Line (heraldry)
The lines of partition used to divide and vary fields and charges in heraldry are by default straight, but may have many different shapes. Care must sometimes be taken to distinguish these types of lines from the extremely unusual and non-traditional use of lines as charges, and to distinguish these shapes from actual charges, such as "a mount in base," or, particularly in German heraldry, different kinds of embattled from castle walls.
In Scotland, varied lines of partition are often used to modify a bordure (or sometimes another ordinary) to difference the arms of a cadet from the chief of the house.
Read more about Line (heraldry): Indented and Dancetty, Wavy and Nebuly, Engrailed and Invected, Embattled and Variants, Embowed and Nowy, Rarer Lines and Recent Inventions, Gallery of Different Lines of Partition
Famous quotes containing the word line:
“If the Union is once severed, the line of separation will grow wider and wider, and the controversies which are now debated and settled in the halls of legislation will then be tried in fields of battle and determined by the sword.”
—Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)