Bar Sinister: Difference between revisions

[[File:Argent_a_bend_sinister_gules_7822Argent a bend sinister gules 7822.png|frame|Argent, a bend sinister gules.]]

2. There is no standard heraldic symbol for illegitimacy. The baton or bend sinister was used in this way in some places and times, but in other places and times it was completely innocent, and some other indicator was used -- orused—or, depending on the cultural norms, no indicator at all. For instance, in Scottish heraldry, the arms of a bastard were marked by a border around the shield, usually a pattern of alternating white and some other colour, while the French rules varied from region to region, and the Germans rarely ever bothered differencing arms at all.

3. In English heraldry, there were (and are) very strict rules about how a coat of arms was inherited and even stricter and more complicated rules about how they could be used by members of the family of the person to whom the arms were originally granted. In general, though, an illegitimate child would have ''no right'' to bear or inherit the arms of either of their parents at all, no matter how they differenced it (however, an illegitimate child may apply for a grant of arms -- orarms—or, if a minor, the parent may do so for him -- andhim—and may request that it be a based on the parental arms; but the rest is up to the Heralds' College).