Pale

In heraldry, one of the figures known as ordinaries, consisting of a horizontal band in the middle of the shield, of which it is said to occupy one-third. Several charges of any kind are said to be “in pale” when they stand over each other horizontally, as do the three lions of England. A shield divided through the middle by a horizontal line is said to be “parted per pale.” The pallet is the diminutive of the pale, and is most generally not borne singly. Three pallets gules were the arms of Raymond, count of Provence. When the field is divided into an even number of parts by perpendicular lines, it is called “paly of” so many pieces. When divided by lines perpendicular and bendways cro ing, it is called “paly bendy.” An endorse is a further diminutive of the pallet, and a pale placed between two endorses is said to be endorsed.