The field of a shield in heraldry can be divided into more than one tincture, as can the various chargess. The divisions are named according to the ordinary that shares their shape.
Common partitions of the field are:
- parted (or party) per fess (parted horizontally),
- party per pale (parted vertically),
- party per bend (diagonally from upper left to lower right),
- party per bend sinister (diagonally from upper right to lower left)
- party per saltire (diagonally both ways).
- party per chevron (after the manner of a chevron)
- quarterly (divided "per cross," into four quarters)
The arms of Mpumalanga show "per bend sinister, inclined in the flanks per fess."
There can also be party per chevron reversed, which is like party per chevron except upside down.
Shields may also be divided into three parts: this is called tierced, as in tierced per pale, azure, argent, and gules (though in British heraldry this is not done and the foregoing shield would be blazoned [as the pale is supposed to be one-third of the width of the field and is always so depicted under these circumstances] per pale azure and gules, a pale argent.) A particular type of tiercing, resembling a Y in shape (division lines per bend and bend sinister coming down from the chief, meeting at the fess point, and continuing down per pale), is called per pall. (The arms of Sine ni Shranachain from the Society for Creative Anarchronism Barony of the Forgotten Sea show this, but are inaccurately blazoned "Per pale argent and Or, on a chief triangular purpure a cat's face Or".)
The division line may be of any of the different line shapes.
See also variations of the field.
