Bar (heraldry)
In English heraldry, the bar is an heraldic ordinary consisting of a horizontal band extending across the shield. In form, it closely resembles the fess but differs in breadth: the bar occupies one-fifth of the breadth of the field of the escutcheon ; the fess occupies one-third. Heraldists differ in how they class the bar in relation to the fess. A number of authors consider the bar to be a diminutive of the fess. But, others, including Leigh and Guillim, assert that the bar is a separate and distinct ‘honorouble ordinary’. Holme is equivocal. When taken as an honourable ordinary, it is co-equal with the other nine of the English system. Some authors who consider the bar a diminutive of the fess class it as a subordinary. Authorities agree that the bar and its diminutives have a number of features that distinguish them from the fess.
The diminutive of the bar one-half its breadth is the closet, while the diminutive one-quarter its breadth is the barrulet. These frequently appear in pairs separated by the width of a single barrulet. Such a pair is termed a bar gemel and is considered a single charge and a third diminutive of the bar. A field divided by many bars — often six, eight or ten parts with two alternating tinctures — is described as barry. The term bar is also sometimes used as a more general term for ordinaries that traverse the field and sometimes to denote the bend sinister and its diminutives.
A horizontal partition of the field at the base, occupying the breadth of a bar, is termed a base-bar. This division of the field is also sometimes termed a base or a point or plain point. It has also been referred to as a base point, point in base, party per baste bar. It has even been termed simply a bar and its position at the base noted. Some authors hold that this bearing is an abatement, or mark of dishonor, if of the tincture sanguine. If sanguine, it is held to be a mark of dishonor for the offense of lying to the sovereign. Newton elaborates even further and ascribes it to the offense of 'fabricating false intelligence, thereby misleading a commander and placing the army in danger'. However, Berry stresses that, if of one of the many other metals or colours, it is a badge "of the greatest honor and distinction".
Like other charges, bars may bear varied lines—such as embattled, indented, nebuly, etc.
Differences between bar and fess
There are several differences between the bar and the fess, in addition to their difference in breadth. An escutcheon or flag can bear only one fess but multiple bars. Also, the fess must remain centered along the line extending from the exact middle of the escutcheon or flag, while the bar can be borne “in several parts of the field”. However, Guillim asserts that the if there is a single bar it must assume the place of the fess at the center of the field. Some textbooks state that the bar cannot be borne singly, but this is erroneous. Smedley et al. maintain that if there are two bars, they must be placed equally distant from the fess point or center of the shield, the space of a bar between them, effectively dividing the field into five equal parts. Further, for those that maintain that the bar is an honourable ordinary separate and distinct from the fess, the fess is distinguished among the ordinaries in that it has no diminutives. The bar is universally held to have two diminutives: the closet and the barrulet.Symbolism
Another key difference between the bar and fess is the significance of what they each represent. For Nisbet, the bar represents “a piece wood or other matter” laid across a pass, bridge, or gate to bar passage to an enemy. As such, the bar on a shield or an escutcheon represents to the bearer "force, valour, courage, or wisdom, whereby he hath repelled any peril or danger imminent to his country or sovereign". Nisbet, citing Ferne, observes also that the diminutives of the chevron, bend, and pale—the chevronel, bendlet, and pallet—represent pieces of wood or other matter used as different parts of fortified barriers surrounding settlements or encampments. The honourable ordinary the pale is also said to represent a wooden stake or picket used as a part of such a defensive barriers. The term closet may derive from the Latin claustrum and signify a bar used to secure a door or gate shut. The fess on the other hand portrays the military arming belt or Girdle of Honor awarded by rulers to soldiers or warriors for special services performed, as part of the ceremony of their investiture as knights. The fess is thus symbolic of military rank, achievement, recognition, and distinction.Other uses of term
The term bar has sometimes been used in a heraldic context to denote other charges. Mackenzie observed that in the Scots heraldry of the day, the term bar was used for what the English termed the fess. Ferne used the expression 'bar in base' for a diminutive of the champagne or base. Nisbet found that the term ‘bar’ had been used “by all nations” as a general term for all pieces that “thwart or traverse” the field, as many of the honourable ordinaries do. The Spanish have used the term “indifferently” for pales, fesses, and bends. For example, the arms of Aragon and Barcelona—Paly argent and gules—are termed by them Barras longas, and Nisbet claims this usage is at the root of the place-name Barcelona. They observe that the Italians also have used the term sbarra similarly. Ginanni declares this usage mistaken though, and that the term sbarra properly refers to the bend sinister.In French heraldry, the term barre is also specifically used to denote the English bend sinister. Writing of Scots heraldry in English, Nisbet himself uses the term ‘bar’ for the bend sinister. The term ‘bar sinister’, derived from the French usage of barre, has sometimes been used in English to denote the bend sinister as a "brisure of illegitimacy". It has even been referred to as the ‘bastard bar’. The baton sinister, also taken as a mark of illegitimacy, has been referred to as the ‘Bar of bastardy’ and the 'Fillet of bastardy'. Though commonly used, this adaptation of the French use of 'bar' into English it involves has been harshly criticized by some heraldists. The term ‘bar sinister’ has been dismissed as an “ignorant vulgarism” and “an absurdity and impossibility” in light of the established English usage of bar.
In contemporary vexillology, one also sometimes encounters a general or ‘indifferent’ use of the term bar. Alfred Znamierowski refers to the white fess of the Flag of Austria as a “wide bar”, and then also immediately characterizes its design as "white-red-white stripes". The First National Flag of the Confederate States of America has been popularly nicknamed the "Stars and Bars". The field of this flag is, like the Flag of Austria, composed of a white fess on a red field.
Diminutives
The bar has four diminutives: the closet, barrulet, bar gemel, and cottise. The diminutive half its width is the closet, and that one-fourth the width is the barrulet. Barrulets are often borne in pairs known as bar gemel, the pair separated by the width of a barrulet and considered a single charge. A coat of arms can bear multiple bar gemels, though four is usually the maximum. The bar gemel is sometimes referred to by the French Jumelle or jumelles. One or several barrulets can be borne on the field separately as well, however. The diminutive of the barrulet, half its width, is known as a cottise. Cottises rarely appear alone, but are most often borne on each side of an ordinary. The ordinary thus accompanied by a cottise on each side is then described as "cottised", or these may even be "doubly cottised". A single cottise is usually blazoned a cost.A bar that has been "couped" at the ends so as not to reach the edges of the field is called a hamade, hamaide or hummet, after the town of La Hamaide in Hainaut, Belgium. As a charge, it is almost always depicted in threes. The adjective is hummety.
French diminutives of the fess
French heraldry has a set of diminutives of the fess—the fasce en divise, trangle, burelle, and filet—that a number of writers treat as equivalent to the English bar and its diminutives. In French heraldry, the bar as defined by the English is "unknown", but Boyer writes that the English bar "answers to" the French fasce on divise, while the English barrulet "agrees pretty nearly" to the French burelle. However, these French diminutives of the fess are defined differently than the English bar and its diminutives—in terms of the proportion of their breadth relative to that of the field and to each other. The fess occupies one third of the breadth of the field and the fasce en divise, burelle/''trangle, and filet are defined as one half, one-third, and one-fourth the breadth of the fess, respectively, or one-sixth, one-ninth, and one-twelfth the breadth of the field. The English bar, on the other hand, is defined as one-fifth the breadth of the field, and its diminutives—the closet, barrulet, and cottise—are defined as one half, one quarter, and one-eighth the breadth of the bar, or one-tenth, one-twentieth, and one-fortieth of the field. The bar and fasce en divise are roughly approximate as one-fifth and one-sixth of the field, respectively. But the burelle and barrulet are quite different—one-ninth and one-twentieth of the field. The English closet does however approximate the burelle. The French filet is not far either.The tierce is a charge composed of three diminutives of the fess that are one-fifth its breadth and separated by an equal space, together occupying the breadth of a fess. The charge is analogous to the bar gemel as a pair of diminutives of the bar separated by a space equal to their width. As such, the tierce can be considered a diminutive of the fess. It can be noted that the diminutives composing this charge, as one-fifteenth the breadth of the field, are the same breadth as those composing the bar gemel as a diminutive of the bar. Boyer's use of the term 'barrulet' to refer to the diminutives composing this charge is an example of how in practical use terms like barrulet are employed flexibly.
Finally, a word of caution is in order concerning the French term divise or fasce en divise when used for a diminutive of the fess said to be equivalent to the English bar. It risks confusion with the more prevalent French heraldic use of the term divise to denote a diminutive of the fess roughly the breadth of the filet. This divise'' "supports" the chief, being positioned at its bottom edge and functioning effectively as fimbriation.