In heraldry

Heraldry

Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...

 and vexillology

Vexillology

Vexillology is the scholarly study of flags. The word is a synthesis of the Latin word vexillum, meaning 'flag', and the Greek suffix -logy, meaning 'study'. The vexillum was a particular type of flag used by Roman legions during the classical era; its name is a diminutive form of the word velum...

, fimbriation refers to small stripes of colour (technically called "tincture

Tincture (heraldry)

In heraldry, tinctures are the colours used to emblazon a coat of arms. These can be divided into several categories including light tinctures called metals, dark tinctures called colours, nonstandard colours called stains, furs, and "proper". A charge tinctured proper is coloured as it would be...

" in this sense in heraldry) placed around common charges

Charge (heraldry)

In heraldry, a charge is any emblem or device occupying the field of an escutcheon . This may be a geometric design or a symbolic representation of a person, animal, plant, object or other device...

 or ordinaries

Ordinary (heraldry)

In heraldry, an ordinary is a simple geometrical figure, bounded by straight lines and running from side to side or top to bottom of the shield. There are also some geometric charges known as subordinaries, which have been given lesser status by some heraldic writers, though most have been in use...

, usually in order for them to stand out from the background, but perhaps just because the designer felt it looked better, or for a more technical reason (in heraldry

Heraldry

Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...

 only) to avoid what would otherwise be a violation of the rule of tincture

Rule of tincture

The first rule of heraldic design is the rule of tincture: metal should not be put on metal, nor colour on colour . This means that Or and argent may not be placed on each other; nor may any of the colours be placed on another colour...

. While fimbriation almost invariably applies to both or all sides of a charge, there are very unusual examples of fimbriation on one side only. Another rather rare form is double fimbriation (blazoned "double fimbriated"), where the charge or ordinary is accompanied by two stripes of colour instead of only one. In cases of double fimbriation the outer colour is blazoned first. The arms of Mozirje

Mozirje

Mozirje is a small town and municipality on the Savinja River in northern Slovenia. The area was part of the traditional region of Styria. It is now included in the Savinja statistical region....

, in Slovenia

Slovenia

Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...

, show an example of fimbriation that itself is fimbriated.

Fimbriation may also be used when a charge is the same colour as the field on which it is placed. A red charge placed on a red background may be necessary, for instance where the charge and field are both a specific colour for historical reasons, and in these cases fimbriation becomes a necessity in order for the charge to be visible. In some cases, such as a fimbriated cross placed on a field of the same colour as the cross, the effect is identical to the use of cross voided

Cross

A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run obliquely, the design is technically termed a saltire, although the arms of a saltire need not meet...

, i.e., a cross shown in outline only.

According to the rule of tincture, one of the fundamental rules of heraldic design, colour may not be placed on colour nor metal on metal (in heraldry, "metal" refers to gold and silver and yellow and white, which are often used to represent gold and silver. "Colour" refers to all other colours). Sometimes, however, it is desired to do something like this, so fimbriation is used as a method of getting around the rule.

In vexillology that is not specifically heraldic, the rules of heraldry do not apply, yet fimbriation is still frequently seen. The reason for this is largely one of visibility - the separating of darker colours by white or yellow is an aid to the visual separation of the darker colours. A good example of a flag which uses fimbriation is the national flag of South Africa

Flag of South Africa

The current flag of the Republic of South Africa was adopted on 27 April 1994, at the beginning of the 1994 general election, to replace the flag that had been used since 1928...

 which is fimbriated in white above and below the central green area, and in yellow between it and the triangle at the hoist.

Though fimbriation is, heraldically, intended to be used to separate areas that are both colours (by the use of a metal) or both metals (by the use of a colour), occasionally flags may be found which use fimbriation in non-standard ways. One example of this is the flag of the Faroe Islands

Faroe Islands

The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...

, which separates a red cross from a white field

Field (heraldry)

In heraldry, the background of the shield is called the field. The field is usually composed of one or more tinctures or furs. The field may be divided or may consist of a variegated pattern....

 with blue fimbriation. Another example of this non-standard fimbriation is the flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand

United Tribes of New Zealand

The United Tribes of New Zealand was a loose confederation of Māori tribes based in the north of the North Island.- History :The confederation was convened in 1834 by British Resident James Busby...

, which separates areas of blue and red with black fimbriation. The flag of Uzbekistan

Flag of Uzbekistan

The flag of Uzbekistan was approved at the Seventh Extraordinary Session of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Uzbekistan, on November 18, 1991.- Symbolism :According to the Uzbek embassy:...

 also uses this form of "pseudo-fimbriation" - it adds a thin red band between a colour and a metal, separating blue (above) and green (below) from a central white stripe

Stripe

Stripe or Stripes may refer to:* Stripes * Stripes * S.T.R.I.P.E., a fictional superhero* Striper, a fish* Stripes Convenience Stores* Data striping, a data storage technique...

.

Some fifteen to twenty countries use fimbriation on their national flags. National flags that use fimbriation include those of Trinidad and Tobago

Flag of Trinidad and Tobago

The flag of Trinidad and Tobago was adopted upon independence from Great Britain on 31 August 1962.-Description:A Flag is red with a white-edged black diagonal band from the upper hoist side to the lower fly side. In blazon, Gules, a bend Sable fimbriated Argent.-Construction:The width of the white...

, North Korea

Flag of North Korea

The flag of North Korea was adopted on September 8, 1948, as the national flag and ensign. The red star of Communism can be seen on this flag on a white disc. The flag was adopted in 1948, when Northern portion of Korea became a Communist state. The traditional Korean flag was red, white, and blue...

, Botswana

Flag of Botswana

The national flag of Botswana was adopted on September 30, 1966. The flag is light blue with a black horizontal band across the centre, with white fimbriation. The stripes are in a ratio of 9:1:4:1:9. The blue colour stands for water, specifically rain, and comes from the motto on the Botswana...

, Kenya

Flag of Kenya

The flag of Kenya was officially adopted on December 12, 1963.-Symbolism:The Kenyan flag is based on that of Kenya African National Union. The colours symbolize black majority, red for the blood shed during the struggle for freedom, and green for Land; the white fimbriation was added later and...

 and - most famously - the British Union Flag

Union Flag

The Union Flag, also known as the Union Jack, is the flag of the United Kingdom. It retains an official or semi-official status in some Commonwealth Realms; for example, it is known as the Royal Union Flag in Canada. It is also used as an official flag in some of the smaller British overseas...

. On this latter flag the fimbriation is unusual, as a white fimbriation separates a blue field from a red cross (representing England) and also from a divided red and white saltire (the red representing Ireland and the white representing Scotland). The white fimbriation along the white part of the saltire - possibly unique in vexillology

Vexillology

Vexillology is the scholarly study of flags. The word is a synthesis of the Latin word vexillum, meaning 'flag', and the Greek suffix -logy, meaning 'study'. The vexillum was a particular type of flag used by Roman legions during the classical era; its name is a diminutive form of the word velum...

- is responsible for the famous "lopsidedness" of the Union Jack, giving it the appearance of having a red saltire fimbriated more widely on one side than the other.