Colors of Iron

Heraldic Colors

THE COLORS ON COATS OF ARMS

COLOR AND MEANING

• Or (Gold) - Generosity
• Argent (Silver or White) - Sincerity, Peace
• Purpure (Purple) - Justice, Sovereignty, Regal

• Gules (Red) - Warrior, Martyr, Military, Strength
• Azure (Blue) - Strength, Loyalty
• Vert (Green) - Hope, loyalty in love
• Sable (Black) - Constancy, Grief
• Tenne or Tawny (Orange) - Worthwhile Ambition
• Sanguine or Murray (Maroon) - Victorious, Patient in Battle

RED

• Red is the color of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love.
• In heraldry, red is used to indicate courage. It is the color found in many national flags.
• Red brings text and images to the foreground.
• Red is widely used to indicate danger.
• This color is also commonly associated with energy,

Light red represents joy, passion, sensitivity, and love. Pink signifies romance, love, and friendship. It denotes feminine qualities and passiveness. Dark red is associated with vigor, willpower, rage, anger, leadership, courage, longing, malice, and wrath. Brown suggests stability and denotes masculine qualities. Reddish-brown is associated with harvest and fall.

ORANGE

• Orange combines the energy of red and the happiness of yellow. It is associated with joy, sunshine, and tropics.
• Orange represents enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction, success, encouragement, and stimulation.
• Orange is associated with healthy food and stimulates appetite.
• Orange is the color of fall and harvest.
• In heraldry, orange is symbolic of strength and endurance.

Dark orange can mean deceit and distrust. Red-orange corresponds to desire, passion, pleasure, domination, aggression, and thirst for action. Gold evokes the feeling of prestige. The meaning of gold is illumination, wisdom, and wealth. Gold often symbolizes high quality.

YELLOW

• Yellow is the color of sunshine. It's associated with joy, happiness, intellect, and energy.
• Yellow is seen before other colors when placed against black; this combination is often used to issue a warning.
• In heraldry, yellow indicates honor and loyalty. Later the meaning of yellow was connected with cowardice.
• Yellow is very effective for attracting attention, so use it to highlight the most important elements of your design.
• Light yellow tends to disappear into white, so it usually needs a dark color to highlight it.

Dull (dingy) yellow represents caution, decay, sickness, and jealousy. Light yellow is associated with intellect, freshness, and joy.

GREEN

• Green is the color of nature. It symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility.
• Green has strong emotional correspondence with safety.
• Dark green is also commonly associated with money.
• Green suggests stability and endurance.
• Sometimes green denotes lack of experience; for example, a 'greenhorn' is a novice.
• In heraldry, green indicates growth and hope.
• Dull, Darker green is commonly associated with money, financial world, banking, and Wall Street.

Dark green is associated with ambition, greed, and jealousy. Yellow-green can indicate sickness, cowardice, discord, and jealousy. Aqua is associated with emotional healing and protection. Olive green is the traditional color of peace.

BLUE

• Blue is the color of the sky and sea.
• It is often associated with depth and stability.
• It symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven.
• Blue is considered beneficial to the mind and body. It slows human metabolism and produces a calming effect.
• Blue is strongly associated with tranquility and calmness.
• In heraldry, blue is used to symbolize piety and sincerity.
• You can use blue for services related to cleanliness (water purification filters, cleaning liquids), air and sky (airlines, airports, air conditioners), water and sea (sea voyages, mineral water).
• Blue is linked to consciousness and intellect.
• Blue is a masculine color; according to studies, it is highly accepted among males.
• Dark blue is associated with depth, expertise, and stability; it is a preferred color for corporate America.
• When used together with warm colors like yellow or red, blue can create high-impact, vibrant designs; for example, blue-yellow-red is a perfect color scheme for a superhero.

Light blue is associated with health, healing, tranquility, understanding, and softness. Dark blue represents knowledge, power, integrity, and seriousness.

PURPLE

• Purple combines the stability of blue and the energy of red.
• Purple is associated with royalty. It symbolizes power, nobility, luxury, and ambition.
• It conveys wealth and extravagance.
• Purple is associated with wisdom, dignity, independence, creativity, mystery, and magic.

Light purple evokes romantic and nostalgic feelings. Dark purple evokes gloom and sad feelings. It can cause frustration.

WHITE

• White is associated with light, goodness, innocence, and purity.
• It is considered to be the color of perfection.
• White means safety, purity, and cleanliness. As opposed to black, white usually has a positive connotation.
• White can represent a successful beginning.
• In heraldry, white depicts faith and purity.
• In advertising, white is associated with coolness and cleanliness because it's the color of snow.
• You can use white to suggest simplicity in high-tech products.
• White is an appropriate color for charitable organizations
• White is associated with hospitals, doctors, and sterility, so you can use white to suggest safety when promoting medical products.

BLACK

• Black is associated with power, elegance, formality, death, evil, and mystery.
• Black is a mysterious color associated with fear and the unknown (black holes).
• It usually has a negative connotation (blacklist, black humor, 'black death').
• Black denotes strength and authority; it is considered to be a very formal, elegant, and prestigious color (black tie, black Mercedes).
• In heraldry, black is the symbol of grief.
• Black gives the feeling of perspective and depth, but the black background diminishes readability.
• Black contrasts well with bright colors. Combined with red or orange - other very powerful colors - black gives a very aggressive color scheme.

Iron Tinctures

METALS

• Argent - silver/white - pearl
• Or - gold/yellow - topaz

COLORS

Five colors recognized since the earliest days of heraldry.

• Gules - red - ruby
• Sable - black - diamond - named after a type of marten known for its dark, luxurious fur
• Azure - blue - sapphire - derived from Lapis Lazuli
• Vert - green - emerald - from ancient city of Sinope famous for its pigments
• Purpure - purple - amethyst - known as Tyrian purple, expensive dye, variation of gules

STAINS

• Murrey - mulberry - sardonyx
• Sanguine - blood red - sardonyx - dishonor
• [ltr]Tenne - tawny - jacinth - tawny yellow or brown/orange[/ltr]

FURS

The most prized skins for furs came from ermine, sable, weasel, squirrel, bear, beaver, minx, lynx,, otter, polecat, marten and fox. If those animals were not available, furs were taken, furs were taken from hare, rabbit, lamb, or wolf.

OTHER

• Cendree - ash color
• Brunatre - brown
• Bleu-celeste - sky blue lighter than azure
• Amaranth - strong violet-red
• Eisen-farbe - iron color
• Carnation - white human skin color
• Rose
• Copper - metal
• Ochre - both red and yellow

RULES

• Metal should not be placed upon metal, nor color upon color, for the sake of contrast