Editing Heraldry (section)

===Devices and charges===
Charges are objects or figures placed on a shield. Many of the devices and charges used in the heraldry of Westeros derive directly from traditional sources and include creatures such as lions, stags and birds, and symbols such as stars, weapons and ships. There are some notable differences in Martin's designs though:

The use of seven-pointed stars to represent the [[Faith of the Seven]]. Seven-pointed stars are rare in traditional heraldry and vexillology, with a notable exception being the flag of Australia. Examples include:

<gallery>
File:House Sunglass.svg|[[House Sunglass]]
File:House Tarbeck.svg|[[House Tarbeck]]
File:House Templeton.svg|[[House Templeton]]
</gallery>

The use of very detailed pictures, particularly humanoid figures, such as:

<gallery>
File:House Bolton.svg|The flayed man of [[House Bolton]]
File:House Sunderly.svg|The drowned man of [[House Sunderly]] 
File:House Piper.svg|The silk-swirled dancing maiden of [[House Piper]]
File:House Falwell.svg|The fool of [[House Falwell]]
</gallery>

In reality, these figures would be difficult to render on shields and flags with any accuracy or consistency.

The use of detailed creatures and figures on the shield that would normally only appear as supporters in traditional coats of arms, such as:

<gallery>
File:House Manderly.svg|The merman of [[House Manderly]]
File:House Umber.svg|The giant in chains of [[House Umber]]
</gallery>

The use of fauna and flora specific to Westeros, such as:

<gallery>
File:House Reed.svg|The lizard-lion of [[House Reed]] 
File:House Blackwood.svg|The weirwood tree of [[House Blackwood]]
</gallery>

==== Ordinaries ====
Some charges with simple geometric shapes are so common that they are often classified separately as ''ordinaries''. These include:

{| class="wikitable"
! Ordinary !! Description !! Example
|-
! [[File:Heraldry - Fess.svg|100px]]<br>Fess
| a horizontal band
| {{coa|Blackbar|l}}<br>[[House Blackbar]]
|-
! [[File:Heraldry - Pale.svg|100px]]<br>Pale
| a vertical band, meaning an upright stake, whence "palisade"
| {{coa|Hayford|l}}<br>[[House Hayford]]
|-
! [[File:Heraldry - Bend.svg|100px]]<br>Bend
| diagonal band, from dexter chief to sinister base. "Sinister" and "dexter" mean left and right respectively, but they are from the point of view of someone holding the shield, so they are reversed from an observer's viewpoint.
| {{coa|Hasty|l}}<br>[[House Hasty]]
|-
! [[File:Heraldry - Bend sinister.svg|100px]]<br>Bend sinister
| The bend sinister goes the other way, from sinister chief to dexter base.
| {{coa|Inchfield|l}}<br>[[House Inchfield]]
|-
! [[File:Heraldry - Chief.svg|100px]]<br>Chief
| a broad band across the top of the shield; "chief" also describes a location near or towards the top of the shield.
| {{coa|Bridges|l}}<br>[[House Bridges]]
|-
! [[File:Heraldry - Cross.svg|100px]]<br>Cross
| meaning always an upright cross; a very common ordinary in European heraldry (with an obvious religious meaning), but seems to be less common in the Seven Kingdoms.
| {{coa|Gower|l}}<br>[[House Gower]]
|-
! [[File:Heraldry - Saltire.svg|100px]]<br>Saltire
| a diagonal cross
| {{coa|Turnberry|l}}<br>[[House Turnberry]]
|-
! [[File:Heraldry - Pile.svg|100px]]<br>Pile
| roughly equilateral triangle with the top edge of the shield as its base
| {{coa|Burley|l}}<br>[[House Burley]]
|-
! [[File:Heraldry - Pall.svg|100px]]<br>Pall
| a Y shape
| {{coa|Coldwater|l}}<br>[[House Coldwater]]
|-
! [[File:Heraldry - Pall reversed.svg|100px]]<br>Pall reversed
| an upside-down Y shape
| {{coa|Flint of Flint's Finger|l}}<br>[[House Flint of Flint's Finger]]
|-
! [[File:Heraldry - Bordure.svg|100px]]<br>Bordure
| a border parallel with the edge of the shield; called simply '''border''' in the books
| {{coa|Merryweather|l}}<br>[[House Merryweather]]
|-
! [[File:Heraldry - Orle.svg|100px]]<br>Orle
| a shield-shaped ring - similar to a bordure but does not reach the edge of the shield, leaving a small gap of the main field tincture.
| {{coa|Kettleblack|l}}<br>[[House Kettleblack]]
|-
! [[File:Heraldry - Tressure.svg|100px]]<br>Tressure
| a thinner orle
| {{coa|Mooton|l}}<br>[[House Mooton]]
|-
! [[File:Heraldry - Double tressure.svg|100px]]<br>Double tressure
| two tressures, one inside the other.
| {{coa|Greenfield|l}}<br>[[House Greenfield]]
|-
! [[File:Heraldry - Chevron.svg|100px]]<br>Chevron
| a horizontal band with a kink in the middle, so that it slopes upwards towards both edges of the shield. <br> It is a mirrored version of real-world chevrons, which slope downwards.<ref>asoiaf.westeros.org: [https://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php?/topic/34958-the-asoiaf-wiki-thread/page/62/#comment-7483493 The ASOIAF wiki thread &ndash; Comment by Ran (February 29, 2016)]</ref>
| {{coa|Ashford|l}}<br>[[House Ashford]]
|-
! [[File:Heraldry - Canton.svg|100px]]<br>Canton
| a square in dexter chief
| {{coa|Bolling|l}}<br>[[House Bolling]]
|}

==== Examples ====
{| style="text-align:left;border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:5px;"
|[[File:House Mollen.svg|75px|A pine tree covered with snow in a pale green pile, on white]]
| The arms of the [[House Mollen]] has a pile: ''A snow covered pine tree on a pile light green on a white''.
|-
|[[File:House Jast.svg|75px|Inverted pall between three lion's heads, yellow on black]]
| Some pieces like the pall may be oriented in different ways, thus, the image of the [[House Jast]] has ''an inverted pall between three lion's heads, yellow on black''.
|-
|[[File:House Goodbrook.svg|75px|A blue wavy bend on gold]]
| All the ordinaries can also undergo various changes in size or edge, for example the bend that loads the arms of [[House Goodbrook]] is "wavy": ''A blue wavy bend on gold''.
|-
|[[File:House Bolling.svg|75px|Vairy orange and blue; upon a black canton, a golden stag beneath an orange bend sinister]]
| Finally, an ordinary can load another ordinary, so the arms of [[House Bolling]] feature a canton charged with a bend: ''Vairy orange and blue; upon a black canton, a golden stag beneath an orange bend sinister''.
|}