Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1998 13:26:19 +0000
From: Zenobia
Subject: Re: DEVICES

> Greetings,
> I was wondering if we allow quarterly arms. (Not arms quartered)
> I have some really good ideas for arms this way if I am allowed to
> try and register them.
> Thank you for your time,
> Ramiro Nunez de Lara

Quarterly fields are just fine as long as the arms don't look as if they are quartered. Ways to accomplish this are to do one or more of the following:

1) Put a charge overlying the quarterly part.

So: Quarterly azure and argent, a fess gules between two mullets in bend and two lions in bend sinister counterchanged, does not look like marshalling, because of the fess overlying the line of division.

Note: the charge should not be a plain cross throughout (the Ordinary) because there are fillet crosses used as part of marshalling in the armory of some parts of Europe (scandinavia?????) and there is a precedent saying that addition of a plain cross throughout will not remove the appearance of quarterly marshalling. (NOTE: don't have the precedents with me, feel free to take this with a grain of salt until it can be looked up.) I believe there are also precedents saying addition of an uncharged bordure or chief to apparently quartered arms will not remove the appearance of quartering (which precedents I concur with, have seen enough examples mundanely where the bordure is added to the already quartered arms as a cadency mark -- the arms are still marshalled though). As for adding charged chiefs and bordures, precedent is mixed, but I would say there is enough precedent supporting the idea that this is "safe" (not marshalling) that if that's what's desired I'd go with it. Often looks busy though...

2) Make sure that the charges in each quarter are the same type.

So: Quarterly argent and vert, four crescents counterchanged does not look like marshalling. Neither does quarterly argent and vert, in dexter chief a crescent vert, or quarterly argent and vert, in bend sinister two crescents argent.

Note: don't use "throughout-ish" charges in the quarters. Quarterly argent and azure, four chevrons counterchanged (each throughout in the quarter) may well be a problem.

3) Put a complex line on one or more axes of the quarterly.

Thus, quarterly per fess indented argent and azure in bend two mullets gules and in bend sinister two crescents argent does not look like marshalling, due to the complex line. NOTE: Laurel has solicited comment on this issue in I think this very recent (March) LoAR, as it comes up a lot particularly with armory which looks impaled... so I don't know if this will continue to be safe.

I think these are the things that'd make it safe....

Zenobia Naphtali