Re: [fh] nac vexilliology was Re: Awards andAnthems(andnowsomebackground) [OT] [HIST]

> > The Welsh national arms is unheraldic already - per fess argent and
> > vert,
> > a dragon gules (don't remember the correct term for the dragon's
pose);
> > the dragon is placed squarely over the division, so half of it is on
> the green.***

If it's over a division of the field, and at least half the field is
correct, it's acceptable.  (You wouldn't have a red dragon on, say, a
field
of black and green).

> > Isn't the phrase 'en passant'? 
> 
> Yes! Thanks! :-)
In chess, that is.

To lump together other quibbles and address them: 
  Flags, as well as shields, should be correct.  Generally a metal (gold
and silver) goes on a color (red, green, blue, black, purple), or vice
versa; colors shouldn't be on colors nor metals on metals.  Sometimes
people ignore the rules (the Kingdom of Jerusalem had, as I recall, gold
crosses on a white field); or use the equivalent of house rules (German
heraldry allows red on black; French allows another shade of blue,
called
"ciel").   If you want to know more, any decent encyclopedia should have
an
article on basic European heraldry.
  Badges are often (not always) derived from the devices on flags--not
usually a representation of the flag--and are normally done in a manner
that will be intelligible if rendered in black and white.
  My most rabidly Welsh (excuse me, Cymric) acquaintance assures me that
it
is a wyvern, regardless of how many legs it has.  Presumably this is
like
an English leopard, which is really a lion.  I don't know, I mostly
studied
Continental heraldry.  If anyone wants "Heraldry" links, let me know;
but
be prepared for some odd pages.