List of heraldic charges

This is a list of heraldic charges. It does not cover those charges which are geometrical patterns and resemble partitions of the field; for these, see Ordinary (heraldry).
Fox-Davies (1909) in his presentation of common heraldic charges divides them into the following categories (not including ordinaries and subordinaries): the human figure, the heraldic lion, beasts (mammals), monsters, birds, fish, reptiles, insects, plants (trees, leaves, fruits and flowers), and "inanimate objects".
Subordinaries.
A number of simple geometric shapes have traditionally, and somewhat arbitrarily, been classified among the so-called subordinaries. (All other mobile charges are called "common charges".)
Beasts.
Any animal can be a heraldic charge, although more traditional ones vary in the exactitude with which they resemble the creature as found in nature. Animals depicted naturally are either described as natural or using the scientific nomenclature.
Insects.
Insects include:
Birds.
By far the most frequent heraldic bird is the eagle. A variant is the "alerion", without beak or feet, seen in the arms of the duchy of Lorraine (of which it is not quite an anagram).
Also very frequent is the martlet, a conventional swallow depicted without feet or the French variant the "merlette", which also omits the beak.
Fish and creatures of the sea.
"Fish" are sometimes only described as "a fish", but the species is often named:
Parts of animals.
Parts of creatures may also be used as charges.
Plants.
Trees and their fruits.
Trees appear as eradicated (showing the roots) or couped. Fruit can appear on a tree, or by itself. Also, leaves and branches appear.
Other flora.
Trees are sometimes merely blazoned as "a tree" but specific trees are mentioned in blazon.
A small group of trees is blazoned as a hurst, grove, wood or thicket.
Inanimate charges.
Regarding "inanimate objects", Fox-Davies (1909:281) comments:
Crosses.
Originally representing the Christian cross used as field sign and standard during the Crusades, heraldic crosses diversified into many variants in the late medieval to early modern period, the most common (besides the plain "Greek cross") being the cross potent, cross pattée, cross fleury, cross moline, cross crosslet (etc.).
Lettering.
Lettering in coats of arms are usually placed in the motto, not in the heraldic shield as a charge. However, a tradition of introducing individual letters as heraldic charges on the basis of acrophony originates in the 15th to 16th century, primarily in personal and municipial heraldry, and with some frequency in the modern period, appearing more often on the continent than in British heraldry where letters as charges have traditionally been discouraged. Fox-Davies (1909:281) regarding letters of the alphabet as heraldic charges:
One of the earliest instances of the use of letters as heraldic charges is that of the Langenmantel family of Augsburg. Rüdiger I Langenmantel (d. 1342), one of the leading figures of the Augsburg patriciate during the first four decades of the 14th century, is the founder of the "Langenmantel vom RR" branch of the family, derived from his coat of arms showing two letters R (for his given name), shown addorsed (as mirror images).
Religious symbolism:
Music.
Musical instruments include: