Vair (from
Latin
varius "variegated") is the
heraldic representation of patches of
squirrel fur in an alternating pattern of blue and
white. As a
tincture, vair is
considered a fur and is therefore exempted from the
Rule of tincture (
i.e. it can be
placed upon a
metal, a
colour, or both).
Variations of vair are laid out in different patterns, each with
their own name. Vair may also be differently coloured, but this is
blazoned as "Vairy of [tincture] and
[tincture]", where one tincture must be a metal and the other a
colour.
Origins
The word
vair, with its variant forms
veir and
vairé, was brought into
Middle
English from
Old French, from
Latin varius "variegated", and is has
been alternatively termed
variorum opus (Latin, meaning
"variegated work"). This term, in turn, is related to the
German term for vair,
Grauwerk, the
Swedish term,
gråverk, and
other Germanic terms for vair.
The squirrel in question is a variety of the
Eurasian Red Squirrel,
Sciurus
vulgaris.
In the coldest parts of Northern and Central
Europe, especially the Baltic
region
, the winter coat of this squirrel is blue-grey on
the back and white on the belly, and was much used for the lining
of cloaks called mantles. It
was sewn together in alternating cup-shaped pieces of back and
belly fur, resulting in a pattern of grey-blue and grey-white
which, when simplified in heraldic drawing and painting, became
blue and white in alternating pieces.Image:Squirrel
germany.jpg|Dark morph of Eurasian red squirrelImage:Codex Manesse
Burkart von Hohenfels.jpg|Vair-lined mantles in the 14th century
Codex Manesse
Variations
In the oldest records vair is represented by means of straight
horizontal lines alternating with wavy or
nebuly lines (sometimes blazoned as
vair
ondé or
vair ancien); this is seen in the lining of
the cloak depicted on the tomb of
Geoffrey V of Anjou (
see
image).
A vair-like pattern of tinctures other than argent and azure is
referred to as
vairy (or
vairé)
of [metal]
and [colour]. Other differently tinctured patterns are called
counter-vairy,
potenty or
counter-potenty of [metal] and [colour], though
these are rare. A few instances can be found of vairy of four
tinctures, but this is very rare.
The height of a row of vair is not strictly specified, but is
typically about one-fifth that of the shield. Where there are more
than six rows, the term
menu-vair may be used. This is the
origin of the English word "miniver", which was the general word
for the fur lining used for robes of state.
Vair of fewer than four rows is sometimes called
beffroi
(a French cognate of
belfry), probably from the
resemblance of a piece of vair to a church tower. The word derives
from
Old French berfroi and
Old High German bergfrid,
"the one who guards the peace". Originally, a
beffroi was
a wheeled tower which was used for scaling the walls of a besieged
city, similar in shape to the pieces of vair. Later, it was used
for a watchtower, and then for any tower where a bell was hung.
Vair of two rows, called
gros-vair, is also occasionally
seen.
Potent
Potent is a fur in
heraldry. It is like vair, except using a T-shaped
item instead of the vair bell. (The word "potent" means crutch; it
is thought to derive from badly-drawn vair.) It is subject to all
the subvarieties of vair, thus counter-potent and so on.
Image:Field_vair.png|
Vair, modern style
Image:Vair antique.gif|
Vair ancien
Image:Field countervair.png|
Counter-vair
Image:Herald_vairinpale.png|
Vair in pale
Image:Herald_vairenpointe.svg|
Vair-en-pointe
Image:Skydas potent potent.png|
Potent
Image:Skydas potent counterpotent.png|
Counterpotent
Image:Skydas potent potentenpoints.png|
Potent-en-pointe
Trivia
In
Perrault's version of the
fairytale
Cinderella, it was thought for
some time that the original intent was that the slippers were made
of fur, due to a confusion of the French words
verre
(glass) and
vair (fur). It is now contested as to
whether the glass interpretation was the correct one.
See also
References
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