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Ordinaries
charges.
Charges are divided into three classes—Honourable Ordinaries, Subordinaries, and Common Charges. Of these, the ordinaries, as their name implies, are considered the most honourable, as they certainly are the most ancient. Unlike the common charges, which may consist of any object, the ordinaries seem to have been originally bands or bars riveted on the shield to strengthen it.
The ordinaries are nine in number:—
1. The Chief is the upper third portion of the shield, separated from the rest by a horizontal line.
The diminutive of this ordinary is the fillet, which is one fourth of the chief, and is placed in the lowest portion thereof.
2. The Pale is a perpendicular band, occupying, like the chief, one third of the field.
Its diminutives are the pallet and the endorse, which occupy one half and one fourth of the pale respectively.
3. The Bend is an ordinary similar to the pale, but crossing the shield diagonally from the dexter chief to the sinister base. When charged, it occupies one third of the field, but when uncharged only one fifth.
