In heraldry, an ordinary is one of the two main types of charges, beside the mobile charges. An ordinary is a simple geometrical figure, bounded by straight lines and running from side to side or top to bottom of the shield. There are also some geometric charges known as subordinaries, which have been given lesser status by some heraldic writers, though most have been in use as long as the traditional ordinaries. Diminutives of ordinaries and some subordinaries are charges of the same shape, though thinner. Most of the ordinaries are theoretically said to occupy one-third of the shield; but this is rarely observed in practice, except when the ordinary is the only charge.
Ordinaries
a bordure—Argent; an oak tree eradicated, fessways, proper, between three pheons, points upward, azure; within a bordure azure—Dalgleish of Keavil, Scotland
a pile—Argent, on a pile azure three towers, two and one, of the first, in the middle chief point two keys in saltire, wards upwards and inwards, or—Otley Urban District Council, England
a pairle or pall—Ermine; a pairle azure charged with the crosier of St Fillan proper—Dewar, Canada* (Scots coat)
In heraldry, an escutcheon is a shield that forms the main or focal element in an achievement of arms. The word can be used in two related senses. In the first sense, an escutcheon is the shield upon which a coat of arms is displayed. In the second sense, an escutcheon can itself be a charge within a coat of arms.
Effigy of William Longespée the Younger (d.1250) in Salisbury Cathedral, showing an early triangular heater shield, the shape used as the "canvas" for the display of arms during the classical age of heraldry
Male (shield-shaped) and female (lozenge-shaped) coats of arms in relief in Southwark, London.
Console from Chichester tomb, Pilton, Devon, 1569
