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Erasure in
A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry
(1894; new edition by James Parker and Company, Oxford, 2004) The term ''erased'' is most often used of an animal's head, when the neck is depicted with a ragged edge as if forcibly torn from the body. ''Erased'' heads are distinct from those ''couped'', in that the first are left with a jagged edge, while the second have a straight edge, as if cut with a sword. John Craig's dictionary of 1854 says: When a tree or other plant is shown uprooted, with the bare roots showing, it is called eradicated.
There are different traditions for the erasing of heads. For instance, with the head of a
File:TalbotHead Erased.svg, Talbot’s head erased gules langued azure
File:Boar's head argent erased.svg, Boar's head erased argent langued gules tusked or
File:Griffin's head erased (heraldry).svg, Griffin's head erased
File:Cow head erased.svg, Cow’s head erased proper
File:Stag's head erased (heraldry).svg, Stag's head erased
File:FoxHeadErased svg Model.svg, Fox’s head erased or langued gules
Erasure in blazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vis ...
, the language of heraldry
Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branch ...
, is the tearing off of part of a charge
Charge or charged may refer to:
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Music
* ''Charge'' (David Ford album)
* ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album)
* ''Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...
, leaving a jagged edge of it remaining. In blazons the term is most often found in its adjectival form, erased, and is usually applied to animate charges, most often heads or other body parts.James ParkerA Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry
(1894; new edition by James Parker and Company, Oxford, 2004) The term ''erased'' is most often used of an animal's head, when the neck is depicted with a ragged edge as if forcibly torn from the body. ''Erased'' heads are distinct from those ''couped'', in that the first are left with a jagged edge, while the second have a straight edge, as if cut with a sword. John Craig's dictionary of 1854 says: When a tree or other plant is shown uprooted, with the bare roots showing, it is called eradicated.
Forms of erasure
There are different traditions for the erasing of heads. For instance, with the head of a bear
Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...
, whether couped or erased, in English heraldry the separation is done horizontally under the neck, which is not lost, whereas in Scottish heraldry the usual practice is for the head to be separated from the body vertically, without keeping the neck attached to it.Charles Boutell, ''Heraldry'' (F. Warne, 1950), p. 71
Gallery
See also
*Cabossed
In heraldry, cabossed, or caboched, is a term used where the head of a beast is cut off behind the ears, by a section parallel to the face; or by a perpendicular section: in contrast to couping, which is done by a horizontal line, and farther fr ...
*Heads in heraldry
The heads of humans and other animals are frequently occurring charges in heraldry. The blazon, or heraldic description, usually states whether an animal's head is couped (as if cut off cleanly at the neck), erased (as if forcibly ripped from th ...
References
{{heraldry Heraldry