Medieval Glossary

Pale

In heraldry, one of the figures known as ordinaries, consisting of a vertical band in the middle of the shield, of which it is said to occupy one-third. Several charges of any kind are said to be "in pale" when they stand over each other vertically, as do the three lions of England.

A shield divided through the middle by a horizontal vertical line is said to be "parted per pale." The pallet is the diminutive of the pale, and is most generally not borne singly. Three pallets gules were the arms of Raymond, count of Provence. When the field is divided into an even number of parts by perpendicular lines, it is called "paly of" so many pieces. When divided by lines perpendicular and bendways crossing, it is called "paly bendy." An endorse is further diminutive of the pallet, and a pale placed between two endorses is said to be endorsed.

Related term(s): Heraldry; Ordinary; Charge (Heraldry); Bend; Fess; Chief
Category: Heraldry
Added: 06.04.06
Source information: Wilhelm, Thomas. A Military Dictionary and Gazetteer. Philadelphia: L.R. Hamersly & Co., 1881. 404.

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