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Semé Patterns







A field or charge is said to be semé, or occasionally powdered, if it is covered with small objects, spaced in a regular pattern. The most common semé pattern if gutté or teardrop shaped objects, patterns of which have specific names based on their color.

Other common semé pattern illustrated here include: semé de lis (a pattern of small fleur-de-lis), billetté (a pattern of small rectangles), and crusilly (any pattern of small crosses). In addition to those semé pattern illustrated here, one might encounter the following more rarely seen patterns:

pattern of...   heraldic name
bezants = besanté
castles = chastelé
lions rampant = semé de lioncels
nails = ferreté
roses = semé de rosettes

semé de lis billetté crusilly  
semé de lis billetté crusilly  

       

gouttes or gutté

 
gutté d'eau
(water; argent)
gutté d'or
(gold; or)
gutté de larmes
(tears; azure)
gutté de sang
(blood; gules)
argent or azure gules
       
gutté de poix (pitch; sable) gutté d'huile (oil; vert)
sable sable 2 vert
 

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