English

Alternative forms

gu. or g. in heraldic contexts.

Etymology

From Old French geule “animal’s mouth, throat” via Middle French geules. Compare with French gueules and Spanish gules.

Pronunciation

• /ˈguːlz/
• /ˈgulz/

Noun

gules

1. The blazoning term for red, e.g. on a coat of arms, typically represented in engraving by vertical parallel lines.

Translations

Adjective

gules

1. In blazon, of the colour red.

   • The symbol of the Red Cross is a cross gules.

Quotations

• 1602 : William Shakespeare, Hamlet, ii 2

  Now is he total gules, horridly tricked

Translations

See also

In heraldry, gules (pronounced with a hard 'g') is the tincture with the colour red, and belongs to the class of dark tinctures called "colours". In engraving, it is sometimes depicted as a region of vertical lines or else marked with gu. as an abbreviation.

The term gules derives from an Old French word goules or gueules meaning "throats" or referring to the mouth of an animal (whence comes the English gullet). The mouth and throat are red, hence the transfer of meaning.

For many decades, heraldic authors have believed that the term may have arisen from the Persian word gul "rose" (coming to Europe via Muslim Spain or brought back by returning Crusaders) , but according to Brault there is no evidence to support this derivation.

In Polish heraldry, gules is the most common tincture of the field. Through the sixteenth century, nearly half of all noble coats of arms in Poland had a field gules with one or more argent charges on them.

The Gules tincture is said to represent the following:

• Of jewels, the ruby
• Of heavenly bodies, Mars
  • (The planet Mars is further associated with the metal iron in traditional alchemical/occultistic lore)

See also

• Polish heraldry
• Cinnabar
• Murrey
• Sinople

References

• Brault, Gerard J. (1997). Early Blazon: Heraldic Terminology in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries, (2nd ed.). Woodbridge, UK: The Boydell Press. ISBN 0-85115-711-4.