Gules

Encyclopedia : G : GU : GUL : Gules

In heraldry, gules is the tincture with the colour red, and belongs to the class of dark tinctures called "colours". In engraving, it is sometimes depicted as a region of vertical lines or else marked with gu. as an abbreviation.

The term gules derives from an Old French word goules or gueules meaning "throats" or referring to the mouth of an animal (whence comes the English gullet). The mouth and throat are red, hence the transfer of meaning.

For many decades, heraldic authors have believed that the term may have arisen from the Persian word gul "rose" (coming to Europe via Muslim Spain or brought back by returning Crusaders) , but according to Brault there is no evidence to support this derivation.

In Polish heraldry, gules is the most common tincture of the field. Through the sixteenth century, nearly half of all noble coats of arms in Poland had a field gules with one or more argent charges on them.

The Gules tincture is said to represent the following:

Of jewels, the ruby
Of heavenly bodies, Mars
Of the Zodiac signs, Aries and Scorpio
Of the four elements, fire
Of the days of the week, Tuesday
Of the months of the year, March and October
Of metals, copper
Of trees, cedar
Of flowers, carnations
Of birds, the pelican
Of virtues, Valor, courage, and intrepidity

The Heraldic Tincture Series
Rule of Tincture
Metals: > Argent \| Or \|
Colours: > Azure \| Gules \| Purpure \| Sable \| Vert \|
Furs: > Ermine \| Vair \| Potent \|
Stains: > Murrey \| Tenné \| Sanguine \|
Other: > Bleu celeste \| Carnation \| Cendrée \| Orange \|

References

Brault, Gerard J. (1997). Early Blazon: Heraldic Terminology in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries, (2nd ed.). Woodbridge, UK: The Boydell Press. ISBN 0-85115-711-4.

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

Gules

See also

References