Swashes

Swashes are decorative flourishes attached to letters in typography. They are extensions or embellishments to the stroke of a letter, often used on capitals or terminal forms. Swashes may appear as exaggerated tails, loops, or swirled shapes that extend beyond the baseline and cap height.

Common forms include swash capitals (ornamental initial letters with extended decorative strokes), terminal swashes (flourishes at the end of a letter, especially in lowercase), and trailing connectors used to join letters with a flourish.

History: Swashes have roots in manuscript illumination and calligraphy, where scribes added loops and tails to letters. They were adopted in early printed display types and decorative fonts from the Renaissance onward, especially in italic and display faces.

Usage: In contemporary typography, swashes are reserved for display work—logos, invitations, book titles—where readability is secondary to ornament. In body text, swashes are generally avoided.

Digital typography: Many fonts include swash variants accessible through OpenType features or stylistic sets, allowing designers to toggle alternate glyph shapes on or off to suit a project.