Blazonry Supported

Please excuse construction: there is apparently a bug in the server at the moment, caused by some new and exciting strangeness in my upgraded system. So things aren't working quite right. And the links here no longer point correctly, since Google Code is closed down. The site has been moved to github; I'll update the links soon.

The Blazonry server uses the pyBlazon program, which converts mediæval blazonry into SVG format, and then (by default) converts the SVG into PNG graphics using rsvg (since pretty much no web browsers handle the generated SVG properly).

See the pyBlazon Home Page

Don't Know Enough Blazonry to Understand What To Do? See the Blazonry Intro at the pyBlazon Github Wiki

Blazonry's structure is already pretty rigid, so most normal blazons should work without much trouble. Follow the usual conventions: background first, then charges, using the usual terminology. But note also that the line between Blazonry and ordinary English is not a sharp one, and this program can in no way follow it very far in that direction. See the pyBlazon page for some idea of the limitations of the grammar.

Not many “fancy” charges (animals, plants, common objects, etc.) are supported, but we have some: a few various crosses, lions rampant and passant.... But you can use any image on the web as a charge; just give its URL between <>-signs (but if you do that, remember that unless it has a transparent background, in PNG or GIF for example, the background will be included as part of the charge too). Or concentrate instead on experimenting with what patterns and arrangement you can make with the charges at hand.

I repeat: the cool charge you're looking for is probably not there. If your Or a horse-head cabossed sable didn't work, it probably isn't going to work for Or a horse-head sable or anything like that. Hardly any charges are supported by default, beyond geometric ones. The cool part is seeing how they are handled.

Examples:

• Argent a chevron between three roundels gules.
• Per bend argent and gules a fesse sable.
• Gyronny sable and argent an annulet counterchanged.
• Per bend sinister wavy purpure and argent.
• Or a saltire lozengy vair and gules.
• Or on a chief gules three plates.
• Or two pallets gules.
• Paly of eight vairy azure and gules and or ermined sable.
• Party per bend sable and argent.
• Vair a bend indented gules.
• Vert a pile inverted sable a chief azure.
• Purpure a pile inverted vert fimbriated argent.
• Azure a mullet between two flaunches argent.
• Argent three triangles in bend vert.
• Paly argent and gules 13 mullets azure in annulo.
• Argent a chevron azure between three roundels gules each charged with a mullet or.
• Vert on a pile inverted sable three billets argent and a chief azure.

You might also try taking a look at this site of old rolls of arms for some authentic examples. Try some of them out on the server. By no means will all of them work, but some will.

Some of the terms the server understands:

• Or, azure, sable, vert, gules, purpure, tenne, murrey, sanguine
• Ermine, ermines, pean, vair, vair in pale, counter vair, erminois
• Vairy (of x and y), ermined (e.g., Argent ermined vert), masoned, fimbriated, voided
• Fretty, semy, semy de lis, gutty, tortoilly, platey
• Per pale, per fesse, per cross, quarterly, per saltire, per bend, per bend sinister, etc.
• Bendwise, palewise, fesswise, bendwise sinister
• Checky, lozengy, barry, bendy, barry (etc.) of «number», barry wavy (&c), pily, chevronny
• Chief, pale, fesse, bend, bend sinister, cross, saltire, pall, fret
• (Within a...) bordure, orle, double tressure
• Canton, gyron, base, chevron, chevronel, pallet, bendlet, bar, bars gemelles, baton, pile, pile inverted
• Wavy, nebuly, indented, dancetty, invected, engrailed, undy, dovetailed, raguly, embattled
• Roundel, annulet, billet, triangle, lozenge, mascle, fusil, shakefork, label
• Hurt, pellet, bezant, torteau, plate, etc.
• Goute d'huile, goute de sang, goute de poix, goute d'eau, etc.
• Crescent, mullet, mullet of (3-12) points, escutcheon, fleur de lis
• Cross humetty, cross formy, cross pommee, cross bottony, cross pattee
• Lion rampant, lion passant
• Any image URL on the web can be used as a charge: just refer to its URL between < and > signs, e.g. Per pale argent and vert three <http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/ww/beta/y3.gif> proper. Note that appropriately transparent GIF or PNG pictures will usually give best results. You can color them “proper”, and leave their default color alone, or you can specify any other heraldic treatment.
• In pale, in bend, in fesse, in orle, in annulo
• Arrangement by numbers, e.g., “Argent seven roundels azure three one and three”
• “each charged with...”
• Counterchanged, countercharged (whichever is correct; it treats them the same)

News

1 May 2008

After a long hiatus, uploaded the new version here. This uses a different type of lexer, making it more flexible in accepting complicated charge-names, against a time when I'll have a table of charges that can use it. In the meantime, though, I've added a question-mark shaped charge that is used for anything not recognized, which is a lot better than an error message when you use a charge that isn't one of the few pyBlazon knows. Also see the pyBlazon home page for new information about the availability of the software.