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 ...

, a stain (sometimes termed stainand colour or staynard colour) is one of a few non-standard

tinctures A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

or colours (namely

murrey In heraldry, murrey is a "stain", i. e. a non-standard tincture, that is a dark reddish purple colour. It is most proximate in appearance to the heraldic tincture of purpure, but is distinct therefrom. Overview According to dictionaries, "m ...

sanguine Sanguine () or red chalk is chalk of a reddish-brown colour, so called because it resembles the colour of dried blood. It has been popular for centuries for drawing (where white chalk only works on coloured paper). The word comes via French fr ...

and

tenné In heraldry, tenné (; sometimes termed tenny or tawny) is a "stain", or non-standard tincture, of orange (in English blazonry), light brown (in French heraldry) or orange- tawny (in continental heraldry) colour. Tenné, however, is not to be c ...

), which are only known to occur in post-medieval heraldry and may be used as part of a rebatement of honour. Almost none of these rebatements are found in fact of heraldic practice, however, and in British heraldry the stains find only exceptional use, other than for purposes of

livery A livery is an identifying design, such as a uniform, ornament, symbol or insignia that designates ownership or affiliation, often found on an individual or vehicle. Livery will often have elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or ...

Murrey

Murrey In heraldry, murrey is a "stain", i. e. a non-standard tincture, that is a dark reddish purple colour. It is most proximate in appearance to the heraldic tincture of purpure, but is distinct therefrom. Overview According to dictionaries, "m ...

(deriving from late

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...

, via

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intelligib ...

from

Medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned ...

''moratus'', from ''morum'' '

mulberry ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of diverse species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 identif ...

') is mulberry-coloured, or reddish purple. The murrey colour used in coats of arms & armorials should be clearly darker than purpure and stand out from it, to approximately the same extent that sanguine is darker than Gules and brunâtre from tenné. A good comparison between the two tinctures could be obtained from comparing the murrey in the coat of arms of the

University of Wales The University of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ''Prifysgol Cymru'') is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff � ...

, with the lion purpure adorning the coat of arms of the

Kingdom of León The Kingdom of León; es, Reino de León; gl, Reino de León; pt, Reino de Leão; la, Regnum Legionense; mwl, Reino de Lhion was an independent kingdom situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in 910 when t ...

Sanguine

Sanguine Sanguine () or red chalk is chalk of a reddish-brown colour, so called because it resembles the colour of dried blood. It has been popular for centuries for drawing (where white chalk only works on coloured paper). The word comes via French fr ...

(deriving from Middle English, from French ''sanguin(e)'' 'of blood', from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''sanguineus'' 'of blood', from ''sanguis'', ''sanguin-'' 'blood') is a brownish red, or blood-red colour. It is due to be darker than

Gules In heraldry, gules () is the tincture with the colour red. It is one of the class of five dark tinctures called "colours", the others being azure (blue), sable (black), vert (green) and purpure (purple). In engraving, it is sometimes depict ...

, the regular red, from approximately the same extent as murrey to purpure, and brunâtre from tenné. It can also be used for the depiction of animals said ''écorché'' ('scorched') in French heraldry, although this is very rarely used among the already rare occurrences of blazons depicting bleeding animals, on which the regular Gules is used instead.

Tenné

Tenné In heraldry, tenné (; sometimes termed tenny or tawny) is a "stain", or non-standard tincture, of orange (in English blazonry), light brown (in French heraldry) or orange- tawny (in continental heraldry) colour. Tenné, however, is not to be c ...

(deriving mid-16th century from an obsolete French variant of Old French ''tané'') (sometimes termed ''tawny'') is an orange-tawny colour, though ''orange'' is considered distinct in continental European and African heraldic traditions. Called ''tanné'' in modern and actual French heraldry, it refers to the leather tanning process and to the color the finished product is said to have, hence the name ''tanné'' ('tanned'). Being the initial shade of brown available by itself in heraldry, its hatching form naturally took the shape of red and green lines mixed together. Tenné is expected to be slightly darker than Gules, clearly darker than orange, but lighter than brunatre (dark brown), sanguine (dark red), murrey (dark purple) &

sable The sable (''Martes zibellina'') is a species of marten, a small omnivorous mammal primarily inhabiting the forest environments of Russia, from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia, and northern Mongolia. Its habitat also borders eastern Kaza ...

(black).

Historical examples

* The

, established in 1893, adopted a

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

blazoned: ''Argent on a fesse murrey three medieval lamps Or all within a bordure of the second charged with eight mullets of the third.'' * The

flag of the Second Spanish Republic The flag of the Second Spanish Republic, known in Spanish as ', was the official flag of Spain between 1931 and 1939 and the flag of the Spanish Republican government in exile until 1977. Its present-day use in Spain is associated with the moder ...

, adopted in 1931, was a tricolor of gules, or and murrey ( es, roja, amarilla y morada).

References

Bibliography