7. 'A silver shield, its field decorated with three smaller shield-shaped objects coloured red'... Using the correct language, how should these arms be described?
From Quiz Heraldry of Great Britain and the Commonwealth 2
Answer:
Argent, three escutcheons gules
The colour silver, argent in heraldic language, is often represented in white. The escutcheon is the metal boss that is usually positioned at, or near to, the centre of the shield and provides a fixing point for the handle on the reverse side. These bosses were frequently of a similar shape to the shield itself. The description 'Argent, a chief indented sable' describes a silver shield with a thick black band at the top, the chief, and having its lower edge in a zig-zagged pattern.
The description 'Azure, a bend or' is simply a blue shield with a golden diagonal band from top left to bottom right. A stripe in the alternate direction - bottom left to top right - would be described as 'a bend sinister'.
The final example 'Or, two bars dancetty vert' describes a golden shield bearing two green zig-zag bars across its face.