# Mapping Resources > Reference Material >  Heraldry - Explanations of Violations

## Pryme8

Ive noticed more often then naught, people have gross violations in the rules of heraldry when they make coat of arms and Fields of Heraldry.  I mean there is master of arms for a reason...  and even I have had lots of trouble with it... so here the first step to my Heraldry Cheat sheet... its not close to being done yet but I started taking some good chunks out of the pie.


Hope this help...

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## - Max -

If it's not for an historic map I don't really see the problem with some kind of eccentric coats of arms and heraldry, especially in fantasy maps. Btw thanks for sharing your work

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## Pryme8

your always always aloud to do what you want, as long as there is a reason for it... like lets say putting a metal on metal, would dignify a alignment to something more then wealth and would command extreme presence on the battle field.  I mean the whole point of them in the first place is to identify your allies from the enemy, so even in fantasy they should follow a least a loose set of conventions in order to make your fantasy world more "believable".

And knowing the original rules may inspire some awesome things!

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## Fub

Thanks for this! The King Arthur Pendragon RPG has a good section on designing heraldry too.

One minor nitpick: Dexter is right, and sinister is left -- you have it reversed in your chart. But the latin names reason from the viewpoint of the person carrying this on his shield, whereas the english terms reason from the viewpoint of the person looking at the shield.

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## Pryme8

no dexter is the bearers right sinister is the bearers left.

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## rdanhenry

Thanks to the miracle of the Internet, you can easily reference existing summaries (e.g., Heraldry). You might find that easier than recreating the work, unless creating a fictional alternative heraldry.

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## vorropohaiah

I'm actually in the process of researching colours/metals/furs, fields, ordinaries, sub-ordinaries, partitions, blazons, heraldic beasts etc. for a map I'm working on at the moment and want them to be historically accurate, in a manner of speaking. 

always good to see something like this collected in one place

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## Blaidd Drwg

Very useful, thanks for sharing!

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## Pryme8

> Thanks to the miracle of the Internet, you can easily reference existing summaries (e.g., Heraldry). You might find that easier than recreating the work, unless creating a fictional alternative heraldry.


thank you Im gonna use this new information to work on my cheat sheet some more!

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## Vellum

Nice work on the quick tut Pryme8  :Smile:

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## Eochaid

If I may add some information, the rule "no metal on metal" is also true for colors. Apparently the rule was meant to increase contrast between the parts of the banner, so that it would be easily recognised from afar. Metals would have more "shiny" fabric, compared to plain colors. (white and yellow being fairer than the other colors, I guess? I don't think cloth-of-gold would be used for banners, though)

So I guess even when designing fantasy heraldry, one should still keep in mind that goal.

Nice cheat sheet!

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## ravells

Hi Pryme8, just renamed your title to make it a little clearer as to what this thread is about.

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## Chris Lewis

> Thanks to the miracle of the Internet, you can easily reference existing summaries (e.g., Heraldry). You might find that easier than recreating the work, unless creating a fictional alternative heraldry.


Very detailed site, rdanhenry. Thank you for sharing! :Smile:

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## Chris Lewis

> Ive noticed more often then naught, people have gross violations in the rules of heraldry when they make coat of arms and Fields of Heraldry.  I mean there is master of arms for a reason...  and even I have had lots of trouble with it... so here the first step to my Heraldry Cheat sheet... its not close to being done yet but I started taking some good chunks out of the pie.
> 
> 
> Hope this help...
> 
> Attachment 51313


Hi Pryme8. Interesting attachment, thank you for providing. Was wondering if you could supply your source since I'm not adept at heraldry. Thank you.

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