Charge (heraldry)

In heraldry, a charge is any emblem or device occupying the field of an escutcheon (shield). This may be a geometric design (sometimes called an ordinary) or a symbolic representation of a person, animal, plant, object or other device. In French blazon, the ordinaries are called pièces while other charges are called meubles (i.e. "mobile"; this is a homonym of "furniture" in Modern French). The division of charges into "ordinaries", "sub-ordinaries" and other categories is a relatively modern practice that has been deprecated, and these terms much pejorated, in the writings of Fox-Davies and other heraldry authors. The particular significance or meaning of a charge may be indicated in the blazon, but this practice is also deprecated.