Baton sinister
Baton sinister is a charge used in heraldry.
Heraldic charge
It is a diminutive of the bend sinister and constitutes a narrow strip that runs from the upper right to the lower left of a coat of arms. It has been traditionally used as an indicator of an illegitimate birth in the family line. Sinister, in this case, does not have a negative connotation, it is merely a directional indicator.
The baton sinister can be seen in the arms of the Duke of Grafton who is a descendant of an illegitimate son of King Charles II of England. Today, the College of Arms in England uses a bordure wavy to mark an armiger as illegitimate. The Court of the Lord Lyon in Scotland uses a bordure gobony to denote the same.
Bar sinister
Sir Walter Scott is cretited with corrupting this phrase into the bar sinister of literature. In heraldic terms, the bar is actually a horizontal line without any sinister versions. In literature, the phrase is often used to represent bastardy in coats of arms.
A Bar Sinister may also refer to a symbol commonly used in signs. These include the common "No Smoking" signs. In its modern form it is a red circle with a diagonal line through it. It prohibits the use of the symbol that is underneath it.
External links
- Baton sinister in the arms of the Duke of Grafton]
- Society for Creative Anachronism
- Pembley's Dictionary of Heraldry
References
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Wood, James, ed. (1907). The Nuttall Encyclopædia. London and New York: Frederick Warne.
{{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - Stephen Friar, Ed. A Dictionary of Heraldry. (Harmony Books, New York: 1987).