5. The fess (fig. 7), a horizontal baud iu the middle of the shield, said, like the ordi naries already enumerated, to occupy one-third of it. Its principal diminutive is the bar, containing the fifth part of the field; and there are also the closet, one-half of the bar, and the barrulet, one-half of the closet, the latter seldom borne singly.
6. The chevron (fig. 8), composed of two stripes descending from the center of the shield in diagonal directions like the rafters of a roof. Its diminutives are the checrmel, of half, and the couple-close, one-fourth its width, the latter borne, as its name implies, in pairs, and generally accompanying the chevron—on each side of it.
7. The cross (fig. 9), uniting the pale and fess, an ordinary which was originally like the rest, composed of the clamps necessary to the strength of the shield, but had also the deeper meaning of the symbol of the Christian faith. Besides its plain form, the cross was varied in numer ous ways, most of these varieties being, however, rather common charges than ordinaries. Of the 39 lesser crosses mentioned by Guillim, and 109 by Edmonson, a few of the most fre quently occurring are the following: the cross moline (fig. 10), with the ends turned round both ways; the cross jleary (fig. 11), of which each limb terminates in a fleur-de-lis; the cross patonee (fig. 12), each limb of which has three points; the cross potent (fig.
13), crutch-shaped at the ends; the cross pall& (fig. 14), small in the center, but widening towards the ends; and the cross erosslet (fig. 15), crossed at the ends. The latter is the most frequent of all, and borne oftener in numbers than singly. Any of these crosses is said to be fitchee when the lower limb terminates in a sharp point, as in fig. 10. There is also the cross Maltese, whose limbs have each two points, and converge to a point in the center of the cross; though not frequent as• a heraldic charge, it derives an importance from being the badge of the knights of Malta and of many other orders.
8. The saltire, or St. Andrew's cross (fig. 17), formed by a junction of the bend dexter and bend sinister.
9. The pile (fig. 18), a wedge with the point downwards. A single uncharged pile should, at its upper part, occupy one-third the breadth of the shield, but if charged, it may be double that width.
10. The quarter, consisting of the upper right-hand fourth part of the shield cut off by a horizontal and a perpendicular line. Its diminutive is the canton (fig. 19).
Armorial figures may be depicted on any of these ordinaries, but not on their dimin utives, with the exception of the canton.
We observed that the field of an escutcheon may be of two different tinctures, divided by a partition-line, which line may vary in direction. When divided by a par tition-line in the direction of one of the ordinaries, the shield is said to be party per that ordinary; thus we may have (figs. 20) a shield party per pale, bend, fess, chevron, or saltire. An escutcheon divided as by a cross is said to be quartered. A shield divided into any number of parts by lines in the direction of a pale, bend, or bar, is said to be 274, bendy, barry, the number of pieces being specified, as in the example fig. 21, barry of six, argent and gules. When the field is of a metal and color separated by any of the lines of partition, and the charge placed on it is said to be counter-changed: this means that the part of the charge which is on the metal is of the color, and vice versa, as in fig. 22, the arms borne by Chaucer the poet, per pale argent and gules, a bend counter-changed.
The partition-line which bounds the field, or the boundary line of an ordinary, is not always even.' Fig. 23 represents the commonest forms of irregular partition-lines in use, viz., the engrailed, invected, scary, nebule, embattled, indented, and dancette. An ordinary engrailed has the points of the en grailed line turned outwards, and an ordinary invected, in wards. Dancette differs from the indented by the partition line being marked with only three indentations.
The subordinaries, or subordinate ordinaries, are generally enumerated as the following, though there is no very broad line of demarkation between them and the common charges.
1. The gyros.—When a shield is at once quartered and party per saltine, as in fig. 24, the division is called ggronhy of eight (from gyros, a circle), and one of the triangles, or at least the triangle in dexter chief, is a Byron. Gyronny of six, ten, or twelve also occasionally occur, so called according to the number of the triangles.