blasonering

Blasonering is the formal description of a coat of arms or heraldic achievement in heraldic language. It provides a precise, conventional account of how the arms appear, enabling an artist to reproduce the design and allowing registries or researchers to identify the bearer unambiguously.

A blazon typically begins with the field, or background, and any divisions of the shield (such as per pale, per fess, quarterly). It then specifies tinctures—metals and colors—using standardized terms such as argent (silver/white), or (gold/yellow), gules (red), azure (blue), sable (black), vert (green), and purpure (purple). After the field, the blazon describes ordinaries and other charges (animals, objects, geometrical figures), including their orientation and position on the shield (for example dexter, sinister, chief, base, or between terms like "in chief" or "in base"). A typical blazon may read as a concise phrase like: Azure, a bend or between two mullets of the second.

The language of blazoning also follows conventions, such as the rule of tincture, which discourages placing a metal on a metal or a color on a color to preserve contrast. If divisions or heraldic furs or decorative details are present, these are incorporated into the description.

In Dutch-speaking contexts, the practice is known as blasonering or blazoenering and aligns with broader European heraldic standards. The blazon serves as the authoritative record of a coat of arms, ensuring consistent interpretation across generations and artistic renderings.