Generating a Random Blazon

Random Blazon

Click the Random Blazon button to have a random, but valid, blazon generated and drawn for you. If you dont like the result, just press the button again! If you do like the result and would like to save it, or modify it for your own use then click the Transfer button - this will transfer the blazon on to the Create Page where you can chose various drawing options, modify the blazon itself or submit it to the gallery.

If you turn all the options off then you will be given one of 7 plain coloured shields. If you turn all the options on then you will be shown of many hundreds of millions of possible shield designs!

Random Generation Options

Tincture Choices

These options let you chose the colours and patterns that might appear in your blazon. You can chose any combination of colours using the checkboxes, although if you turn them all off then the program will silently turn the common colours back on. The program has a strong preference for the most common heraldic forms, so even if other colour groups are selected the common colours will still appear most often. The actual colours in each group are:

Common

Azure, or, argent, purpure, gules, sable, vert

Secondary

murrey, tenne, sanguine, carnation, brunatre, cendree, rose, celestial azure, bis, senois, orange

Modern

iron, bronze, copper, lead, steel, white, buff, red-ochre, yellow-ochre, crimson

Furs

counter-ermine, counter-potent, counter-vair, ermine, erminois, pean, potent, potent-counter-potent, vair, vair-en-point, vair-in-pale, erminites

Treatments

annuletty, billetty, crusilly, estoilly, fleury, fretty, goutty, grillage, honeycombed, lozengy, maily, masoned, mullety, papelonny, checky, scaly, counter-billetty, latticed, plumetty, hurty, bezanty, platy

Field Divisions

The slider control in this section determines how likely it is that the field of the shield is divided into two or more sections with different tinctures. If the value is zero (at the left hand end) then no divisions will be used and the field will always be plain. If the value is 100 (at the right hand end) then the field will always be divided. Intermediate values cause divisions to appear randomly, the further the right the slider is the more likely it is that a divided field will be present.

You can chose the types of division that might be seen using the check boxes. There are many possible divisions so the list below may not include all of them but can be considered as examples of the type.

Two Part Divisions

chevronny, gyronny, per chevron inverted, per-bend, per bend sinister, per-chevron, per-fess, chape, chausse, per-pale, per-saltire, pily, quarterly

Three Part Divisions

tierced in pale, tierced-in-fess, per pall, per pall reversed, per-pile, tierced in bend, tierced in bend sinister, tierced in chevron

Divisions Made of Repeating Bars

barry, barry of 12, barry of 20, bendy, bendy sinister, paly,

Divisions Made of Repeating Patterns

fusily, paly bendy, pily bendy, pily bendy sinister, fusily-bendy, barry bendy, barry pily, barry indented the one in the other

Two Divisions Counterchanged

(some combination of:) per fess, per pale, barry, paly per bend, per chevron, per saltire, per bend sinister

The checkbox marked allow patterned edges, if checked, means that there is small chance that the dividing lines are given a fancy pattern, rather than just being straight. The range of patterns includes:

bevilled, engrailed, escartelly, angled, arched, invected, nowy, wavy, battled embattled, dancetty, dancetty floretty, double arched, dovetailed, embattled, embattled arrondi, embattled brettessy, embattled counter-embattled, embattled cupolaed, embattled gabley, embattled grady, embattled in the form of mine dumps, fir tree topped, fir twigged, hakulikoro, indented, indented pommetty, liljakoro, nebuly, potenty, raguly, rayonny, ristikoro, thorny, trefle counter trefle, urdy, vallikoro, battled-ghibelline

Ordinaries

The slider control in this section determines how likely it is that an ordinary will appear as part of the blazon. If the value is zero (at the left hand end) then no ordinary will appear. If the value is 100 (at the right hand end) then an ordinary will always appear. Intermediate values cause an ordinary to appear randomly, the further the right the slider is the more likely it is that an ordinary will appear.

You can chose the types of ordinary that might appear using the check boxes. There are many possible ordinaries so the list below may not include all of them but can be considered as examples of the type.

Common (Large) Ordinaries

bend, fess, pale, chevron, chief, quarter, base, saltire, cross

Ordinaries Made of Bars

(between 2 and 4) bars, barrulets, bendlets, chevronels or palets

Smaller, Sub-ordinaries

gore, canton, bordure, flaunch, graft, gusset, gyron, inescutcheon, orle, shakefork, point dexter, point sinister, chevron, cross parted and fretty, cross tripartite and fretty. cross quarter pierced, saltire parted and fretty, fret couped, fillet cross

More Rarely Seen Ordinaries

crancelin, canadian pale, gorge, trimount, fillet, fillet saltire, bend engouled by dragon heads, dance, pallium, lozenge throughout, point in point, enty in point, fess quadrate, fess nowy

Larger Ordinaries with Cottices

fimbriated, cotticed, double cotticed, cotticed, voided, compony (and many of the patterned edges listed under divisions)

Charges

The slider control in this section determines how likely it is that one or more charges will appear as part of the blazon. If the value is zero (at the left hand end) then no charges will appear. If the value is 100 (at the right hand end) then at least one charge will always appear. Intermediate values cause charges to appear randomly, the further the right the slider is the more likely it is that a charge will be present.

If both a large ordinary and a charge are present it is possible that the charges may appear on the ordinary, instead of in the default location.

You can control the types of charges that might appear by checking one or more of the checkboxes in this section. The contents of each group are hopefully self explanatory so I will not expand on them further.

There is also a slider which affects the chances of the charges being moved from the default location into a different part of the shield. A setting of zero means that the charges will always be in the default, 100 means that they will always appear elsewhere; intermediate values affect the chance of them being in a different location.

Global Buttons

Obviously the Select All and Select None do as they suggest. They are useful for either setting the maximum "randomness" or setting a minimum value and then chosing the specific items that you need. The Reset to Default button sets most of the options on, but not those considered to be less heraldically valid. In addition, the sliders are set to Field Divisions at 60%, ordinaries at 60%, charges ar 60% and the chance of a different location at 10%.