15][16] Authorities agree that the bar and its diminutives have a number features that distinguish them from the fess.

The diminutive of the bar one-half its breadth is the closet, while the diminutive one-quarter its breadth is the barrulet.[17] These frequently appear in pairs separated by the width of a single barrulet. Such a pair is termed a "bar gemel" and is considered a single charge and a third diminutive of the bar.[18] A field divided by many bars — often six, eight or ten parts with two alternating tinctures — is described as barry. The term 'bar' is also sometimes used as a more general term for ordinaries that traverse the field and sometimes to denote the bend sinister and its diminutives.[19]

Like other charges, bars may bear varied lines—such as embattled, indented, nebuly, etc.[20]

Differences between bar and fess

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There are several differences between the bar and the fess, in addition to their difference in breadth. An escutcheon or flag can bear only one fess but multiple bars.[21][22][23] Also, the fess must remain centered along the line extending from the exact middle of the escutcheon or flag, while the bar can be borne “in several parts of the field”.[24][25][26][27][28] However, Guillim asserts that the if there is a single bar it must assume the place of the fess at the center of the field.[29] Some textbooks state that the bar cannot be borne singly, but this is erroneous.[30] Smedley et al. (1845) maintain that if there are two bars, they must be placed equally distant from the fess point or center of the shield, the space of a bar between them, effectively dividing the field into five equal parts.[31] (Neither convention is strictly observed in vexillography.) Further, for those that maintain that the bar is an honourable ordinary separate and distinct from the fess, the fess is distinguished among the ordinaries in that it has no diminutives.[32] The bar is universally held to have two diminutives: the closet and the barrulet.[33][34][35][36][37][38]

Symbolism

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Another key difference between the bar and fess is the significance of what they each represent. For Nisbet (1722), the bar represents “a piece wood or other matter” laid across a pass, bridge, or gate to bar passage to an enemy.[39] As such, the bar on an escutcheon symbolizes the virtues of force, valor, and strength.[40] Nisbet, citing John Ferne, observes also that the diminutives of the chevron, bend, and pale—the chevronel, bendlet, and pallet—represent pieces of wood or other matter used as different parts of fortified barriers surrounding settlements or encampments.[41] The honourable ordinary the pale is also said to represent a wooden stake or picket used as a part of such a defensive barriers.[42] The term closet may derive from the Latin claustrum and signify a bar used to secure a door or gate shut.[43] The fess on the other hand portrays the military arming belt or Girdle of Honor awarded by rulers to soldiers or warriors for special services performed, as part of the ceremony of their investiture as knights.[44][45] The fess is thus symbolic of military rank, achievement, recognition, and distinction.

Other uses of term

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The term ‘bar’ has sometimes been used in a heraldic context to denote other charges. Mackenzie (1680) observed that in the Scots heraldry of the day, the term ‘bar’ was used for what the English termed the fess.[46] Nisbet (1722) found that the term ‘bar’ had been used “by all nations” as a general term for all pieces that “thwart or traverse” the field, as many of the honourable ordinaries do.[47] The Spanish use the term “indifferently” for pales, fesses, and bends.[48] For example, the arms of Aragon and Barcelona, Pallee argent and gules, are termed by them Barras longas, and Nisbet claims this usage is at the root of the place-name Barcelona.[49][nb 1] They observe that the Italians also have used the term sbarra (pl. sbarre) similarly.[53] Ginanni (1756) declares this usage mistaken though, and that the term sbarra properly refers to the bend sinister.[54]

In French heraldry, the term barre is also specifically used to denote the English bend sinister.[55] Writing of Scots heraldry in English, Nisbet himself uses the term ‘bar’ for the bend sinister.[56] The term ‘bar sinister’, derived from the French usage of barre, has sometimes been used in English to denote the bend sinister as a "brisure of illegitimacy".[57] It has even been referred to as the ‘bastard bar’.[58] The baton sinister, also taken as a mark of illegitimacy, has been referred to as the ‘Bar of bastardy’[59] and the 'Fillet of bastardy'.[60] Though commonly used, this adaptation of the French use of 'bar' into English it involves has been harshly criticized by some heraldists. The term ‘bar sinister’ has been dismissed as an “ignorant vulgarism”[61] and “an absurdity and impossibility”[62] in light of the established English usage of bar.

In contemporary vexillology, one also sometimes encounters a general or ‘indifferent’ use of the term bar. Alfred Znamierowski (2007) refers to the white fess of the Flag of Austria as a “wide bar”, and then also immediately characterizes its design as "white-red-white stripes".[63] The First National Flag of the Confederate States of America (1861-1863) has been popularly nicknamed the "Stars and Bars". The field of this flag is, like the Flag of Austria, composed of a white fess on a red field.

Diminutives

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The bar has four diminutives: the closet, barrulet, bar gemel, and cottise. The diminutive half its width is the closet, and that one-fourth the width is the barrulet.[64] Barrulets are often borne in pairs known as bar gemel, the pair separated by the width of a barrulet and considered a single charge. A coat of arms can bear multiple bar gemels, though four is usually the maximum.[65] The bar gemel is sometimes referred to by the French Jumelle or jumelles.[66][67] The diminutive of the barrulet, half its width, is known as a cottise. Cottises rarely appear alone, but are most often borne on each side of an ordinary (such as a fess, pale, bend or chevron). The ordinary thus accompanied by a cottise on each side is then described as "cottised", or these may even be "doubly cottised" (i.e. surrounded by four cottises, two along each side).[68] A single cottise is usually blazoned a cost.[69][70]

A bar that has been "couped" (cut) at the ends so as not to reach the edges of the field is called a hamade, hamaide or hummet, after the town of La Hamaide in Hainaut, Belgium.[71] As a charge, it is almost always depicted in threes. The adjective is hummety.[72]

Barry and barruly

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A field divided by many bars — often six, eight or ten parts with two alternating tinctures — is described as barry (of x, y and z, where x is the number of bars, y is the first (uppermost) tincture, and z is the second tincture). A field divided into five, seven or nine parts with two alternating tinctures is not called barry, however, but two, three or four bars.[73] A barry design consisting of twelve or more parts is comparatively rare and is called barruly rather than barry.[74]

French diminutives of the fess

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French heraldry has a set of diminutives of the fess—the fasce en divise, trangle, burelle, and filet—that a number of writers treat as equivalent to the English bar and its diminutives.[75][76][77] The bar as defined by the English is "unknown",[78] but Boyer writes that the English bar "answers to" the French fasce on divise, while the English barrulet "agrees pretty nearly" to the French burelle.[79] However, these French diminutives of the fess are defined differently than the English bar and its diminutives—in terms of the proportion of their breadth relative to that of the field and to each other. The fess (Fr. fasce) occupies one third of the breadth of the field and the fasce en divise, burelle/trangle, and filet are defined as one half, one-third, and one-fourth the breadth of the fess, respectively, or one-sixth, one-ninth, and one-twelfth the breadth of the field.[80] (Regarding the trangle, French usage is not consistent, but it is often defined as a component of the variation of the field field burellé (Eng. barry) when its transverse pieces are odd in number, i.e. as the equivalent of the burelle.[81][82]) The English bar, on the other hand, is defined as one-fifth the breadth of the field, and its diminutives—the closet, barrulet, and cottise—are defined as one half, one quarter, and one-eighth the breadth of the bar, or one-tenth, one-twentieth, and one-fortieth of the field. The bar and fasce en divise are roughly approximate as one-fifth and one-sixth of the field, respectively. But the burelle and barrulet are quite different—one-ninth and one-twentieth of the field. The English closet (one-tenth) does however approximate the burelle (one-ninth).[83] The French filet (one-twelfth) is not far either.

The tierce is a charge composed of three diminutives of the fess that are one-fifth its breadth and separated by an equal space, together occupying the breadth of a fess (one-third of the field).[84][85] The charge is analogous to the bar gemel as a pair of diminutives of the bar separated by a space equal to their width. As such, the tierce can be considered a diminutive of the fess. (If the charge is oriented bend-wise, the name tierce is still applied, its component diminutives referred to as bendlets.[86]) It can be noted that the diminutives composing this charge, as one-fifteenth the breadth of the field, are the same breadth as those composing the bar gemel as a diminutive of the bar (i.e. also one-fifteenth). Boyer's (1729) use of the term 'barrulet' to refer to the diminutives composing this charge is an example of how in practical use terms like barrulet are employed flexibly (for a diminutive one-third the breadth of the bar in this instance).

Finally, a word of caution is in order concerning the French term divise or fasce en divise when used for a diminutive of the fess said to be equivalent to the English bar. It risks confusion with the more prevalent French heraldic use of the term divise (sometimes fasce en divise) to denote a diminutive of the fess roughly the breadth of the filet. This divise (also filet en chef)[87] "supports" the chief, being positioned at its bottom edge and functioning effectively as fimbriation (see fillet).[88][89][90]

Examples

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  • Argent, three bars gules
    Argent, three bars gules
  • Gules, four bars indented Or
    Gules, four bars indented Or
  • Argent, three bars gemelles gules
    Argent, three bars gemelles gules
  • Argent, a fess doubly cottised gules
    Argent, a fess doubly cottised gules
  • A bar gemel wavy cottised in the arms of the French commune of Berneuil-sur-Aisne
    A bar gemel wavy cottised in the arms of the French commune of Berneuil-sur-Aisne
  • Barry of ten sable and Or in the arms of the German state of Saxony
    Barry of ten sable and Or in the arms of the German state of Saxony
  • Lion barry of ten argent and gules in the arms of the German state of Hesse
    Lion barry of ten argent and gules in the arms of the German state of Hesse
  • A bordure barry of ten argent and sable
    A bordure barry of ten argent and sable
  • Or, three hamades gules, the arms of La Hamaide in the Belgian province of Hainaut
    Or, three hamades gules, the arms of La Hamaide in the Belgian province of Hainaut
  • Arms of Richard de Valoines: Barruly of 14 argent and azure on a bend gules three mullets of six points or (1285)
    Arms of Richard de Valoines: Barruly of 14 argent and azure on a bend gules three mullets of six points or (1285)

On flags

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Bar

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Fess en divise

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Other bar

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Diminutives

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See also

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bars in heraldry.

Fess
Fillet (heraldry)
Ordinary (heraldry)
Charge (heraldry)
Fimbriation
Liste de pièces héraldiques

Notes

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  1. ^ Nisbet's etymology appear to be mistaken. The toponym Barcelona is now thought to be derived from a pre-Roman Iberian word of the Layetani, Baŕkeno, meaning 'place of the terraces'.[50][51][52]

References

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  1. ^ Guillim, John (1638). A display of heraldry : manifesting a more easie access to the knowledge thereof than hath been hitherto published by any, through the benefit of method. London: Jacob Blome. p. 80. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  2. ^ Guillim (1638), p. 80
  3. ^ Berry, William (1828). Encyclopaedia heraldica; or, Complete dictionary of heraldry, Volume 1. London: Sherwood, Gilbert and Piper. p. BAN-BAR. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  4. ^ Nisbet, Alexander (1722). A System of Heraldry, Speculative and Practical: with the True Art of Blazon ... Illustrated with Suitable Examples of Armorial Figures, and Achievements of the Most Considerable Surnames and Families in Scotland. Edinburgh: J. Mack Euen. pp. 59–60. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  5. ^ Robson, Thomas (1830). The British Herald; Or, Cabinet of Armorial Bearings of the Nobility & Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland, from the Earliest to the Present Time: With a Complete Glossary of Heraldic Terms: to which is Prefixed a History of Heraldry, Collected and Arranged ... Vol. III. Sunderland: Thomas Robson. p. BAN-BAR. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  6. ^ Baigent, Francis Joseph; Russell, Charles James (1864). A practical manual of heraldry and of heraldic illumination : with a glossary of the principal terms used in heraldry. London: George Rowney and Co. p. 7. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  7. ^ Woodward, John (1896). A Treatise on Heraldry, British and Foreign: With English and French Glossaries, Volume 1 (New ed.). Edinburgh and London: W. & A.K. Johnston. p. 136. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  8. ^ Cussans, John Edwin (1893). Handbook of Heraldry: With Instructions for Tracing Pedigrees and Deciphering Ancient Mss., Rules for the Appointment of Liveries, &c (Fourth ed.). Chatto & Windus. p. 58. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  9. ^ Rothery, Guy Cadogan (1915). A.B.C. of Heraldry. London: Stanley Paul & Co. p. 4. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  10. ^ Guillim (1638), p. 80
  11. ^ du Marte, Antoine Pyron; Porny, Mark Anthony (1777). The Elements of Heraldry: Containing the Definition, Origin, and Historical Account of that Ancient, Useful, and Entertaining Science... (Third ed.). London: T. Carnan and F. Newbery, Junior. p. 74. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  12. ^ Gough, Henry (1847). A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry. Oxford and London: J. Parker and Co. p. 43.
  13. ^ Grant, Sir Francis James (1846). The Manual of Heraldry. London: Jeremiah How. pp. 21–22. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  14. ^ Seton, George (1863). The Law and Practice of Heraldry in Scotland. Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas. p. 455. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  15. ^ Berry (1828), pp. ix
  16. ^ Elvin, Charles Norton (1889). A dictionary of heraldry : with upwards of two thousand five hundred illustrations. London: Kent and Co. p. 12. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  17. ^ Guillim (1638), p. 80
  18. ^ Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (1909). A Complete Guide to Heraldry. London and Edinburgh: T. C. & E. C. Jack. p. 119.
  19. ^ Nisbet (1722), pp. 59–60
  20. ^ Fox-Davies (1909), p. 119
  21. ^ du Marte & Porny (1777), p. 74
  22. ^ Grant (1846), p. 22
  23. ^ Gough (1847), p. 46
  24. ^ Clark, Hugh; Wormull, Thomas (1788). A Short and Easy Introduction to Heraldry (Sixth ed.). London: G. Kearsly. p. 19. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  25. ^ Guillim (1638), p. 80
  26. ^ Nisbet (1722), pp. 59–60
  27. ^ Grant (1846), pp. 21–22
  28. ^ Gough (1847), p. 43
  29. ^ Guillim (1638), p. 80
  30. ^ Brooke-Little, J.P. (1996). A Heraldic Alphabet. Robson Books. p. 42.
  31. ^ Smedley, Edward; Rose, Hugh James; Rose, Henry John (1845). Encyclopaedia Metropolitana; or, Universal Dictionary of Knowledge, Vol. V. London: B. Fellowes et al. p. 601. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
  32. ^ Mackenzie, George (1680). The Science of Herauldry, Treated as a Part of the Civil Law, and Law of Nations:: Wherein Reasons are Given for Its Principles, and Etymologies for Its Harder Terms... Edinburgh: heir of Andrew Anderson. p. 37. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  33. ^ Berry (1828), p. BAN-BAR
  34. ^ Clark & Wormull (1788), p. 19
  35. ^ Gough (1847), p. 43
  36. ^ Guillim (1638), p. 80
  37. ^ du Marte & Porny (1777), p. 74
  38. ^ Mackenzie (1680), p. 37
  39. ^ Nisbet (1722), pp. 59–60
  40. ^ Nisbet (1722), pp. 59–60
  41. ^ Nisbet (1722), pp. 59–60
  42. ^ Nisbet (1722), pp. 35–36
  43. ^ Smedley, Rose & Rose (1845), p. 601
  44. ^ Nisbet (1722), p. 43
  45. ^ Smedley, Rose & Rose (1845), p. 601
  46. ^ Mackenzie (1680), p. 37
  47. ^ Nisbet (1722), pp. 59–60
  48. ^ Nisbet (1722), pp. 59–60
  49. ^ Nisbet (1722), pp. 59–60
  50. ^ Michael Dietler; Carolina López-Ruiz (15 October 2009). Colonial Encounters in Ancient Iberia: Phoenician, Greek, and Indigenous Relations. University of Chicago Press. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-226-14848-9.
  51. ^ James Maxwell Anderson (30 June 1988). Ancient languages of the Hispanic peninsula. University Press of America. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-8191-6732-3.
  52. ^ https://www.barcelonacheckin.com/en/r/barcelona_tourism_guide/photo-articles/barcino-barcelona.php
  53. ^ Nisbet (1722), pp. 59–60
  54. ^ Ginanni, Marco Antonio (1756). L'arte del blasone dichiarata per alfabeto. Venice: presso Guglielmo Zerletti. pp. 145–146. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  55. ^ Nisbet (1722), pp. 59–60
  56. ^ Nisbet (1722), p. 133
  57. ^ Woodward, John; Burnett, George (1892). A Treatise on Heraldry, British and Foreign: With English and French Glossaries, Volume II. Edinburgh and London: W. & A. K. Johnston. p. 550. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  58. ^ Rothery (1915), p. 153
  59. ^ Elvin (1889), p. 14
  60. ^ Elvin (1889), p. 61
  61. ^ Woodward (1896), p. 136
  62. ^ Woodward & Burnett (1892), p. 550
  63. ^ Znamierowski, Alfred; Slater, Stephen (2007). The world encyclopedia of flags & heraldry: an international history of heraldry and its contemporary uses together with the definitive guide to national flags, banners, standards and ensigns. London: Lorenz Books. pp. 141–142. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  64. ^ Berry (1828), pp. CLO–COD
  65. ^ Fox-Davies (1909), p. 120
  66. ^ Gough, Henry; Parker, James (1894). A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry (New ed.). Oxford and London: J. Parker and Co. p. 173.
  67. ^ Berry (1828), pp. BAN–BAR
  68. ^ Fox-Davies (1909), pp. 113, 123
  69. ^ Robson, Thomas (1830). The British Herald; Or, Cabinet of Armorial Bearings of the Nobility & Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland, from the Earliest to the Present Time: With a Complete Glossary of Heraldic Terms: to which is Prefixed a History of Heraldry, Collected and Arranged ... Vol. III. Sunderland: Thomas Robson. p. COU-COU. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  70. ^ Berry (1828), pp. COR–COT
  71. ^ "Frasnes-les-Avaing (Municipality, Hainaut Province, Belgium". Flags of the World. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  72. ^ Brooke-Little (1996), p. 112
  73. ^ Fox-Davies (1909), p. 120
  74. ^ Fox-Davies (1909), p. 120
  75. ^ Berry (1828), pp. BAN–BAR
  76. ^ Coats, James (1725). A New Dictionary of Heraldry. London: Jer. Batley. pp. 34–37. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  77. ^ Woodward (1896), p. 136
  78. ^ Cussans (1893), p. 310
  79. ^ Boyer, Abel (1729). The Great Theater of Honor and Nobility. London: Henry Woodfall. p. 199. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  80. ^ Boyer (1729), p. 199
  81. ^ Rietstap, Johannes Baptista (1884). Armorial général: précédé d'un Dictionnaire des termes du blason, Tome I A-K. Gouda: G. B. Van Goor. p. xxx. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  82. ^ Nisbet (1722), p. 62
  83. ^ Nisbet (1722), p. 62
  84. ^ Boyer (1729), p. 193
  85. ^ Gheusi, Pierre-Barthélemy (1892). Le blason héraldique: Manuel nouveau de l'art héraldique de la science du blason et de la polychromie féodale d'après les règles du moyen age avec 1300 gravures et un armorial. Paris: Librairie de Firmin Didot et c. p. 56.
  86. ^ Boyer (1729), p. 193
  87. ^ Woodward (1896), p. 473
  88. ^ Plomteaux, Clément; Agasse, Henri (1784). Encyclopédie méthodique: Histoire, Tome premier. Paris and Liège: chez Panckoucke et chez Plomteaux. p. 53. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  89. ^ Migne, Jacques-Paul (1852). Encyclopédie théologique: ou, Série de dictionnaires sur toutes les parties de la science religieuse... Tome Treizième: Dictionnaire Héraldique. Paris: Ateliers Catholiques. p. 261. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  90. ^ de Mailhol, Dayre (1895). Dictionnaire historique et héraldique de la noblesse française. Paris: Impr. Ch. Lépice. p. 90.
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