Semé Patterns

A field or charge is said to be semé, or occasionally powdered, if it is covered with small objects, spaced in a regular pattern. The most common semé pattern is gutté or teardrop shaped objects, patterns of which have specific names based on color:

• 

  gutté d'eau
  (water; argent)

• 

  gutté d'or
  (gold; or)

• 

  gutté de larmes
  (tears; azure)

• 

  gutté de sang
  (blood; gules)

•    

  gutté de poix (pitch; sable)

• 

  gutté d'huile (oil; vert)

Other common semé pattern illustrated here include: semé de lis (a pattern of small fleur-de-lis), billetté (a pattern of small rectangles), and crusilly (any pattern of small crosses). In addition to those semé patterns (illustrated below) one might encounter the following more rarely seen patterns:

pattern of…		heraldic name
bezants	=	besanté
castles	=	chastelé
lions rampant	=	semé de lioncels
nails	=	ferreté
roses	=	semé de rosettes

•  

• 

  semé de lis

• 

  billetté

• 

  crusilly

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