A pictorial article by Lady Alia Marie de Blois
So, what is the difference between "per chevron inverted", "chaussé", "a pile", and "a chief triangular" anyway? And why did the herald say that this wasn't any of them?
The herald is probably looking at this ruling from François, Laurel King of Arms:
This is not a pile, because it issues from the top corners of the shield. Nor is it chaussé, because it does not extend all the way to base. Nor is it a chief triangular, because it is much too deep. Nor is it a per chevron inverted field division, because it does not issue from the sides of the field. As a result, this must be returned.
October 2001 LOAR, return of device for Rickard of Gwyntarian
Hopefully, this might clear up some things. Pictures being worth a thousand words, here you are:
| Per chevron inverted | Chaussé | a pile | a chief triangular |
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| The top portion starts on the sides of the shield (slightly down from the corners). Each portion should contain approximately one half of the area of the shield | The black portion issues from the corner of the shield, however it extends all the way down to the base of the shield. | The black portion issues from the top of the shield (slightly in from the corners), and extends nearly to the base of the shield but does not touch it. | The black portion issues from the corner of the shield, but only goes down about one quarter to one third of the height of the shield. |
The image below is one thing not to do ... because it isn't really any of the ones above (it's somewhere between all of them), to call it any one of the ones above blurs the distinction between them. If your device was returned for a redraw, it may look like this:
Notice that here, the black portion issues from the corners (like chaussé or a chief triangular), but is not deep enough for chaussé and too deep for a chief triangular. While it does come down to about the right place for a per chevron inverted, it doesn't issue from the sides. It doesn't quite come down far enough and it doesn't issue from the top, so it can't be a pile either.
Questions? Comments? Email me: alia 'at' swcp.com