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Ordinary

Heraldic Terms
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Basic geometric shapes forming the foundation of a shield’s design.

Detailed Definition
Ordinaries include bands, pales, and crosses symbolizing military strength and virtues. Poetic references to ordinaries can underline order, structure, or martial qualities in lineage.
Example
Example in poetry:
The fess, a chief among ordinaries, girded the shield with horizontal strength; “Ordinary of my days,” the reflective poem found nobility in simple structure; The poet noted how ordinaries—pale, bend, chevron—frame life’s central charges; In minimalist verse, the ordinary became a bold statement of essential truth; Ordinaries in heraldry teach poets the power of form to shape meaning.
Additional Notes
Ordinary is a simple geometric charge occupying a significant portion of the shield (e.g., fess, pale, bend, chevron); there are nine principal ordinaries; in poetry, ordinaries provide structural backbone to symbolic narratives—e.g., a pale may represent justice, a chevron shelter; they differ from “sub-ordinaries” (e.g., bordure, fret) and “mobile charges” (e.g., lion, rose).
Also Known As
Subordinary (for lesser ordinaries) Principal charge Nothing to write home about Run of the mill
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