SCA - West Kingdom College of Heralds | Heraldic Templates

Heraldic Templates -- Plants, Trees and Flowers

The following links are to pages that contain images that you can use to help design your armory -- this set of images are for insects as they are used in heraldry. Note that very few insects appear in heraldry ...

Instructions (please read):

If you want to use this for your heraldic submission, or print it for any reason, click on the 'PDF File' link -- a new browser window will open, and you can print from there.
- If you want to use the image for your own armory submission, these should be sized to be close to the submission forms, and you can trace over them. For straight lines you might want to use a ruler to help.

Note that printing the GIF Files probably will not provide images that are the correct size for the heraldic submission forms.

Note: These are not done yet -- the links are here to make it easier for Golem, rather than having to keep adding them ... this is a work in progress.

The descriptions of the plants, flowers and such below are all taken from The Pictorial Dictionary of Heraldry ...¹, and rather than having a 'footnote' for each, we have one. Note that not all of the detail in the Pictorial Dictionary has been included in the text given ...

Flowers are generally shown affronty by default. The exceptions are such bulb-shaped blossoms as the tulip and lily, and such prickly flowers as the dandelion and thistle; these are shown in profile by default. Other exceptions are noted in their individual entries. Flowers may be slipped and leaved; such cases should be explicitly blazoned.
A slip is a stem of a plant, with leaves, fruit, and flowers attached. The term is normally used in blazons such as a rose, slipped and leaved; in such cases the slip is subordinate in importance to the flower. However, slips may be used in their own right.
In general, a slip is blazoned a sprig to indicate a long stem, with many leaves and several blossoms or fruits; in that case, the flowers are subordinate to the slip. One might also use the term branch, to imply a slip with few or no leaves, and the bare wood clearly visible.
Slips, sprigs and branches are couped by default.

Broom     The broom plant is a bushy wild shrub, with prominent peascods. It was used as a canting badge of the Plantagenets as early as c.1150: the Latin for "broom plant" is planta genista.

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Columbine     The columbine is a droopy-petaled flower, which was held to have medicinal value in period. It is a period charge, found as early as 1425. The columbine is drawn in a somewhat stylized manner, with the petals resembling doves (hence the name); it is pendant by default, and its proper tincture is azure.

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Fleur-de-Lys     A fleur-de-lys is a stylized heraldic charge, one of the most ancient of charges, dating from 1244. It has been said to represent a lance-head, an iris or lily flower, or a symbol of the Trinity.
     ... The ancient arms of France were Azure semy-de-lys Or; the use of this, as a field or on a charge, was reserved to the French royalty (or augmentations therefrom), and thus may not be used in SCA heraldry.
     There are many styles of fleur-de-lys used in period.

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Foil (Cinquefoil, etc.)     While the term foil means literally "leaf, lobe", the term is used here to denote a class of generic flowers. They are not of any natural species, but are highly stylized heraldic charges: the petals are usually drawn rounded, with points at the ends.
     The term foil is used as a root, with a prefix indicating the number of petals. Thus we have the trefoil with three petals, the quatrefoil with four petals, the cinquefoil with five, etc. More than six petals (sixfoil) are uncommon; more than eight petals (octofoil) are not found.
     In period armory, cinquefoils were the most common foil-type flower, dating from 1244. Early heralds made no distinction between cinquefoils and roses, considering both the blazons and emblazons interchangeable (as in the cadet arms of the Darcy family through the 14th Century).
     Next in popularity were the quatrefoils (1244) and sixfoils (1255). Trefoils, the most popular form in Society heraldry, first appear c.1254, but were not as common at first as the other foil-flowers.      The trefoil is the only foil-flower that is shown slipped by default; the others have no slips unless specifically blazoned. (Even the trefoil has the slip blazoned occaisionally, though it's the SCA default.) The trefoil is the only foil-flower with a definite default posture, with a petal to chief; period examples of cinquefoils, by comparison, may be drawn with a petal to chief, or a petal to base. Most foil-flowers follow the convention of the trefoil, and are drawn ... with a petal to chief.
     A variant on the trefoil is the shamrock, the symbol of Ireland; its leaves are heart-shaped and have no points. The distinction is purely artistic; no heraldic difference is granted. There is also the fraise, which is another term for the cinquefoil; it means literally "strawberry flower", and is mostly used for canting purposes.
     In the English system of cadency, the octofoil is the brisure of the ninth son.

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Fruit (Fruit, Nuts, some Vegetables)     The term fruit, as it is used in heraldry, denotes the seed-pod of most plants; the term is specially reserved for the edible portions of those plants. Virtually every fruit has been used in Society heraldry: apples, bunches of grapes, cherries, nuts, peaches, pomegranates, strawberries, etc.
     In general, those fruits that hang from a stem -- i.e. those that grow from a tree or a vine -- are shown with stem to chief by SCA default; while those that grow from the ground are shown with the stem to base by SCA default. Thus apples, bunches of grapes, most nuts, etc., have stems to chief, while artichokes, stalks of wheat, etc., have stems to base.
     A few notable usages: Ash keys are the fruits of teh ash tree. The term pineapple refers to the pine cone in some mundane blazons, and to the Hawaiin fruit in SCA blazons. Pine cones are the fruit of the pine tree; while they are a period charge (c. 1285), they seem to have no default posture, some being shown stem up, others stem down. (Because of the ambiguity, their posture should be specifically blazoned ...) A turnip proper is per fess wavy purpure and argent, slipped vert.
     A tree or plant shown bearing fruit may be blazoned fructed.
An acorn is the fruit of the oak tree. Its SCA default is with stem to chief, which is the opposite of mundane convention. An acorn proper is brown by Society convention.
A clove is a dried flower bud of the clove tree; it is considered a fruit for purposes of heraldic classification. The clove is a period charge, found in the arms of the Worshipful Company of Grocers, 1532. It's proper tincture is dark brown.
     There is also the Japanese clove (choji), a highly stylized rendering used in Mon. Either is acceptable for SCA use.
A garb is a bundle of grain, bound about the middle. The grain is wheat, unless specified otherwise. Garbs are ancient charges, dating from 1244 in the arms of the Earls of Chester.
     In society armory there are also found stalks of wheat, single stalks with the bearded head; the default is palewise, head to chief. Occaisionally are found sheaves of wheat, which in SCA blazonry denotes a cluster of several stalks, much smaller than a full garb.
The leek is a pungent herb, similar to the onion; it was known in medieval heraldry as the (unofficial) badge of Wales. (Modern heralds have recognized this usage officially). The leek is palewise, bulb to base by default.
A mushroom is a saprophytic plant, considered a fruit for purposes of heraldic classification. It is couped by default.
The pomegranate is a fruit often found in Spanish armory, to mark a connection to Granada. To medieval theologians, it symbolized the rewards of heaven; for it was one of the fruits promised to the Chosen People.
     The pomegranate is usually found slipped and leaved ...; that fact is always blazoned. It is depicted with the bulb split open, revealing the interior and seeds; it may be seeded of a contrasting tincture.

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Gillyflower     The gilliflower is a modest flower, the ancester of the modern carnation; it was prized in period for its use in garlands. As an heraldic charge, it is found in the arms of Lisely as early as 1312. The gillyflower is drawn in a stylized heraldic form; its proper coloration is gules, slipped vert.

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Iris     The iris is a flower with sword-shaped leaves and petals; it's often confused in mundane heraldry with the lily. Unlike the lily, however, it has no stylized heraldic form, but is usually depicted as found in nature.

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Leaf     A leaf is that part of the plant that gathers light and provides shade. The default heraldic leaf seems to be a generic sort, with a simple elliptical shape; as heraldic charges, this sort dates from c. 1300. However, leaves of all shapes are found in period armory: oak leaves, holly leaves, and maple leaves are among the most popular.
     Leaves have their stems to base by mundane and SCA default.
The nesselblatt is a highly stylized nettle leaf; it is found in German heraldry, c. 1350, in the arms of the Counts von Holstein. Though some books claim it is equivalent to a bordure indented, it is actually an independent charge: it does not follow the line of the shield, but always keeps its basic triangular shape.
A seeblatt is a Germanic representation of a water-lily leaf, drawn in a highly stylized manner: heart-shaped, with a cruciform or trefoil incision in chief. It is a period charge, found in the arms of Ribbing, c. 1300. Note that the plural of seeblatt is seeblatter.

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Lily     The lily is a flower with a stylized heraldic form. It was the flower of the Virgin Mary and was a symbol of purity and virtue; in period heraldry, it was second in popularity only to the rose.
     Though related in origin to the fleur-de-lys, the two were considered distinctly different charges in period: the lilies in the grant of arms to Eton College, 1449, were specified apart from its fleur-de-lys.

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Lotus     The lotus is a cup-shaped flower, said to induce a dreamy languor and forgetfulness. The flower may be found in heraldry either affronty or in profile, with neither being default; the exact posture must thus be specified.

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Mandrake     The mandrake is a plant whose root resembles a human figure; it is normally drawn with vague human features. The mandrake's narcotic properties made it a favorite with mystics and herbalists. It is also known mundanely as the mandragora; it is found in English armory dating from c.1540. The mandrake is affronty by mundane and SCA default.

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Rose     The rose is a beautiful flower, the most frequently used flower in heraldry. It is also one of the oldest, dating from the earliest heraldry, c. 1255. Its standard heraldic form is somewhat stylized: shown affronty, with five petals separated by barbs, and central seeds. The barbing and seeding may be of a different tincture than the rest of the rose; when blazoned barbed and seeded proper, the barbs are green, the seeds gold. In Society heraldry, a rose proper is gules, barbed vert, seeded Or.
     Early heralds made no distinction between heraldic roses and cinquefoils, considering both the blazons and emblazons interchangeable (as in the arms of the Darcy family through the 14th Century). They are thus negligibly different in Society armory.
     When blazoned a garden rose or Damask rose, the rose is depicted as found in nature, the petals overlapping and slightly spread. ... In nature, garden roses come in many colors (white, pink, yellow, red, etc.); so a garden rose may not be blazoned proper, but must have its tinctures explicitly blazoned. (The exception is the Damask rose, a breed attested in Elizabethan herbals; this variety was always pink, so a Damask rose proper is pink, slipped vert.)
     A double rose is an heraldic rose charged with another; it is considered a single charge, negligibly different from a standard heraldic rose.
     All roses, heraldic or natural, may be slipped and leaved; the usually prickly leaves and thorny stems are here employed. ...
     In English cadency, the rose is the brisure of the seventh son. In the War of the Roses, the white rose was the badge of the House of York, and the red rose the badge of the House of Lancaster; roses of those tinctures may not be used in Society armory when the submitter's name includes "of York" or "of Lancaster". The Tudor rose, combining the York and Lancaster roses (in any number of ways), is prohibited from SCA use.

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Teazel     The teazel, or teasel, is a spiny flower used in dressing or fulling cloth; it is sometimes more fully blazoned a fuller's teazel for that reason. It is a period charge, found in the arms of the Worshipful Company of Fullers, 1510. Unlike most flowers, the teazel is shown in profile by default.
     The teazel could either be blazoned and shown slipped and leaved ...; or only the head might be shown, blazoned a teazel's cob or teazel's head.

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Thistle     The thistle is a prickly flower with a poofy blossom; it is strongly associated with Scotland, where a crowned thistle is a Royal badge. Unlike most flowers, the thistle is shown in profile by default. In Society heraldry, the thistle's proper coloration is with green stem and leaves, and a purple bloom; this differs from the mundane proper coloration, which has a red bloom.

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Tree     A tree is a large plant, with a main wooden trunk branching into foliage at the top. Its proper coloration is with green leaves and brown trunk. If the tree is fructed, it is bearing fruit, whose color must be specified; the fructing may also be considered artistic license, and added to a tree whether blazoned or not. In heraldic art the leaves and fruit are drawn much larger than in naturalistic art.
     Many types of tree are found in heraldry. The oldest and most common tree is the oak, found in the canting arm sof Okestead, 1275. The oak is also the default: if no specific type of tree is blazoned, the oak may always be used. Many other types of tree are also found: Society heraldry has instances of the pine, the willow, the rowan, the ash, and the palm, among others.
     Both the top and the bottom of the tree are subject to variation. At the bottom, the SCA default is with a small portion of the roots showing, as it might be seen in nature. The roots may also be eradicated, with the entire root showing, as if forcibly uprooted from the ground; or couped with the trunk cut, and no roots shown at all. At the top, the default is with leaves or foliage; but it also may be blasted or leafless, showing only the bare branches. A stump or stock is the bottom part of the tree, left after the tree has been felled; its top edge is usually couped, but is sometimes found snagged with the rough top surface tilted to the viewer. A trunk is a somewhat longer form of stump.
     A group of trees may be called a hurst, which is generally drawn with the foliage conjoined. Hursts are often issuant from a mount, but this fact is specifically blazoned in Society heraldry.
The créquier is a highly stylized depiction of the wild cherry tree; unlike other trees, it is always depicted in this stylized form, to the point where it may almost be considered a separate charge.

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Trillium     The trillium is a flower native to North America, with three large white petals atop a whorl of three sepals (hence its name). Though evidently unknown to period Europeans, it is considered compatible with Society armory. The trillium is shown affronty by default.

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Wreathes     A wreath is a circlet worn on the head. In mundane heraldry, the term refers to the torse, the twisted band of cloth holding a fighter's mantling onto his helmet. Such a charge is called a torse is Society heraldry, and is normally shown as a full circle (i.e., in annulo).
     The term wreath in Society heraldry refers to a circlet of foliage, usually with leaves alone, but sometimes with flowers. Wreaths are usually penannular, with the opening to the chief. Laurel wreaths are the most common foliage in Society heraldry, being required in (and reserved to) the arms of each territorial branch; they are also a period charge, found in the arms of von Lenberg c.1600. Oak wreaths, holly wreaths, and rosemary wreaths are also found in the Society.
     The term chaplet refers to a closed annular wreath with flowers. The classic heraldic chaplet dates from c. 1296, and has four flowers in cross. If the chaplet has many flowers, with little or no foliage, it may also be termed a garland. The disinction between chaplets, garlands, and flowered wreaths is granted no heraldic difference, and indeed is often ignored by artists.
     There are some special terms for some types of wreaths and chaplets. A chaplet graminy is made of grass, with no flowers. A chaplet of thorn is woven of thorny branches, as shown on the head of Christ crucified. A joscelyn is a torse with four hawk's bells in cross, radiating from the outer edge; it is found in the canting arms of Jocelyn, 1285.
     Wreaths, chaplets, and garlands of roses are reserved to the arms of Queens, Princesses, and Royal Peers. Society tradition grants rose wreaths (many flowers) to Queens, and rose chaplets (four flowers) to Princesses; but this is not mandatory, has never been strictly adhered to, and is left to the bearer's discretion.

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Footnotes:
¹ The Pictorial Dictionary of Heraldry as Used in the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc., 2nd Edition, Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme and Akagawa Yoshio, 1992, self-published.

Disclaimer: All of these drawings are intended for use in the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc., specifically for heraldic purposes. However, these pages do not delineate SCA College of Arms or West Kingdom College of Heralds policy. All attempts are made when describing or portraying the elements of armory used in these pages to be as accurate to both medieval and SCA usage as possible, but if you are not sure, you should check with the College of Arms or the College of Heralds. You may use these drawings "as is" for the purpose of designing heraldry for use within the SCA with this understanding. All decisions by the West Kingdom College of Heraldry and/or the SCA's College of Arms regarding the depictions used on your submission forms supercedes anything found here.

Heraldic Templates

Broom	The broom plant is a bushy wild shrub, with prominent peascods. It was used as a canting badge of the Plantagenets as early as c.1150: the Latin for "broom plant" is planta genista.
		PDF File

Columbine	The columbine is a droopy-petaled flower, which was held to have medicinal value in period. It is a period charge, found as early as 1425. The columbine is drawn in a somewhat stylized manner, with the petals resembling doves (hence the name); it is pendant by default, and its proper tincture is azure.
		PDF File

Fleur-de-Lys	A fleur-de-lys is a stylized heraldic charge, one of the most ancient of charges, dating from 1244. It has been said to represent a lance-head, an iris or lily flower, or a symbol of the Trinity. ... The ancient arms of France were Azure semy-de-lys Or; the use of this, as a field or on a charge, was reserved to the French royalty (or augmentations therefrom), and thus may not be used in SCA heraldry. There are many styles of fleur-de-lys used in period.
		PDF File

Foil (Cinquefoil, etc.)	While the term foil means literally "leaf, lobe", the term is used here to denote a class of generic flowers. They are not of any natural species, but are highly stylized heraldic charges: the petals are usually drawn rounded, with points at the ends. The term foil is used as a root, with a prefix indicating the number of petals. Thus we have the trefoil with three petals, the quatrefoil with four petals, the cinquefoil with five, etc. More than six petals (sixfoil) are uncommon; more than eight petals (octofoil) are not found. In period armory, cinquefoils were the most common foil-type flower, dating from 1244. Early heralds made no distinction between cinquefoils and roses, considering both the blazons and emblazons interchangeable (as in the cadet arms of the Darcy family through the 14th Century). Next in popularity were the quatrefoils (1244) and sixfoils (1255). Trefoils, the most popular form in Society heraldry, first appear c.1254, but were not as common at first as the other foil-flowers. The trefoil is the only foil-flower that is shown slipped by default; the others have no slips unless specifically blazoned. (Even the trefoil has the slip blazoned occaisionally, though it's the SCA default.) The trefoil is the only foil-flower with a definite default posture, with a petal to chief; period examples of cinquefoils, by comparison, may be drawn with a petal to chief, or a petal to base. Most foil-flowers follow the convention of the trefoil, and are drawn ... with a petal to chief. A variant on the trefoil is the shamrock, the symbol of Ireland; its leaves are heart-shaped and have no points. The distinction is purely artistic; no heraldic difference is granted. There is also the fraise, which is another term for the cinquefoil; it means literally "strawberry flower", and is mostly used for canting purposes. In the English system of cadency, the octofoil is the brisure of the ninth son.
		PDF File

Fruit (Fruit, Nuts, some Vegetables)	The term fruit, as it is used in heraldry, denotes the seed-pod of most plants; the term is specially reserved for the edible portions of those plants. Virtually every fruit has been used in Society heraldry: apples, bunches of grapes, cherries, nuts, peaches, pomegranates, strawberries, etc. In general, those fruits that hang from a stem -- i.e. those that grow from a tree or a vine -- are shown with stem to chief by SCA default; while those that grow from the ground are shown with the stem to base by SCA default. Thus apples, bunches of grapes, most nuts, etc., have stems to chief, while artichokes, stalks of wheat, etc., have stems to base. A few notable usages: Ash keys are the fruits of teh ash tree. The term pineapple refers to the pine cone in some mundane blazons, and to the Hawaiin fruit in SCA blazons. Pine cones are the fruit of the pine tree; while they are a period charge (c. 1285), they seem to have no default posture, some being shown stem up, others stem down. (Because of the ambiguity, their posture should be specifically blazoned ...) A turnip proper is per fess wavy purpure and argent, slipped vert. A tree or plant shown bearing fruit may be blazoned fructed. An acorn is the fruit of the oak tree. Its SCA default is with stem to chief, which is the opposite of mundane convention. An acorn proper is brown by Society convention. A clove is a dried flower bud of the clove tree; it is considered a fruit for purposes of heraldic classification. The clove is a period charge, found in the arms of the Worshipful Company of Grocers, 1532. It's proper tincture is dark brown. There is also the Japanese clove (choji), a highly stylized rendering used in Mon. Either is acceptable for SCA use. A garb is a bundle of grain, bound about the middle. The grain is wheat, unless specified otherwise. Garbs are ancient charges, dating from 1244 in the arms of the Earls of Chester. In society armory there are also found stalks of wheat, single stalks with the bearded head; the default is palewise, head to chief. Occaisionally are found sheaves of wheat, which in SCA blazonry denotes a cluster of several stalks, much smaller than a full garb. The leek is a pungent herb, similar to the onion; it was known in medieval heraldry as the (unofficial) badge of Wales. (Modern heralds have recognized this usage officially). The leek is palewise, bulb to base by default. A mushroom is a saprophytic plant, considered a fruit for purposes of heraldic classification. It is couped by default. The pomegranate is a fruit often found in Spanish armory, to mark a connection to Granada. To medieval theologians, it symbolized the rewards of heaven; for it was one of the fruits promised to the Chosen People. The pomegranate is usually found slipped and leaved ...; that fact is always blazoned. It is depicted with the bulb split open, revealing the interior and seeds; it may be seeded of a contrasting tincture.
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Gillyflower	The gilliflower is a modest flower, the ancester of the modern carnation; it was prized in period for its use in garlands. As an heraldic charge, it is found in the arms of Lisely as early as 1312. The gillyflower is drawn in a stylized heraldic form; its proper coloration is gules, slipped vert.
		PDF File

Iris	The iris is a flower with sword-shaped leaves and petals; it's often confused in mundane heraldry with the lily. Unlike the lily, however, it has no stylized heraldic form, but is usually depicted as found in nature.
		PDF File

Leaf	A leaf is that part of the plant that gathers light and provides shade. The default heraldic leaf seems to be a generic sort, with a simple elliptical shape; as heraldic charges, this sort dates from c. 1300. However, leaves of all shapes are found in period armory: oak leaves, holly leaves, and maple leaves are among the most popular. Leaves have their stems to base by mundane and SCA default. The nesselblatt is a highly stylized nettle leaf; it is found in German heraldry, c. 1350, in the arms of the Counts von Holstein. Though some books claim it is equivalent to a bordure indented, it is actually an independent charge: it does not follow the line of the shield, but always keeps its basic triangular shape. A seeblatt is a Germanic representation of a water-lily leaf, drawn in a highly stylized manner: heart-shaped, with a cruciform or trefoil incision in chief. It is a period charge, found in the arms of Ribbing, c. 1300. Note that the plural of seeblatt is seeblatter.
		PDF File

Lily	The lily is a flower with a stylized heraldic form. It was the flower of the Virgin Mary and was a symbol of purity and virtue; in period heraldry, it was second in popularity only to the rose. Though related in origin to the fleur-de-lys, the two were considered distinctly different charges in period: the lilies in the grant of arms to Eton College, 1449, were specified apart from its fleur-de-lys.
		PDF File

Lotus	The lotus is a cup-shaped flower, said to induce a dreamy languor and forgetfulness. The flower may be found in heraldry either affronty or in profile, with neither being default; the exact posture must thus be specified.
		PDF File

Mandrake	The mandrake is a plant whose root resembles a human figure; it is normally drawn with vague human features. The mandrake's narcotic properties made it a favorite with mystics and herbalists. It is also known mundanely as the mandragora; it is found in English armory dating from c.1540. The mandrake is affronty by mundane and SCA default.
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Rose	The rose is a beautiful flower, the most frequently used flower in heraldry. It is also one of the oldest, dating from the earliest heraldry, c. 1255. Its standard heraldic form is somewhat stylized: shown affronty, with five petals separated by barbs, and central seeds. The barbing and seeding may be of a different tincture than the rest of the rose; when blazoned barbed and seeded proper, the barbs are green, the seeds gold. In Society heraldry, a rose proper is gules, barbed vert, seeded Or. Early heralds made no distinction between heraldic roses and cinquefoils, considering both the blazons and emblazons interchangeable (as in the arms of the Darcy family through the 14th Century). They are thus negligibly different in Society armory. When blazoned a garden rose or Damask rose, the rose is depicted as found in nature, the petals overlapping and slightly spread. ... In nature, garden roses come in many colors (white, pink, yellow, red, etc.); so a garden rose may not be blazoned proper, but must have its tinctures explicitly blazoned. (The exception is the Damask rose, a breed attested in Elizabethan herbals; this variety was always pink, so a Damask rose proper is pink, slipped vert.) A double rose is an heraldic rose charged with another; it is considered a single charge, negligibly different from a standard heraldic rose. All roses, heraldic or natural, may be slipped and leaved; the usually prickly leaves and thorny stems are here employed. ... In English cadency, the rose is the brisure of the seventh son. In the War of the Roses, the white rose was the badge of the House of York, and the red rose the badge of the House of Lancaster; roses of those tinctures may not be used in Society armory when the submitter's name includes "of York" or "of Lancaster". The Tudor rose, combining the York and Lancaster roses (in any number of ways), is prohibited from SCA use.
		PDF File

Teazel	The teazel, or teasel, is a spiny flower used in dressing or fulling cloth; it is sometimes more fully blazoned a fuller's teazel for that reason. It is a period charge, found in the arms of the Worshipful Company of Fullers, 1510. Unlike most flowers, the teazel is shown in profile by default. The teazel could either be blazoned and shown slipped and leaved ...; or only the head might be shown, blazoned a teazel's cob or teazel's head.
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Thistle	The thistle is a prickly flower with a poofy blossom; it is strongly associated with Scotland, where a crowned thistle is a Royal badge. Unlike most flowers, the thistle is shown in profile by default. In Society heraldry, the thistle's proper coloration is with green stem and leaves, and a purple bloom; this differs from the mundane proper coloration, which has a red bloom.
		PDF File

Tree	A tree is a large plant, with a main wooden trunk branching into foliage at the top. Its proper coloration is with green leaves and brown trunk. If the tree is fructed, it is bearing fruit, whose color must be specified; the fructing may also be considered artistic license, and added to a tree whether blazoned or not. In heraldic art the leaves and fruit are drawn much larger than in naturalistic art. Many types of tree are found in heraldry. The oldest and most common tree is the oak, found in the canting arm sof Okestead, 1275. The oak is also the default: if no specific type of tree is blazoned, the oak may always be used. Many other types of tree are also found: Society heraldry has instances of the pine, the willow, the rowan, the ash, and the palm, among others. Both the top and the bottom of the tree are subject to variation. At the bottom, the SCA default is with a small portion of the roots showing, as it might be seen in nature. The roots may also be eradicated, with the entire root showing, as if forcibly uprooted from the ground; or couped with the trunk cut, and no roots shown at all. At the top, the default is with leaves or foliage; but it also may be blasted or leafless, showing only the bare branches. A stump or stock is the bottom part of the tree, left after the tree has been felled; its top edge is usually couped, but is sometimes found snagged with the rough top surface tilted to the viewer. A trunk is a somewhat longer form of stump. A group of trees may be called a hurst, which is generally drawn with the foliage conjoined. Hursts are often issuant from a mount, but this fact is specifically blazoned in Society heraldry. The créquier is a highly stylized depiction of the wild cherry tree; unlike other trees, it is always depicted in this stylized form, to the point where it may almost be considered a separate charge.
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Trillium	The trillium is a flower native to North America, with three large white petals atop a whorl of three sepals (hence its name). Though evidently unknown to period Europeans, it is considered compatible with Society armory. The trillium is shown affronty by default.
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Wreathes	A wreath is a circlet worn on the head. In mundane heraldry, the term refers to the torse, the twisted band of cloth holding a fighter's mantling onto his helmet. Such a charge is called a torse is Society heraldry, and is normally shown as a full circle (i.e., in annulo). The term wreath in Society heraldry refers to a circlet of foliage, usually with leaves alone, but sometimes with flowers. Wreaths are usually penannular, with the opening to the chief. Laurel wreaths are the most common foliage in Society heraldry, being required in (and reserved to) the arms of each territorial branch; they are also a period charge, found in the arms of von Lenberg c.1600. Oak wreaths, holly wreaths, and rosemary wreaths are also found in the Society. The term chaplet refers to a closed annular wreath with flowers. The classic heraldic chaplet dates from c. 1296, and has four flowers in cross. If the chaplet has many flowers, with little or no foliage, it may also be termed a garland. The disinction between chaplets, garlands, and flowered wreaths is granted no heraldic difference, and indeed is often ignored by artists. There are some special terms for some types of wreaths and chaplets. A chaplet graminy is made of grass, with no flowers. A chaplet of thorn is woven of thorny branches, as shown on the head of Christ crucified. A joscelyn is a torse with four hawk's bells in cross, radiating from the outer edge; it is found in the canting arms of Jocelyn, 1285. Wreaths, chaplets, and garlands of roses are reserved to the arms of Queens, Princesses, and Royal Peers. Society tradition grants rose wreaths (many flowers) to Queens, and rose chaplets (four flowers) to Princesses; but this is not mandatory, has never been strictly adhered to, and is left to the bearer's discretion.
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