The coat of arms itself consists of :

1. the shield;

2. any divisions of the shield's surface;

3. the devices, or charges, decorating the shield;

4. and the tinctures or furs that color the images.

The formal description of the arms (and of the full achievement) is called the blazon; it uses a very specialized and archaic vocabulary presented in prescribed terms. For example, the official blazon for the arms in the first post to this thread--the royal arms of the United Kingdom, as displayed when the Queen is in England--is as follows:

Quarterly, first and fourth Gules three lions passant gardant in pale Or (for England) second quarter Or a lion rampant within a double tressure flory-counter-flory Gules (for Scotland), third quarter Azure a harp Or stringed Argent (for Ireland), the whole surrounded by the Garter. For a Crest upon the royal helm, the imperial crown Proper, thereon a lion statant gardant Or imperially crowned Proper. For Supporters, dexter a lion rampant gardant Or crowned as the crest, sinister a unicorn Argent, armed, crined, and unguled Proper gorged with a coronet composed of crosses patée and fleurs de lis, a chain affixed thereto passing between the forelegs and reflexed over the back also Or. Motto: "Dieu et mon Droit" in the compartment below the shield, with the Union rose, shamrock, and thistle engrafted on the same stem.
Whew!

-- Edited by Athena MM at 21:20, 2006-09-20

The face of the shield, or the field, can be divided or organized in many ways; the basic divisions are shown below, with their proper terms.




The dividing lines can be straight or modified--wavy, castellated, sawtoothed, and so on (these modifications have specialized names). In fact, many arms consist simply of the field divided up in this fashion and colored in contrasting tinctures.

-- Edited by Athena MM at 02:19, 2006-09-26

When the reproduction medium does not employ color, heralds have a system for indicating tinctures (colors and metals) that employs lines and dots in various patterns (below). These patterns are not to be confused with devices. It has been conventional, by the way, to use white for Argent and yellow for Or.



Fields and charges can also be "colored" by furs, of which the most popular--ermine and vair--appear below.



-- Edited by Athena MM at 04:31, 2006-09-26

Badges are often seen as pottery marks, especially in works of British origin. They originated as embroidered, metal, or painted images derived usually from a lord's coat of arms, and were worn by that lord's retinue and forces, much like livery. In Scotland today, badges based on the clan chief's crest, encircled by a garter or sword belt bearing the chief's motto or war cry, are sometimes available to all members of the clan--men, women, and children. The badges of the MacDougall (left) and Robertson (right) clans are shown below.
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The Garter is the emblem of England's most prestigious and selective honor, the Most Noble Order of the Garter. This garter reproduces the original velvet belt that held up a medieval lady's hose beneath her robes. It encircles the English sovereign's coat of arms.

Seals now refer to impressions (or depictions of impressions) of a device, often heraldic, made on documents or other other items as a means of authentication, and were originally made in place of, later accompanying, a signature. Armigerous persons commonly had seals made showing their arms or crest, often as a signet ring, and used these seals on official documents; most nations today have official seals and often use them to authenticate treaties. Seals are also widely used in Asia to this day. Pottery manufacturers have designed company marks that imitate seals, both Western and Asian.

Here are two (obverse) examples of seals, the Imperial Seal of Japan (left) and the seal of the Brookfield Glass Company (right).

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-- Edited by Athena MM at 16:48, 2006-09-30