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Lozenge (heraldry)

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".[1] 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.

Ledger slab with lozenge arms of Dorothy Neville (1605–1672), Kirby Cane, Norfolk.

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.[2][3] Funerary hatchments are generally shown within lozenge-shaped frames, for both male and female deceased.

Types

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.[6]

Examples

Lozenges on flags

Lozenge

Lozenge throughout

Mascle

Rustré

Lozengy

Nowy lozengy

See also

References

  1. ^ Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (1909). A Complete Guide to Heraldry. London and Edinburgh: T. C. & E. C. Jack. p. 146.
  2. ^ "Coat-of-arms is Bishop Maurus Caruana's". Times of Malta. January 3, 2010.
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b Nisbet, Alexander (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. Edinburgh: J. MackEuen. p. 208. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  5. ^ Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (1909). A Complete Guide to Heraldry. London and Edinburgh: T. C. & E. C. Jack. p. 146.
  6. ^ "Public Register of Arms, Flags and Badges". 12 November 2020.

Further reading