Charges are objects that are drawn on or around the shield, they typically represent physical objects. You can specify many different facets of a charge, including their number, location, arrangement and colour.

Drawshield supports more than one thousand different charges, including all of the most common to be found in traditional Heraldry, and more are being added all the time. This sections discusses all the charges, grouped into fairly arbitrary categories, but a search function is under construction.

It should also be noted that DrawShield recognises many alternative names and spelling variations for charges, the names used in the documentation here are those that I judge to be the most common.

The following categories of charges are available:

Alchemical Symbols Annulets in Various Arrangements Armour and Helmets Astronomical Symbols Axes Badges Bears and Bear Heads Birds, Feathers and Wings British Wildlife Buildings and Architectural Features Celestial Objects Characters and Words Christian Symbols and Items Clothing and Headwear Craft Items Crowns and Coronets Dogs Dragons and Wyverns Emblems and Symbols Farm Related Items Fire and Flames Fish Charges Flowers and Roses Game Animals Game Boards and Pieces Hawking and Hunting Birds Heraldic Lions Home Furnishings Household Items Humans and Body Parts Insects and Other Small Creatures Jewellery and Precious Stones Knots and Cords Label Charges Livestock Animals Manufactured Food Mullets of Varying Points Musical Instruments Mythical Creatures Named Crosses Natural Phenomena Norse / Viking / Celtic Items Other Animals Plants and Vegetables Playing Cards Prehistoric Items Projectile Weapons Retro-scifi Extension Sea Creatures Ships, Boats and Ship Parts Simple Shapes Snakes and Serpents Special Charges Sporting Items Extension Steampunk and Other Post-mediaeval Charges Swords and Daggers Symmetrical Crosses Tack and Saddlery Tools Trees and Fruits Utensils Warhammer Symbols Weapons Zodiacal Symbols