Cleché
In heraldry, a cross (or other ordinary) cleché, or clechée, flares out at the ends in a shape resembling the bow of an old-fashioned key (French clé).[1] An example is the Occitan Cross in the coat of arms of the counts of Toulouse: Gules, a cross cléchée, pommetty and voided Or. (Because this Occitan Cross is also voided (hollow), some writers[2] have mistakenly taken the term cléché to be a synonym of voided or to include voiding as a defining feature.)
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chambers, Ephraim, ed. (1728). "Cleché". Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences. Vol. Clausum–Coining (1st ed.). James and John Knapton, et al. p. 233.
See also[]
- Cercelée, a similar cross
References[]
- ^ J. B. Rietstap, Armorial General, glossary s.v. croix cléchée (p. xix): "Se dit des arrondissements de la croix de Toulouse, dont les quatre extrémités sont faites comme les anneaux des clés."
- ^ Pimbley's Dictionary of Heraldry
Categories:
- Crosses in heraldry