Instructions for the Translator/Atlas

Introduction

This translator/atlas is based on the Vocabulaire-Atlas Héraldique published in Paris in 1952 by baron Stalins under the auspices of the International Heraldry Academy, which contains a list of about 520 terms, presented in 6 languages (French, English, German, Spanish, Italian and Dutch), with an index for each language, and a series of plates illustrating the terms (Ralf Hartemink helped me correct and update the Dutch terms). I designed and wrote the translator in Perl.

You can use the translator/atlas to:

1. translate a term from one language to the others and see it illustrated
2. browse the illustrations and find the name of an object in all languages

Usage Notes

Please note the following:

• The translator will only provide equivalencies between heraldic terms in different languages. No definitions are given, however a picture is linked to each term found.
• The search will translate any list of words from one language to any collection of the other five languages. The results are presented in table format, one table for each requested word.
• You can search for an exact match or a substring match. For example, pal will be exactly matched by pal, pal retracted, demi-pale and it will also be matched as a substring by palewise. I recommend using exact match searches at first.
• When there is no equivalent term in a particular language, this is denoted by "---" in the output.
• The glossary contains charges as well as modifications of charges. For example, the only entry containing the word gobony actually says gobony (pale) and the picture shows a pale gobony. That does not mean that only a pale can be gobony.
• The glossary is far from complete. Many terms are found in only one or two languages and were thus not included by the authors. I will try to enlarge the glossary over time (suggestions welcome).

Translator

Atlas

Table of Contents of the plates.