Tincture

The term used to describe colors in a blazon used in heraldry. Tinctures come in three types: color, metal, and fur. The tinctures used in SCA heraldry are:

Colors

• gules (red)
• azure (blue)
• sable (black)
• vert (green)
• purpure (purple)

Metals

• argent (silver/white)
• Or (gold/yellow)

Furs

• ermine (white with black ermine tails)
• erminois (yellow with black ermine tails)
• counter-ermine (black with white ermine tails)
• pean (black with yellow ermine tails)
• vair (blue and white vair bells)

Contrast

When creating a device or badge, you must have good contrast between elements. For purposes of contrast all colors are considered dark and all metals are considered light. When using furs, those with light backgrounds (ermine, erminois) are considered light, and those with dark backgrounds (counter-ermine, pean) are considered dark. Since vair is equally light and dark, it is a special case and is considered neutral.