Pall (heraldry)
A pall in heraldry and vexillology is a Y-shaped charge, normally having its arms in the three corners of the shield. An example of a pall placed horizontally is the green portion of the South African national flag.
A pall that stops short of the shield's edges and that has pointed ends to its three limbs is called a shakefork, although some heraldic sources do not make a distinction between a pall and a shakefork. A pall standing upside down is named pall reversed.
An ecclesiastical pall on a shield, or pallium, is the heraldic indicator of archbishoprics. These palls usually have a lower limb that stops short of the bottom of the shield with a fringe.
Palls can also be modified with heraldic lines. One example is the coat of Saint-Wandrille-Rançon, displayed below. The wavy heraldic line on a pall can be used to represent a river, or a confluence thereof, as in the arms of Nigeria.
A field may be divided into three parts, tierced per pall, resembling a combination of division per chevron and per pale. Charges may be borne in pall, that is, arranged in a form resembling a pall.