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 bran ...

, gules () is the

tincture 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 ...

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 Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...

, it is sometimes depicted by hatching of vertical lines. In tricking—abbreviations written in areas to indicate their tinctures—it is marked with gu..

Etymology

The term ''gules'' derives from the

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 intel ...

word , literally "throats" (related to the English '' gullet''; modern French ), but also used to refer to a fur neckpiece, usually made of red fur. A.C. Fox-Davies states that the term originates from the Persian word , "rose", but according to Brault, there is no evidence to support this derivation.

Examples

Gules is the most widely used heraldic tincture. Through the sixteenth century, nearly half of all noble

coats of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in i ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

had a field gules with one or more argent charges on them. Examples of coats of arms consisting of purely a red shield (blazoned ''gules plain'') include those of the d'Albret family, the Rossi family, the Swiss

canton of Schwyz The canton of Schwyz (german: Kanton Schwyz rm, Chantun Sviz; french: Canton de Schwytz; it, Canton Svitto) is a canton in central Switzerland between the Alps in the south, Lake Lucerne to the west and Lake Zürich in the north, centred o ...

(prior to 1815), and the old coats of arms of the cities of

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; oc, Nimes ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and Cévennes, the commune of Nîmes has an estimated population of ...

and

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the department of Hérault. In 2018, 290,053 people l ...

. File:Henry III, King of England, coat of arms (Royal MS 14 C VII, 100r).jpg, The Plantagenet coat of arms, ''gules three lions passants guardants or'', origin of the Royal Arms of England File:Schweiz Schloss Chillon Wandwappen.jpg, Coat of arms of the

House of Savoy The House of Savoy ( it, Casa Savoia) was a royal dynasty that was established in 1003 in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, the family grew in power from ruling a small Alpine county north-west of Italy to absolute rule of ...

, ''gules a cross argent'' File:Fl- 14v Livro do Armeiro-Mor, Rei da Escocia.jpg, The

Royal Arms of Scotland The royal arms of Scotland is the official coat of arms of the King of Scots first adopted in the 12th century. With the Union of the Crowns in 1603, James VI inherited the thrones of England and Ireland and thus his arms in Scotland were now Qua ...

'' Or a lion rampant Gules within a double tressure flory-counter-flory of the second'' File:WAF im Landesmuseum Zürich 26.jpg,

Coat of arms of Schwyz Each of the 26 modern cantons of Switzerland has an official flag and a coat of arms. The history of development of these designs spans the 13th to the 20th centuries. List The cantons are listed in their order of precedence given in the federal ...

(

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

, 1573), ''gules plain''; the Juliusbanner with the '' Arma Christi'' inset is held by one of the supporters. File:Villingen, Franziskanermuseum, Wappenscheibe mit dem österr. Bindenschild, 1567, Inv. 11858.jpg, The

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

''Bindenschild'', ''gules a fess argent'', originally the

Babenberg The House of Babenberg was a noble dynasty of Austrian Dukes and Margraves. Originally from Bamberg in the Duchy of Franconia (present-day Bavaria), the Babenbergs ruled the imperial Margraviate of Austria from its creation in 976 AD until its ...

coat of arms. Below the ''Bindenschild'' is a small coat of arms of the city of Vienna, ''gules a cross argent'' File:Wolleber Chorographia Mh6-1 0567 Wappen.jpg, Coat of arms of the Kingdom of Poland, ''Gules, an eagle argent, crowned or''''Chorographia Württemberg'', 1591, attributed to Casimir III the Great

References

External links

{{Heraldry Colours (heraldry) Shades of red

Etymology

Examples

See also

References

External links