Flaunch


In heraldry, a flaunch is among the ordinaries or subordinaries, consisting of two arcs of circles protruding into the field from the sides of the shield. The flaunch is never borne singly.
Plain flaunches are seen in the coats of and . They may be of different tinctures, as in the coat of the Free State Women's Agricultural Union where they are orange/tenny and azure.
Flaunches may touch each other, as in the coat of .
Like any ordinary, they may
  • be charged with other things, as in the English coats of and .
  • have colourings other than plain ones, as in the English coat of and the Canadian one of the .
  • have ornamented edges, as in the Welsh coat of .
A very rare variation is square flaunches, as in the coat of and the coat of the US Coastguard Cutter . Parker's glossary, s.v. , cites two similar coats for Mosylton or Moselton with square flaunches.

Diminutive

While supposedly the diminutives of flaunches are flasques and voiders, these exist only very rarely in modern heraldry, and in practice cannot be distinguished from flaunches. An example occurs in the coat of Liddell-Grainger of Ayton, "Argent fretty gules; two voiders or;...".

As a debruisement

Some early heraldic writers say that the illegitimate son of a noblewoman must bear her arms with "a surcoat"; that is, on flaunches around a blank center.