Bend Sinister
One popular misconception is that a bend sinister is a dishonourable charge denoting illegitimacy. This erroneous belief may stem from the supposed use of a baton sinister (not a bend sinister) to denote illegitimacy among British Royal Arms (though this denotes bastardy without any suggestion of dishonour.)
Read more about this topic: Abatement (heraldry)
Famous quotes containing the words bend and/or sinister:
“I bend my body to the spade
Or grope with a dirty hand.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“To shoot a man because one disagrees with his interpretation of Darwin or Hegel is a sinister tribute to the supremacy of ideas in human affairs—but a tribute nevertheless.”
—George Steiner (b. 1929)