Field (heraldry)

In heraldry the background of the shield is called the field . The field is usually composed of one or more tinctures (colours or metals) or furs, except for in cases, which are rare in the extreme, in which the field is not a tincture, but may be a landscape. Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, in his Art of Heraldry, states that while there are many coats in British heraldry in which the charges make up a landscape, there is only one, the arms of Lopes, where the field itself is so described: "In a landscape field, a fountain, therefrom issuing a palm-tree all proper."

For further detail on the field, see variations of the field.