Bar (heraldry)

In heraldry, a bar is an ordinary consisting of a horizontal band across the shield.

Common ordinaries

A single bar placed across the top of the field is called a chief. A single bar placed over the center of the field is a fess. A division of the field by many bars — often six or eight — is a barry.

Diminutives

Thin bars are termed barrulets. A still thinner bar is known as a cotise, which usually appear borne on each side of a fess. The fess is then described as "cotised."

The "closet" is described as a band of the thickness between a bar and a barrulet, but is rarely found.

A barry design consisting of ten or more bars is called barruly or burely instead.