Gules

In heraldry, gules (pronounced with a hard 'g') is the tincture with the colour red, and belongs to the class of dark tinctures called "colours". In engraving, it is sometimes depicted as a region of vertical lines or else marked with gu. as an abbreviation.

The term gules derives from an Old French word "goules" or "gueules" meaning "throats" or referring to the mouth of an animal (whence comes the English gullet). The mouth and throat are red, hence the transfer of meaning.

For many decades, heraldic authors have believed that the term may have arisen from the Persian word "gul" "rose" (coming to Europe via Muslim Spain or brought back by returning Crusaders) , but according to Brault there is no evidence to support this derivation.

In Polish heraldry, gules is the most common tincture of the field. Through the sixteenth century, nearly half of all noble coats of arms in Poland had a field gules with one or more argent charges on them.

The Gules tincture is said to represent the following:

* Of jewels, the ruby
* Of heavenly bodies, Mars
** (The planet Mars is further associated with the metal iron in traditional alchemical/occultistic lore)

ee also

*Polish heraldry
*Cinnabar
*Murrey
*Sinople

References

*Brault, Gerard J. (1997). "Early Blazon: Heraldic Terminology in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries", (2nd ed.). Woodbridge, UK: The Boydell Press. ISBN 0-85115-711-4.