Cross heraldry: Encyclopedia - Cross heraldry

Cross (heraldry)

These crosses are ones used exclusively or primarily in heraldry, and do not necessarily have any special meanings commonly associated with them. Crosses that are used in heraldry but also commonly in other contexts are not listed here (see main article Cross).

A simple heraldic cross (the default if there are no additional specifying words) has arms of roughly equal length, artistically proportioned to the particular shape of the shield, which extend to the edges of the shield. Illustrated is the blazon "Azure, a cross Or" (i.e. a yellow cross on a blue shield).

A cross which does not extend to the edges of the shield is humetty, in heraldic terminology.

A cross with the ends of the arms bottony (or botonny), i.e. shaped like an architectural trefoil. It occurs counterchanged on the flag of Maryland.

A cross with the ends of each arm crossed.

Also known as the Jerusalem cross. This cross was the symbol of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, which existed for almost two hundred years after the First Crusade. The four smaller crosses are said to symbolize either the four books of the Gospel or the four directions in which the Word of Christ spread from Jerusalem. Alternately, all five crosses can symbolize the five wounds of Christ during the Passion. This symbol can be seen in the 2005 movie Kingdom of Heaven, and is also used in the flag of Georgia.

A cross with the ends of the arms flory (or fleury), i.e. having a shape somewhat like a fleur-de-lys.

One form of the heraldic cross fourchee (fourchée, fourchy) or cross fourche (meaning "forked").

A variant of the Crusaders' cross with cross potent.

With arms which narrow towards the center, and are indented at the ends. The "eight-pointed cross" (with no curved lines).

In a cross moline, the ends of the arms are split and curved back.

A cross patonce is more or less intermediate between a cross pattée and a cross flory.

A cross pattee (pattée, patty) has arms narrowing towards the centre, but with non-indented ends. See the cross pattée article for discussion of variant forms. See also Iron Cross.

A cross pommee (pommée, pommy) has a circular knob at the end of each arm.

This cross has a crossbar at the end of each of its arms. "Potent" is an old word for a crutch, and is used in heraldic terminology to describe a T shape.

A cross with a square at the intersection point.

In heraldry, a "cross triple parted and fretted" (or "treble parted and fretted") is interlaced. Here, a version which is "Or on an Azure field" (yellow on blue) is shown.

A "cross voided throughout", also known as the Gammadia, can be seen as a Greek cross with its centre lines removed, or as composed of four angles (L shapes) separated by a thin space. The name "gammadia" refers to its being made up of four shapes similar to a capital Greek letter gamma; the word gammadion can also refer to a swastika.

There are numerous other variations on the cross in heraldry. See heraldry for background information.

See also: Anchored Cross, Cross barby (barbée), Fylfot

The semi-classic book "A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry" by James Parker (1894) is online, and contains much information about variants of crosses used in heraldry.

Charge | Divisions | Field | Lines | Ordinary | Tincture

Bend | Canton | Chevron | Chief | Cross | Fess | Flaunch | Pall | Pale | Saltire

Category: Heraldic ordinaries

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Cross heraldry", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki