Ermine (heraldry)

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This is an article about the tincture, for other uses see ermine.

The coat of arms of the former duchy of Brittany is "Ermine", one of very few coats that are of one tincture only.

In heraldry, ermine is one of the furs used in blazon, representing the skin of the stoat. In winter the stoat has white fur and a black tail; heraldic ermine represents a number of skins sewn together, forming a pattern of sable (black) spots on argent (white). The tail or "ermine spot" has been represented in many ways; the illustrations here show the most usual form.

Besides black-on-white, at least three variants of ermine are frequent enough to be named. A field of ermines (or counter-ermine) is sable with argent spots. A field of erminois is Or with sable spots, while a field of pean is sable with Or spots.

Other combinations of tinctures are explicitly stated, as in "gules ermined argent" (red with white ermine spots).

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