Emblazoning Bretonnian Shields By Eric Sarlin and Rick Smith Heraldry the colors and symbols that adorn

n warriors shields and sometimes their tunics, comparisons, and other battlefield regalia is a complex system in the fictional land of Bretonnia and in the real world as well Hypotheses about the real!world origins of this system ha"e been the sub#ect of much debate among historians Some argue that the origins of heraldry can be found in the runes of $erman and Scandina"ian populations %thers argue that the basic idea for heraldry was imported from &uslim countries into Europe after the 'rusades (hese theories, howe"er, ha"e many detractors &ost scholars of the sub#ect find the origin of European heraldry in the simple need for warriors to be able to recogni)e one another on the battlefield where their faces would be hidden by helmets By painting emblems on their shields, warriors could be recogni)ed by their allies and subordinates as well as their foes (hus, heraldry, at first, ser"ed a simple and practical battlefield role *s the heraldic system e"ol"ed, howe"er, warriors de"ices became sources of pride, prestige, and family honor and functioned much like the meaningful symbols of our day such as national flags, sports team colors, and corporate logos +or centuries, European heraldry was unregulated ,arriors, noble and common alike, could create their own heraldry based on their own tastes as well as local and family tradition -ater, systems of heraldry became more strictly regulated and became increasingly associated with titled nobility .n sixteenth century England, for instance, Henry /... proclaimed that that a professional organi)ation of heralds would standardi)e the system of heraldry (o this day, the English 'ollege of *rms regulates the colors and de"ices used in the national heraldry and issues new 0grants of arms1 to deser"ing indi"iduals 2rofessional heralds, like those who work for the 'ollege of *rms, are, in part, responsible for describing or 0bla)oning1 how a particular shield should look, and a uni3ue "ocabulary de"eloped o"er the years to facilitate such descriptions +or instance, a herald might describe Bretonnian 4ing -ouen -eoncoeurs shield 5pictured right6 as follows7 0per pale gules and azure, a lion rampant or.1 (his description translates to 0di"ided "ertically into red and blue hal"es, with a gold lion on his hind legs 1 Left: King Louens first shield, which he wore as a Knight Errant, could be described as 0per pale gules and azure, a lion rampant or.1 ,ith such a description or 0bla)on,1 a warrior could ha"e his shield painted or 0embla)oned1 to match his assigned heraldry (hereafter, he could be easily identified by his friends and enemies on the battlefield ,ith #ust a few basic heraldic terms and concepts in mind, you can easily design and embla)on striking heraldry for the shields and other regalia on your Bretonnian models

(he symbol in the foreground of a shield often an animal or icon is called a 0charge 1 'ommon charges are horses, stags, boars, wol"es, lions, griffons, birds, fish, fleurs!de!lys, crosses, and other geometric designs (he background color or colors are known as 0fields 1 +ields and charges can be painted with a 0color1 or a 0metal 1 'olors include gules 5red6, azure 5blue6, vert 5green6, purpure 5purple6, and sable 5black6 (here are only two metals7 argent 5sil"er, or more fre3uently, white6 and or 5gold or, more fre3uently, yellow6 2atterned fields, some of which are known as 0furs,1 are less common, but also possible 'harges, but not fields, can also be painted in a 0proper1 fashion, that is, in naturalistic colors * proper stag, for instance, would likely be painted brown Right: Shown here is the shield that Louen Leoncoeur wears as King. The atterned field is !isible behind the lion ram ant. (he basic rule of arranging colors and metals is 0dont paint a metal on top of a metal and dont paint a color on top of a color 1 (hus, a gold charge on a blue field would be acceptable, whereas a gold charge on a sil"er field would not *lthough there are plenty of exceptions in both real!world and Bretonnian heraldry, the rule ser"es as a good painting guide to the hobbyist who wants to ensure that his models ha"e striking, high!contrast color schemes (he rules of heraldry all but ensure an eye! catching group of colors

(he color section in "arhammer #rmies: Bretonnia includes do)ens of examples of heraldry that you can copy or modify for your models Howe"er, most of the fields shown there are solid, hal"ed, or 3uartered %ther heraldic arrangements are common, and some are shown below &ost of the arrangements ha"e standard "ariations +or instance, a shield can ha"e a 0pale1 5a single "ertical stripe6, can be di"ided 0per pale1 5two different colored fields di"ided by a "ertical line6, or can ha"e a series of small charges like stars or fleurs!de!lys composed 0pale wise1 5"ertically arranged in the center of the shield6 Below, you can see a number of traditional arrangements with their "ariants $ou can download blac%&and&white line drawings of these images b' clic%ing here. Test out different color schemes b' coloring these drawings with (itadel (olours or colored encils or mar%ers. By painting a charge or charges on top of these arrangements of fields, you can create effecti"e heraldry for your models .f you want to use a unified color scheme for your army, pick a few colors for all of your Bretonnian 4night models By using the same colors in different heraldic patterns on all the models, you can create a "ariety of uni3ue designs while maintaining a coherent color scheme from model to model +urther complexity can be added by 0impaling1 the 4nights heraldry, that is, displaying two or more different heraldries on each section of a di"ided shield, an arrangement particularly appropriate for $rail 4nights and character models

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