Sable (heraldry)
- This article describes the heraldic tincture sable. For other uses, see Sable (disambiguation).
In heraldry, sable is the tincture black, and belongs to the class of dark tinctures, called "colours". In engravings and line drawings, it is sometimes depicted as a region of crossed horizontal and vertical lines or else marked with sa. as an abbreviation.
The name derives from the black fur of the sable, an animal.
Sable as a metal
Sable is considered a colour in British and French heraldry, and contrasts with lighter metals, argent and Or. However, in the heraldry of Germany, Polish heraldry and other parts of central Europe, sable is not infrequently treated as a third fur tincture. As a result, a sable cross may appear on a red shield, or a sable bird may appear on a blue or a red field, as in the flag of Albania.
See also
Look up sable in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.