Gules

Short description: Tincture of red in heraldry

Gules
Class	Colour
Non-heraldic equivalent	Red
Monochromatic designations
Hatching pattern
Tricking abbr.	g., gu.
Poetic designations
Heavenly body	Mars
Jewel	Ruby

In heraldry, gules (/ˈɡjuːlz/) is the tincture with the colour red. It is one of the class of five dark tinctures called "colours", the others being azure (blue), sable (black), vert (green) and purpure (purple).

Gules is portrayed in heraldic hatching by vertical lines, or indicated by the abbreviation g. or gu. when a coat of arms is tricked.

Etymology

The term gules derives from the Middle English goules, which itself is an Old French word meaning "neckpiece made of red fur". Goules is derived from the Old French gole or guele, both of which mean "throat", which are ultimately derived from the Latin gula, also meaning "throat". Gules is similar to the English word gullet. A. C. Fox-Davies states that the term originates from the Persian word گل gol, meaning "rose", but according to Brault there is no evidence to support this derivation.

Poetic meanings

Centuries ago, arms were often described poetically and the tinctures were associated with different gemstones, flowers and heavenly bodies. Gules usually represented the following:

• Of jewels, the ruby

• Of heavenly bodies, Mars

Examples

Different uses of the tincture gules shown in the quartered coat of arms of Nassau-Dillenburg (attributed to Otto II of Nassau, d. 1351):
 1. The lion of Nassau, Azure billetty or, a lion rampant of the last armed and langued gules;
 2. County of Katzenelnbogen, Or a lion rampant guardant gules, armed langued and crowned azure;
 3. County of Vianden, Gules, a fess argent;
 4. County of Dietz, Gules, two lions passants or armed and langued azure

Gules is the most widely used heraldic tincture. Through the sixteenth century, nearly half of all noble coats of arms in Poland had a field gules with one or more argent charges on them.

Examples of coats of arms consisting of purely a red shield (blazoned gules plain) include those of the d'Albret family, the Rossi family, the Swiss canton of Schwyz (prior to 1815), and the old coats of arms of the cities of Nîmes and Montpellier.

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  The Plantagenet coat of arms, gules three lions passants guardants or, origin of the Royal Arms of England

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  Coat of arms of the House of Savoy, gules a cross argent

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  The Royal Arms of Scotland Or a lion rampant Gules within a double tressure flory-counter-flory of the second

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  Coat of arms of Schwyz (stained glass, 1573), gules plain; the Juliusbanner with the Arma Christi inset is held by one of the supporters.

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  The Austrian Bindenschild, gules a fess argent, originally the Babenberg coat of arms. Below the Bindenschild is a small coat of arms of the city of Vienna, gules a cross argent

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  Coat of arms of the Kingdom of Poland, Gules, an eagle argent, crowned or

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  Coat of arms of French Maison d'Albret. Gueules plain by contemporary heraldic artist Dario Scaricamazza.

See also

• Polish heraldry
• Cinnabar
• Murrey
• Sinople