Bend (heraldry) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Heraldry

Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...

, a bend is a coloured band running from the upper right corner of the shield to the lower left (from the point of view of a person bearing the shield). Writers differ in how much of the field they say it covers, ranging from one-fifth (if shown between other charge

Charge (heraldry)

In heraldry, a charge is any emblem or device occupying the field of an escutcheon . This may be a geometric design or a symbolic representation of a person, animal, plant, object or other device...

s) up to one-third (if charged itself). Although the theory that the bend may occupy one-third of the field is sometimes said to exclude the possibility of two or three bends being specified to be shown together on a shield, there are contrary examples.

A bend can be modified by most of the lines of partition

Division of the field

In heraldry, the field of a shield can be divided into more than one area of different tinctures, usually following the lines of one of the ordinaries and carrying its name...

— like the engrailed bend in the coat of Cleethorpes Borough Council, England, and the wavy bend in the coat of Picard, Canada.

A bend sinister
Dexter and sinister
Dexter and sinister are terms used in heraldry to refer to specific locations in an escutcheon bearing a coat of arms and by extension also to a crest. "Dexter" means to the right from the viewpoint of the bearer of the arms, to the left of that of the viewer...

is a bend which runs in the other direction to a bend. As the shield would have been carried with the design facing outwards from the bearer, the bend sinister would slant in the same direction a sash worn diagonally on the left shoulder; sinister coming from the Latin and meaning left — to be seen in the coat of Lincolnshire County Council, England, and The Corporation of the Township of McNab/Braeside, Canada. In French heraldry, the bend sinister is traditionally used as a cadency

Cadency

In heraldry, cadency is any systematic way of distinguishing similar coats of arms belonging to members of the same family. Cadency is necessary in heraldic systems in which a given design may be owned by only one person at once...

indicating bastardy.

The diminutives (the names of narrower versions) of the bend are (in descending order)
Bendlet : One-half as wide as a bend, as in the coat of Vincent Leonard Knight, and in the coat of Manchester City Council, England.
Cotise : One-fourth the width of a bend; it appears only in pairs, usually one on either side of a bend, in which case the bend is said to be cotised as in the coats of John Stewart Archibald LeForte, and Hyndburn Borough Council, England; also called a cost as in the coat of Abernethie of Auchincloich (Or, a lion rampant gules surmounted of a cost sable, all within a bordure engrailed azure — first and fourth quarters) (Public Register volume 1, page 69); and also called a riband or ribbon (also one-fourth), as in the coat of Douglas of Douglas (Or, a lion rampant gules surmounted by a ribbon in bend sable — 2nd quarter for Abernethy) (Public Register volume 1, pages143, 231).
Note, these width ratios are approximate and should be taken with large pinches of salt.

A bendlet couped is also known as a baton, as in the coat of Elliot of Stobs (Public Register volume 1, page 144).

The diminutive of the bend sinister (in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

) is sometimes called a scarp or scarf, as in the coat of Russ Wayne Copping.

The phrase in bend refers to the appearance of several items on the shield being lined up in the direction of a bend, as in the coat of Gilbert Rioux. But it is also used when something is slanted in the direction of a bend, as in the coat of Surrey County Council, England.

A charge

Charge (heraldry)

In heraldry, a charge is any emblem or device occupying the field of an escutcheon . This may be a geometric design or a symbolic representation of a person, animal, plant, object or other device...

bendwise or bendways is slanted like a bend, as in the Canadian coat of Barry Lereng Wilmont. When a charge is placed on a bend, by default it is shown bendways, as in the coat of
Wilmslow Urban District Council, England.

A shield party per bend (or simply per bend) is divided

Division of the field

In heraldry, the field of a shield can be divided into more than one area of different tinctures, usually following the lines of one of the ordinaries and carrying its name...

into two parts by a single line which runs in the direction of a bend, as in the coat of Michael George Levy. Applies not only to the fields of shields but also to charges.

Bendy is a variation of the field

Variation of the field

In heraldry, variations of the field are any of a number of ways that a field may be covered with a pattern, rather than a flat tincture or a simple division of the field.- Patterning with ordinaries and subordinaries :...

consisting (usually) of an even number of parts, most often six; as in the coat of the duchy of Burgundy

Duke of Burgundy

Duke of Burgundy was a title borne by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, a small portion of traditional lands of Burgundians west of river Saône which in 843 was allotted to Charles the Bald's kingdom of West Franks...

.

Analogous terms are derived from the bend sinister: per bend sinister, bendwise sinister, bendy sinister.

Further reading