From en.wikipedia.org:
[Ordinary in heraldic blazon in the form of a single, isolated horizontal
band] [Other uses]
150px
In heraldry, a FESS or FESSE (from Middle English _[enm]_, Old French
_[ang]_,[1] and Latin _[la]_, "band")[2] is a charge on a coat of arms (or
flag) that takes the form of a band running horizontally across the centre of
the shield.[3] Writers disagree in how much of the shield's surface is to be
covered by a fess or other ordinary, ranging from one-fifth to one-third. The
_Oxford Guide to Heraldry_ states that earlier writers including Leigh, Holme,
and Guillim favour one-third, while later writers such as Edmondson favour
one-fifth "on the grounds that a bend, pale, or chevron occupying one-third of
the field makes the coat look clumsy and disagreeable."[4] A fess is likely to
be shown narrower if it is _uncharged_, that is, if it does not have other
charges placed on it, and/or if it is to be shown with charges above and below
it; and shown wider if _charged_. The fess or bar, termed [fr] in French
heraldry, should not be confused with _fasces_.
** Gallery
<gallery mode="packed" heights="100"> File:Fess cotised demo.svg|Fess cottised
File:Barrulet demo.svg|Two barrulets File:Bars gemelles demo.svg|Two bars
gemelles File:Armoiries de Kerpen 1.svg|Fess indented File:Party per fess
demo.svg|Party per fess File:Hungary Arms.svg|Barry of eight
File:Blason-Rochechouart.svg|Barry wavy File:Heraldique blason ville fr
rochechouart.svg|Barry nebuly </gallery>
** Diminutives
In English heraldry, two or more such charges appearing together on a shield
are termed _bars_, though there are no definitive rules setting the width of
the fess, the bar, nor their comparative width.<ref name="Oxford60" /> A
shield of (often six or eight) horizontal stripes of alternating colour is
called _barry_. Narrower versions of the bar are called _barrulets_ ("little
bars"), and when a shield of horizontal stripes alternating colour is composed
of ten or more stripes, it is called _barruly_ or _burely_ instead of
_barry_.<ref name="Oxford60" /> A _cotise_, defined as half the width of a
barrulet, may be borne alongside a fess, and often two of these appear, one on
either side of the fess.<ref name="Oxford60" /> This is often termed "a fess
cotised" (also _cottised_, _coticed_ or _cotticed_).[5] Another diminutive of
the fess called a _closet_ is said to be between a bar and barrulet, but this
is seldom found.<ref name="Oxford60" />
** Other uses
<!-- This section is for other HERALDIC uses of the term FESS or FESSE. -->
<gallery mode="packed" heights="100px"> File:Tierced per fess demo.svg|Tierced
PER FESS File:Coat of arms of Owain Gwynedd.svg|Three eagles IN FESS
File:Stevenson arms.svg|A fleur-de-lys between two mullets IN FESS File:141
Signal Battalion DUI.PNG|A flaming arrow FESSWISE </gallery>
A shield _party per fess_ (or simply _per fess_) is divided in half
horizontally (_in the manner of a fess_). A charge placed horizontally may be
termed _fesswise_ or _fessways_, and two or more charges arranged in a
horizontal row are blazoned _in fess_ or _in bar_.
** Notable and unusual forms
A _mural fess_, that is a fess embattled and masoned of the field, can be seen
in the arms of Suzanne Elizabeth Altvater.[6]
The arms of Rennie Fritchie, Baroness Fritchie provide an example of _three
Barrulets fracted and there conjoined to a Chevronel_.[7]
A flag which has a central _horizontal_ stripe that is half the height of the
flag is sometimes said to have a Spanish fess. The name is based on the most
well-known example of this style of flag, the flag of Spain.
** See also
- Spanish fess
- Bar (heraldry)
- Pale (heraldry)
** Notes
[reflist]
** Further reading
[Fesses in heraldry]
- Boutell, Charles (1890). _Heraldry, Ancient and Modern: Including Boutell's Heraldry (see https://openlibrary.org/details/heraldryancient00avelgoog) _ . London: Frederick Warne. [6102523]
- Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (1909). _A Complete Guide to Heraldry (see https://openlibrary.org/details/completeguidetoh00foxdrich) _ . New York: Dodge Pub. Co. [0-517-26643-1] . [09023803]
- Neubecker, Ottfried (1976). _Heraldry: Sources, Symbols and Meaning_ . Maidenhead, England: McGraw-Hill. [0-07-046312-3] .
- Volborth, Carl-Alexander von (1981). _Heraldry: Customs, Rules and Styles_ . Poole, England: Blandford Press. [0-7137-0940-5] . [81670212]
- Woodcock, Thomas and John Martin Robinson (1988). _The Oxford Guide to Heraldry_ . Oxford: University Press. [0-19-211658-4] . [88023554]
- Woodward, John and George Burnett (1892). _Woodward's a treatise on heraldry, British and foreign (see https://openlibrary.org/details/treatiseonherald00wooduoft) _ . Edinburgh: W. & A. K. Johnson. [0-7153-4464-1] . [02020303]
[blazon]
Category:Heraldic ordinaries Category:Flags by design