Gore (heraldry)

In heraldry a gore is a charge formed by two inwardly curved lines starting from the dexter chief (the viewer's upper left) corner and the middle base point and meeting in the fess point (lower center).

A gore. The blazon of this shield is Argent, a gore gules.

Background

Traditionally, the image is formed with two inwardly curved lines starting from the dexter chief corner and the middle base point and meeting in the fess point (lower center).

The same charge upon the sinister side of the shield (for the viewer, the right side) is called a gore sinister. A gore sinister tenné was considered to be an abatement of arms imposed upon the bearer for cowardice in the face of the enemy, though there is no record of its actual use.[1]

References

Burke, John; Burke, Bernard (1851). Encyclopaedia of heraldry: or General armory of England, Scotland, and Ireland, comprising a registry of all armorial bearings from the earliest to the present time, including the late grants by the College of arms. H. G. Bohn. p. xviii.

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[1] Burke, John; Burke, Bernard (1851). Encyclopaedia of heraldry: or General armory of England, Scotland, and Ireland, comprising a registry of all armorial bearings from the earliest to the present time, including the late grants by the College of arms. H. G. Bohn. p. xviii.