Imaginary heraldry

Anonymous, «Armorial des chevaliers de la Table ronde», National Library of France ~ Bibliothèque nationale de France ~ BnF, call number Français 1437, manuscript, illuminated, 165 folios, 275 x 190 milímeters, France, 1485-1495.

Content

This vellum manuscript written in «bâtarde solennelle» contains the names, arms, and blazons of the Knights of the Round Table from the time of the Quest for the Holy Grail.

The armorial proper, from folios 2 recto to 146 recto of the 20th-century pencil numbering, includes 166 painted shields with crests and mottos. It consists entirely of imaginary heraldry, attributing shields and blazons created for the characters of the Arthurian legends.

The volume also incorporates a treatise on tournaments, from folios 146 verso to 161 verso, and the knights' oath, from folios 161 verso to 165 verso.

Notes

This manuscript was part of the collections of Gaston d'Orléans and kings Louis XIV and Louis XVIII of France.

It features ink foliation from the 18^th-19^th centuries and pencil numbering from the 20th century.

Sir Gawain

In this armorial, Sir Gawain, identified in the French text as «Messire Gauvain», is depicted on folio 54 verso bearing a shield of imaginary heraldry that differs from the English tradition. Instead of the pentacle described in the poem «Sir Gawain and the Green Knight», here he bears a «Argent, a double-headed eagle Or, beaked, membered and armed Azure». Sir Gawain was King Arthur's nephew and son of King Lot of Orkney; in this same armorial on folio 21 verso, the «Armes de Lot d'Orcanie» are also represented.

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Bibliographical reference of century XV.

Classification: Manuscript, Armorial roll, French language and In color.

The author is anonymous.

The following article cites this bibliographic reference:

• Gawain, Sir

External resource:

• National Library of France, information http://archivesetmanuscrits.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cc44923s National Library of France, digitized manuscript.

Internal resources: TableRonde1490.ArmorialDesChevaliersDeLa.pdf PDF format.

Azure, three crowns in bend, bendwise Or.

Escudo de azur, tres coronas en banda, puestas en banda de oro.

Coat of arms interpreted by me as described below: the field is enameled in plain Azure ink; the three crowns are outlined in Sable, illuminated in Or and shaded; and the imaginary shield has a crystalline finish.

Brutus of Britain, also known as Brutus of Troy, is a mythical character to whom, starting from the 9^th century, is attributed the foundation of Britain and even the city of London, which is why this coat of arms is classified as imaginary, because both its holder and, therefore, its coat of arms are imaginary.

The interpretation of this coat of arms was made based on the banner that appears in [Edward IV of England; 1461; row 13, 1^st column].

This coat of arms has served as the basis for the realization of the inescutcheon of the banner with the inescutcheon of Edward IV.

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Blazon keywords: Without divisions.

Style keywords: Semi-circular, Illuminated, Shaded, Outlined in sable and Crystalline.

Classification: Interpreted, Imaginary, Coat of arms, Kingdom of England and Criterion.

Imaginary bearer: Brutus of Britain.

Alternative coat of arms for the heraldry and its categories.

Quarterly in saltire: 1 Purpure, a crown Or; 2 Vert, a sword point upwards Or; 3 Azure, a crozier Or; 4 Sable, a bezant; an inescutcheon Or charged with a heart Gules; a bordure Argent.

Imaginary coat of arms created by me with the following characteristics: its shape is semicircular; its field is enameled with flat tinctures of Purpure, Vert, Azure, Sable, Or, and Argent; all of its figures are illuminated and enameled in Or, except for the heart, which is Gules; and the whole composition has a metallic finish.

These arms are one of the alternatives created during the process of developing a coat of arms for the categories of heraldry.

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Blazon keywords: Quarterly per saltire, Purpure, Vert, Azure, Sable, Or, Argent, Gules, Crown, Sword, Point upwards, Crozier, Bezant and plate, Inescutcheon and Diminished bordure.

Style keywords: Illuminated, Outlined in sable and Watercolor.

Classification: Created, Imaginary and Coat of arms.

Imaginary bearer: Categories of heraldry.

Quarterly: 1 Azure, a cross Or; 2 Vert, a saltire Or; 3 Vert, a bend sinister Or; 4 Azure, a fess Or. Motto: «Arithmeticus».

Escudo cuartelado: 1^o de azur, una cruz de oro; 2^o de sinople, un sotuer de oro; 3^o de sinople, una barra de oro; 4^o de azur, una faja de oro. Divisa: «Arithmeticus».

I have made this imaginary coat of arms for the Arithmetic with the following characteristics: a semicircular external shape; its enamelled field with flat color Azure and Vert inks; all the pieces are metal Or, the motto is metal Argent with Sable letters; pieces and motto are illuminated and outlined in Sable; and the whole with a very lightly beaten metal finish.

For the division operation, instead of using the piece bend sinister, 2 bezants Or in pale could have been used. However, since the bezant is a diminished piece, I preferred to use 4 pieces, one for each quarter.

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Blazon keywords: Quarterly, Azure, Vert, Or, Cross, Saltire, Bend sinister, Fess and Motto (identification).

Style keywords: Illuminated, Outlined in sable and Soft metal.

Classification: Created, Imaginary and Coat of arms.

Imaginary bearer: Arithmetic.

Party per pale Gules and Vert; overall a mermaid proper, holding in her dexter a sword Argent, hilted Or, and in her sinister a comb Or.

Escudo partido de gules y sinople; brochante sobre la partición una sirena al natural, teniendo en su diestra una espada de plata, guarnecida de oro, y en su siniestra un peine de oro.

Coat of arms designed by me, highlighted with lights and shadows, contoured in Sable, and with a watercolor finishing.

Coat of arms of The Knights of Cristina designed under her directions and emblazoned by me.

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Blazon keywords: Gules, Vert, Argent, Or, One, Party per pale, Overall, Mermaid, Proper, Grasping, Dexter, Sword, Hilted, Sinister and Comb.

Style keywords: Outlined in sable, Illuminated and Watercolor.

Classification: Imaginary, Created, Boa and Coat of arms.

Imaginary bearer: Cristina, The Knights of.

Or, an eight-ball proper on a terrace in base Vert.

Escudo de oro, una bola ocho al natural terrazada de sinople.

Can modern objects appear in a coat of arms?

My rule is: a coat of arms is forever, so any symbol included must be recognizable by future generations. Can you place an iPhone in a coat of arms? No—but not because it’s modern, rather because your grandchildren likely won’t recognize the form of an iPhone; in fact, today’s mobile phones already look quite different from those of a decade ago. Can you include a steam locomotive? Yes, because its form has become anchored in time and in the collective imagination. What about an hourglass, an analog clock, or a black 8-ball from pool? Also yes—their forms are now classics. That is, I believe we can use those symbols that most people already carry in their minds and that are very likely to remain present in the minds of our children and grandchildren. But this is just my humble criterion.

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Categories: Criterion, Art, Created, Imaginary, Coat of arms, Semi-circular, Crystalline, Soft metal, Outlined in sable, Illuminated, Without divisions, Or, One, Non-classic artifact, Proper and Terrace in base.

Root: Bola 8.

Argent, a lion sejant erect Purpure.

Escudo de plata, un león sentado de púrpura.

Imaginary coat of arms of King Fernando II of León, which I have developed based on his seal and the arms of his successor, with: the shape of the coat of arms is semi-circular; the field enameled in flat argent; the lion enameled in purpure and illuminated; and the whole rendered with a watercolor finish.

For this imaginary coat of arms I have chosen a representation of the lion in a posture similar to that of the great seal appearing in [Fernando II de León; 1167], which is sejant ~ «sentado» in Castilian, although beginning to rise «sejant erect».

It should be noted that we are in a pre-heraldic period where the possible attitudes of the lion were not yet clearly defined, although several of them are already anticipated in the great seals of Fernando II, as can be seen, for example, passant in [Fernando II de León; 1181] and in other attitudes in the photographs of [Martín Fuertes, J. A.; 2002].

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Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Argent, Lion, Purpure and Sejant.

Style keywords: Semi-circular, Illuminated, Outlined in the field tincture and Watercolor.

Classification: Interpreted, Imaginary, Coat of arms and Kingdom of León.

Imaginary bearer: Ferdinand II of Leon.

Imaginary blazon of Sir Gawain, knight of the Round Table.

Gules, a mullet voided, interlaced Or.

Illuminated and a freehand finishing.

This five-pointed mullet, depicted as a pentangle, is the symbol Sir Gawain bears on his coat of arms according to the poem «Sir Gawain and the Green Knight» which reads: «Thenne they shewed hym the schelde, that was of schyre goules Wyth the pentangel depaynt of pure golde hwes. He braydez hit by the bauderyk, aboute his hals kestes, That bisemed the segge semlyly fayre. And quy the pentangel apendez to that prynce noble I am entent yow to telle, thof tary hyt me schulde: Hit is a syngne that Salamon set sumquyle In bytoknyng of trawthe, bi tytle that hit habbez, For hit is a figure that haldez fyve poyntez, And vche lyne vmbelappez and loukez in other, And ayquere hit is endelez; and Englych hit callen Oueral, as I here, the endeles knot».

However, in [Anonymous; 1490a; folio 54 verso], which is a French armorial of imaginary heraldry about the «chevaliers de la Table ronde», Sir Gawain, identified in this text as «Messire Gauvain», is depicted with a «shield argent, a double-headed eagle or, beaked, membered and armed azure», unlike the English tradition, which as we have seen, represents him with the pentacle described in the poem «Sir Gawain and the Green Knight».

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Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Gules, One, Mullet, Or, Voided and Interlaced.

Style keywords: Freehand, Outlined in sable, Illuminated and Semi-circular.

Classification: Interpreted and Imaginary.

Imaginary bearer: Gawain, Sir.

Party per pale Gules and Or, overall a lion rampant counterchanged.

Escudo partido de gules y oro, un león rampante del uno al otro.

Imaginary arms of Gryffindor with the following characteristics: the mouth of the shield is rounded; the shield is party per pale; the field is enameled in flat tinctures of Gules and Or; the lion is illuminated in Or and Gules and outlined in Sable; and it is made with a hammered metal effect.

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Blazon keywords: Party per pale, Or, Gules, Lion, Rampant and Counterchanged.

Style keywords: Rounded, Illuminated, Outlined in sable and Freehand.

Classification: Interpreted, Imaginary, Coat of arms and Harry Potter saga.

Imaginary bearer: Gryffindor at Hogwarts.

Thus they celebrated the funeral rites of Hector, tamer of horses. Homer, Iliad.

Sable, two lions combatant Or.

Escudo de sable, dos leones rampantes, afrontados de oro.

Imaginary coat of arms interpreted as follows: the mouth is a semicircular arch; the field enameled in flat Sable color; its 2 figures are outlined with the field tincture and illuminated in Or metal; and the set has a pearly finish.

Coat of arms interpreted from the imaginary blazon described in «Sir David Lindsay's Armorial», from the year 1542, where its blazon code «DL011» corresponds to Hector of Troy and which describes it as follows: «Sable, two lions combatant Or». Note the difference from the one described by [Avilés, J.; 1725a; page 7] which states that its field is Gules, «of red».

Says [Parsons, R. J.; 1989; paragraph 30], in one of the most beautiful descriptions of the lion that I have read, that the heraldic lion, as is the case with many other beasts, is very different from the lion in Nature. The lion in heraldry is the abstract expression of attributes such as nobility, strength, power, ferocity, courage, and vital energy. For example:

• vitality must be reflected in the line that flows downward through the animal's spine and to its hindquarters,
• power must be represented by its enormous shoulders and its strong forelegs,
• ferocity is symbolized by its unsheathed claws and its open jaws, and
• its tail, emerging from its entrails, and its mane must contribute to reinforce the expression of all these attributes.

Given this description of the heraldic lion, gifted to us by Robert John Parsons, every heraldic artist with critical capacity cannot help but ask themselves whether their lions are capable of expressing this range of attributes.

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Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Sable, Lion, Or and Combatant.

Style keywords: Semi-circular, Illuminated, Outlined in the field tincture and Iridescent (nacar).

Classification: Interpreted, Imaginary, Coat of arms and Greco-Roman antiquity.

Imaginary bearer: Hector of Troy.

Azure, a pall couped Argent, its three arms charged with «es» Sable, within a triangle reversed Argent, its three arms charged with «no es» Sable, within an annulet Or, all debruised by four plates, three on the vertex of the triangle, in dexter chief, charged with «el Padre» Sable, in sinister chief, charged with «el Hijo» Sable, in base, charged with «el Espítiru» Sable, and one on the fess point, charged with «Dios» Sable.

Escudo de azur, una perla recortada de plata, sus tres brazos cargados con «es» de sable, dentro de un triángulo ranversado de plata, sus tres brazos cargados con «no es» de sable, dentro de un anillo de oro, todo resaltado de cuatro bezantes de plata, tres sobre los vértices del triángulo, en la diestra del jefe, cargado de «el Padre» de sable, en la siniestra del jefe, cargado con «el Hijo» de sable, en la punta, cargado con «el Espítiru» de sable y uno sobre el corazón, cargado con «Dios» de sable.

Imaginary coat of arms that I have interpreted as follows: its base is semicircular (round); its field is illuminated in watercolor Azure; the rest in heavily beaten metal, outlined of the field and illuminated in Argent, except for the annulet which is illuminated in Or; and its letters all in plain Gules ink.

Annulet

The circular crown when it is large and in the middle of the shield [Cadenas y Vicent, V. de; 1975] is called an annulet. [Avilés, J.; 1780a; pages 296 and 297] calls it annulet or small annulet depending on its size, if it is large an annulet and if it is small a small annulet. In English and French heraldry it is called «cyclamor» and hence the expression «cyclamor annulet» can also be found.

This annulet is my aesthetic contribution to this imaginary coat of arms as it is normally not represented with this annulet.

Bordure and Orle

In other interpretations the words «non est» go on a bordure or on an orle, the latter being the case blazoned, for example, [Husenbeth, F. C.; 1882; 2^nd appendix] in the following way: «Gules, an orle and pall Argent, conjoined and surmounted of four plates, occupying the dexter and sinister chief and the base and fess points respectively; the first inscribed Pater, the second Filius, and the third Spiritus Sanctus, the centre Deus; the connecting portions of the orle between them having the words non est, and those of the pall est».

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Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Azure, Cyclamor, Pall, Closed, Argent, Charged, Bezant and plate, Or, Dexter, Sinister, Chief, Base (lower 1/3) and Heart.

Style keywords: Semi-circular, Illuminated, Outlined in the field tincture, Watercolor and Hard metal.

Classification: Religious, Interpreted, Imaginary and Coat of arms.

Imaginary bearer: Holy Trinity.

Hard work, patience, justice, and loyalty.

Party per pale: 1 Or, a badger rampant Sable; 2 Sable, a badger rampant, regardant Or.

Escudo partido: 1^o de oro, un tejón rampante de sable; 2^o de sable, un tejón rampante, contornado de oro.

Imaginary arms of the student House Hufflepuff at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, made with the following differential characteristics compared to other representations: the mouth of the coat of arms is rounded; the shield is party per pale; the field and the badgers are enameled in flat tinctures of Sable and Or; the badgers, facing Dexter and Sinister, are outlined by the field; and the whole is finished with a raised-stroke effect.

This imaginary coat of arms of the Hufflepuff House at Hogwarts has been interpreted without taking much into account other of the multiple realizations that have been produced and disseminated.

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Blazon keywords: Party per pale, Or, Sable, Badger, Rampant and Regardant.

Style keywords: Rounded, Plain tincture, Outlined in the field tincture and Freehand.

Classification: Interpreted, Imaginary, Coat of arms and Harry Potter saga.

Imaginary bearer: Hufflepuff at Hogwarts.

Within imaginary heraldry, I classify the arms attributed to persons, entities, or things, real, mythical, or imaginary, that could not or cannot possess them, or if they did, their existence is unknown, or due to various circumstances, they neither could nor can assume them.

For example, the coat of arms of Odysseus of Ithaca, legendary hero of Greek mythology, of Brutus of Britain, mythical hero of Troy and founder of Britain who never existed, of Seneca, who historically existed, but could not have had arms as he lived before heraldry, of Hufflepuff at Hogwarts from the Harry Potter books, of the Holy Trinity, of logic, of arithmetic, or of the categories of heraldry.

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Categories: Criterion and Imaginary.

Schema for an imaginary coat of arms that will have the following characteristics: its base will be semicircular (round); it will contain a closed pearl charged with four bezants; and it will be differenced by a label of three points, which being three is normal, its number will not be specified in the blazon.

Label

The way to elaborate a label can be found in [Avilés, J.; 1780a; page 248] who writes that «it is made of a fillet, which is the ninth part of the latitude of the Chief with three points in the form of a Carpenter's wedge, or of badly formed triangles, which united to it without separation of lines, fall twice as much, as the fillet is wide, the two being placed at its ends, and one in its middle, its ordinary situation being in the middle of the length of the Chief itself, without reaching the edges of the Shield».

Label points

In [Avilés, J.; 1780a; pages 248 and 249] it is said that «the simple Label is always of three points», as is the case at hand, «but having 4, 5, or 6, which is the greatest number found, it is necessary to specify it», although in [Avilés, J.; 1780a; page 114] he seems to consider that the maximum is five as he writes «Points, it is said of three, four and up to five points of the Labels».

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Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Pall, Closed, Charged, Bezant and plate, Dexter, Sinister, Chief, Base (lower 1/3), Heart and Label.

Style keywords: Semi-circular.

Classification: Religious, Schema, Interpreted and Imaginary.

Imaginary bearer: Jesus Christ.

Gules, three crowns Or.

Escudo de gules, tres coronas de oro.

Imaginary coat of arms interpreted in the following manner: the mouth of the shield is semicircular; the field has been enameled with flat color Gules; the crowns are illuminated Or and shaded; and the finish is crystalline.

This imaginary coat of arms proposal for King Arthur can be seen in [Ingeram, H.; 1459; page 30, 2^nd shield], sharing the page with Charlemagne, 1^st shield, and Godfrey I of Louvain and Duke of Brabant, 3^rd shield.

This variant of the imaginary coat of arms of King Arthur is one of the 6 that are illustrated, although more are listed, in the article [Scott-Giles, C. W.; 1965; paragraph 8, figure 2^nd], with variants of 10 and up to 13 crowns.

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Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Gules, Or, Crown and Ordered.

Style keywords: Illuminated, Shaded, Outlined in sable, Crystalline and Ogee.

Classification: Interpreted, Imaginary, Coat of arms and Kingdom of England.

Imaginary bearer: Arthur of Britain.

MP: A, A :- S, then S.

Or, on a fess ermine, a potent fesswise Gules, between in dexter a hurt, in sinister a pomme; in chief a hurt, in base a pomme. Motto: «Logic» in Greek Gules charged on a scroll Argent.

Escudo oro, una faja de armiños, cargada de una potenza puesta en faja de gules, acompañada a la diestra de un roel de azur, a la siniestra de un roel de sinople; en jefe un roel de azur, en punta un roel de sinople. Divisa: «Lógica» en griego de gules cargado sobre una filacteria de plata.

Variant of the imaginary coat of arms of Logic symbolized by the Modus with: the semicircular (round) base shape; the field and the pale enameled with plain Or and Argent; the hurts and the potent in Azure, Gules, and Vert, outlined in Sable and illuminated; and the whole with a marbled finish.

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Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Fess, Or, Ermine, Azure, Vert, Gules, Hurt, torteau, pellet, pomme and golpe, Potent, Fesswise, In chief, In base, Between and Motto (identification).

Style keywords: Illuminated, Outlined in sable and Freehand.

Classification: Created, Imaginary and Coat of arms.

Imaginary bearer: Logic.

Party per fess: 1 Sable, three mullets of eight points Argent, 1 and 2; 2 Azure, a ship in full sail Or.

Escudo cortado: 1^o de sable, tres estrellas de plata de ocho puntas, 1 y 2; 2^o de azur, un barco de oro.

Arms devised by me, highlighted with lights and shadows, outlined in Sable, with a semi-circular external shape and with a watercolor finish.

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Blazon keywords: Sable, Argent, Azure, Or, Three, Eight, One, Party per fess, Mullet, Disordered, Ship and Full sail.

Style keywords: Outlined in sable, Illuminated, Semi-circular and Watercolor.

Classification: Imaginary, Created, Boa and Coat of arms.

Imaginary bearer: Mediterranean, Sea of the.

Party per pale: 1 Vair; 2 Sable, a barn owl Argent, the eyes Sable, beaked and armed Or.

Escudo partido: 1^o de veros; 2^o de sable, una lechuza de plata, encendida de sable, picada y armada de oro.

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Blazon keywords: Party per pale, Argent, Azure, Vair, Sable, Or, Barn owl, The eyes, Beaked and Armed.

Style keywords: Rounded, Illuminated, Outlined in sable and Parchment.

Classification: Created, Imaginary, Coat of arms and Greco-Roman antiquity.

Imaginary bearer: Odysseus of Ithaca.

Think before you move the cursor or click on the following link and see the solution.

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Categories: Riddle, Imaginary, Sable, Three, Tower and Or.

Sable, three Towers Or, two and one

The classic heraldic layout for three charges on a coat of arms is two in chief and on in base. The layout one in chief and two at base are considered disordered in many heraldic traditions.

The blazon of this coat of arms, «Sable, three Towers Or, two and one», is disordered, and the entropy refers to disorder, and more entropy means more disorder. Then this imaginary coat of arms is full of entropy, and it could belong to the entropy.

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Categories: Riddle solution, Imaginary, Sable, Three, Tower, Or, Two, One and Disordered.

Party per fess: 1 Sable, three mullets of eight points Argent, 1 and 2; 2 Azure, three anchors Or, 2 and 1.

Arms devised by me, in flat tinctures, contoured in Sable, with a semi-circular external shape and with a texturized finishing.

Coat of arms of the Sea of Alboran designed and emblazoned by me as imaginary heraldry. This coat of arms is one of my very first heraldic designs.

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Blazon keywords: Sable, Argent, Azure, Or, Three, Party per fess, Mullet, Disordered, Anchor and Ordered.

Style keywords: Outlined in sable, Plain tincture and Semi-circular.

Classification: Imaginary, Created, Boa and Coat of arms.

Imaginary bearer: Alborán, Sea of.

Quarterly of four in four: 1 and 11 Azure, chaussé Argent; 2 and 12 Azure, contre-embrassé Argent; 3 and 9 Argent, embrassé Azure; 4 and 10 Argent, chaussé Azure; 5 and 15 Azure, embrassé Argent; 6 and 16 Azure, chapé Argent; 7 and 13 Argent, chapé Azure; 8 and 14 Argent, contre-embrassé Azure.

Escudo partido de cuatro y cortado de lo mismo: 1^o y 11^o de azur, calzado de plata; 2^o y 12^o de azur, contraembrazado de plata; 3^o y 9^o de plata, embrazado de azur; 4^o y 10^o de plata, calzado de azur; 5^o y 15^o de azur, embrazado de plata; 6^o y 16^o de azur, cortinado de plata; 7^o y 13^o de plata, cortinado de azur; 8^o y 14^o de plata, contraembrazado de azur.

Imaginary coat of arms created artistically with the following characteristics: a rounded base; fields of plain tinctures Argent and Azure; the charges that form the chaussé, chapé, embrassé, and contre-embrassé are outlined in Sable and illuminated in Argent and Azure; and its finish is a beaten metal effect.

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Blazon keywords: Quarterly, Chapé, Chaussé, Embrassé, Contre-embrassé, Argent and Azure.

Style keywords: Rounded, Illuminated, Outlined in sable and Metal beaten.

Classification: Imaginary.

Imaginary bearer: Triangulation.