TINCTURES
Arms are represented by three main groups of tincture: colors, metals, and furs. These tinctures are used to describe all elements depicted on a coat of arms; however, the actual hue of tincture is up to the artist depicting the blazon. This is a tradition that has continued since the time of medieval heralds, who had to hand mix paints, thus making it nearly impossible to match colors between heralds. Until recently, it was not practical to render arms in full color, so heralds across Europe used varying techniques to depict colors in black and white. To remedy this, a group of engravers in Antwerp during the early 17th century perfected a method called hatching, by which tinctures could be universally represented in black and white drawings and engravings. Another technique used in later years was tricking, where the abbreviations of the colors were either positioned in the area of tincture or they were placed outside the arms and tied into the area by a line. A practice developed in '4'4 by King Alphonse V of the Two Sicilys, also known as the Sicily Herald, tied the tinctures to gemstones and the planets. This secondary blazonry stipulated that dukes, earls, and barons were to have their arms blazoned by gemstones, and planets were to be used for princes, kings and emperors.
The Rule of Tinctures There is one basic rule for the use of tinctures. A color, metal, or fur can be combined with another tincture of the remaining two categories, but not with another from the same category. This rule developed because tinctures are not easily distinguishable from one another at a distance.
There are five distinct exceptions to this convention. First, if good heraldry would result in spite of "illegal" combinations of tinctures, the arms might be allowed. Second, the rule of tinctures does not extend to chiefs, cantons, or bordures. Third, some fields, such as vair or parted fields like barry, bendy, and cheeky (see Partition lines below), are considered "neutral." and can therefore take charges of tincture. Fourth, a charge can be described as being emblazoned in its naturally occurring or proper coloration. For example, a sword could retain its natural steel color on an argent background. The last exception occurs when parts of an animal charge (tongue, claws, teeth, and so on) are given a different tincture than their bodies.
In the cases of marshalling, differencing, augmentation, or abatement, when colors or metals touch one another, the charges are sometimes fimbriated or divided by a thin line of tincture to separate two metals or two colors.
