Roundel (heraldry)

{{Short description|Heraldry term for a circular charge}} [[File:Blason maison fr de Courtenay.svg|thumb|200px|The arms of Courtenay, dating from the start of the age of heraldry and still in use by the Earl of Devon today, display '''roundels''' of tincture gules: ''Or, three torteaux'']] A '''roundel''' is a circular charge in heraldry. Roundels are among the oldest charges used in coats of arms, dating from the start of the age of heraldry in Europe, ''circa'' 1200–1215. Roundels are typically a solid colour but may be charged with an item or be any of the furs used in heraldry. Roundels are similar to the annulet, which some heralds would refer to as a ''false roundel''.<ref name="boutell">{{cite book|last1=Boutell|first1=Charles|title=Heraldry, Ancient and Modern: Including Boutell's Heraldry|date=1890|publisher=F. Warne|pages=[https://archive.org/details/heraldryancient00avelgoog/page/n61 34]-36|url=https://archive.org/details/heraldryancient00avelgoog|quote=Plural are termed pomeis.|access-date=14 September 2017|language=en}}</ref>

== Terms for roundels == In some languages, the heraldic roundel has a unique name specific to its tincture, based on the Old French tradition. This is still observed in English-language heraldry, which adopted terms from Old French for specific round items.<ref>{{cite book| last=Fox-Davies | first= Arthur Charles | year=1909 | title=A Complete Guide to Heraldry | url=https://archive.org/details/completeguidetoh00foxdrich | page=[https://archive.org/details/completeguidetoh00foxdrich/page/151 151] }}</ref> Thus, while a gold roundel may be blazoned by its tincture, e.g., ''a roundel or'', it is more often described as a ''bezant'', from the Old French term ''besant'' for a gold coin, which itself is named for the Byzantine Empire.<ref name="boutell"/>

The terms and their origin can be seen in the following table:

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" ! colspan="1" | ! colspan="2" | Metals ! colspan="7" | Colours |- ! scope="row" | Tincture | Or || Argent || Gules || Azure || Sable || Vert || Purpure || Tenné || Sanguine |- ! scope="row" | Name | Bezant || Plate || Torteau || Hurt || Pellet || Pomme || Golpe || Orange || Guze |- ! scope="row" | Depiction | 70px|alt=A circle of gold | 70px|alt=A circle of silver | 70px|alt=A circle of red | 70px|alt=A circle of blue | 70px|alt=A circle of black | 70px|alt=A circle of green | 70px|alt=A circle of purple | 70px|alt=A circle of orange | 70px|alt=A circle of blood red |- ! scope="row" | Origin and meaning | Fr. {{lang|fr|besant}}, "gold coin" || Fr. {{lang|fr|plate}}, "flat metal disk"|| Fr. {{lang|fr|torteau}}, "tart" || Eng. "hurtleberry"<br/> or Fr. {{lang|fr|heurt}}, "bruise" || Eng. "pellet" || Fr. {{lang|fr|pomme}}, "apple" || Sp. {{lang|es|golpe}}, "wound" || Eng. "orange" || Eng. "eyeball",<ref>{{cite book |last1=Leigh |first1=Gerard |title=The accedence of armorie |date=1597 |publisher=Printed by Henrie Ballard ... |location=London |page=88 |url=https://archive.org/details/accedenceofarmor00legh |access-date=2025-01-08}}</ref> origin uncertain<ref>{{Cite Merriam-Webster|guze}}</ref> |}

A ''roundel vert'' ("green roundel") is known as a ''pomme'', the French word for apple. It was frequently pluralised as ''pomeis'' – as in the Heathcote arms: ''Ermine, three pomeis, each charged with a cross or''<ref name="boutell"/> – but ''pommes'' is now more common. The term for a red roundel, ''torteau'', is typically pluralised in the French manner as {{lang|fr|torteaux}} rather than ''torteaus'', although ''torteaus'' is occasionally seen. A ''pellet'' may also be called an ''ogress''.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Thomas |last1=Woodcock |author-link1=Thomas Woodcock (officer of arms) |first2=John Martin |last2=Robinson |author-link2=John Martin Robinson |title=The Oxford Guide to Heraldry |location=Oxford |year=1988 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-211658-4 |page=204 }}</ref>

In modern French-language blazonry, a roundel of any metal (''Or'' or Argent) is a ''besant''<ref name="hero-besant">HERO entry for "besant" https://finto.fi/hero/en/page/p3717?clang=fr</ref> (being specified as a "besant d'or" or a "besant d'argent"), and a roundel of any colour is a ''tourteau''<ref name="hero-torteau"> HERO entry for "tourteau (fr)" https://finto.fi/hero/en/page/p3718 </ref> (for instance, a blue roundel is a "tourteau d'azur"). However, an alternate naming system is occasionally used, with similar terms as English heraldry (''plate'' for ''argent'',<ref name="hero-besant-argent"> HERO entry for "besant d'argent (fr)" https://finto.fi/hero/en/page/p1726?clang=fr</ref> ''heurte'' for ''azure (fr:azur)'',<ref name="hero-torteau-azur">HERO entry for "tourteau d'azur" https://finto.fi/hero/en/page/p2379?clang=fr </ref> ''ogress'' for ''sable'', ''pomme'' for ''vert (fr:sinople)'', ''guse'' for ''gules (fr:gueules)'',<ref name="hero-tourteau-gueules">HERO entry for "tourteau de gueules" https://finto.fi/hero/en/page/p2380?clang=fr</ref> and ''gulpe'' for ''purpure (fr:pourpre)''). Archaic names for roundels based on the French tradition are sometimes found in other languages, such as Spanish (see {{lang|es|roel}}) and Portuguese (see {{lang|pt|arruela}})

In German blazonry, the general word for a roundel is {{lang|de|Kugel}} ("ball"); a roundel of silver can also be called {{lang|de|Ball}}, and a roundel of gold {{lang|de|Bille}}.

== Special roundels == thumb|The classic ''fountain'' with three rows each of ''argent'' and ''azure''.

===Fountain=== One special example of a named roundel is the ''fountain'', depicted as ''a roundel barry wavy argent and azure'', that is, containing alternating horizontal wavy bands of blue and silver (or white). Because the fountain consists equally of parts in a light and a dark tincture, its use is not limited by the rule of tincture as are the other roundels. The traditional fountain in heraldry was a ''barry wavy of six'', that is, with six alternating wavy rows of white and blue.<ref name="boutell"/>

Another name for the fountain is the ''syke'' (Northern English for "well").<ref>{{cite book |last=Fearn |first=Jacqueline |title=Discovering Heraldry |year=1980 |publisher=Shire |page=25 }}</ref><ref>{{citation |url=https://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/syke |title=Scottish National Dictionary of 1700: ''syke'' }}</ref> One of the most well-known and ancient uses of the fountain is in the arms of the Stourton family. Three fountains appear on the arms of County Leitrim, Ireland.

== Semy == In their earliest uses, roundels were often strewn or sown as seeds (Latin: ''semen, -inis'', a seed) upon the field of a coat of arms, blazoned as ''semée/semy'', an arrangement with numerous varieties. For example, a field ''semy of plates'' (i.e. ''roundels argent'') could be blazoned ''platy''; a field ''semy of pellets'' (i.e. ''roundels sable'') could be blazoned ''pellety''. The precise number and placement of the roundels in such cases were usually left to the discretion of the artist.

== See also == * Annulet (heraldry)

== References == {{reflist}}

Category:Heraldic charges