- Achievement
- The full suit of arms, including the helm, shield, surcoat and other equipment, and whatever supporters were appropriate.
- Addorsed
- Creatures placed back to back.
- Alerion
- A spread eagle that lacked a beak or feet.
- Armed
- Any beast on the shield whose claws, teeth or horns were a separate color from its body.
- Attired
- Any deer whose antlers were colored differently from its body.
- Augmentation
- Honors added to a crest or shield.
- Banner
- Used by knight-bannerets and nobles of higher rank.
- Bar
- A horizontal line across the shield.
- Barry
- More than three bars across a shield.
- Base
- The shield's bottom part.
- Bend, Bendlet
- A diagonal line across the shield.
- Bendy
- More than three diagonal lines across a shield.
- Blazon
- Written description of a heraldic device.
- Bordure
- A border around the field.
- Caboshed
- An animal's head facing forward without a neck.
- Charge
- Name given to whatever decorated the shield.
- Checky
- Checks of alternating color and metal.
- Chevron
- A line like an upside down V.
- Close
- Wings folded against the body of a bird.
- Combatant
- When two charges appear to be fighting.
- Compony
- The outside border around the field was checked.
- Couchant
- An animal sitting or lying down with an erect head.
- Counter-Changed
- Two alternating field and charge colors.
- Courant
- The charge was running.
- Cowed
- A charge was subdued and usually had its tail between its legs.
- Dance
- A zigzag line.
- Displayed
- A bird with its body facing forward and its wings spread.
- Erased
- The charge appears torn apart.
- Erect
- Upright.
- Estoile
- Star.
- Field
- Background color.
- Fitchy
- The pointed bottom of a cross.
- Guardant
- Charge faced forward.
- Lioncel
- More than three lions.
- Lozenge
- Diamond shaped.
- Membered
- The legs and beak of a bird were shown.
- Pale
- Vertical line down the center of the shield.
- Passant
- The creature was walking.
- Penon
- Small banner used for low-ranking knights.
- Proper
- When the charge was in its natural color.
- Quarter
- A quarter part in the shield.
- Quatrefoil
- A flower with four petals.
- Rampant
- A charge with its right leg raised and left foot on the ground; the right paw fully raised as if to claw and the left partially raised.
- Reguardant
- Charge looked back over its shoulder.
- Respectant
- Two charges faced one another.
- Salient
- Charge was leaping.
- Saltire
- Lines formed an X over the field.
- Segreant
- A rampant griffin.
- Sejant
- Charge was sitting.
- Semee
- The field is covered by little charges.
- Sinister
- To the left.
- Statant
- Charge was standing.
- Supporters
- Characters who stood beside a coat of arms and held it.
- Vested
- Had clothing.
- Voided
- Charge was missing its center.
- Volant
- Charge was flying.
Photo credits: (Related Resources) (1) Hyghalmen Roll, ca. 1485, PD-ART Wikimedia Commons, (2) Coat of arms of James VI, 1603, vector image by Sodacan, GNU Free Documentation License, Wikimedia Commons
