Alchemical Symbols vs Heraldry
錬金術記号 / 西洋紋章学
Both sit in Symbol Systems, so the question is not what they belong to but how they behave. Both are read here as style. They are reached for with some of the same intent, which is where they get confused.
Alchemical Symbols
The signs that recorded substances and operations between secrecy and sharing. The system binding planets to metals vanished into chemical notation, but survives as the graphics of mystery, quoted to this day.
Heraldry
Europe's armorial system, born from the need to tell one man from another on the battlefield. Exact description in the language of blazon, the rule of a limited set of tinctures and a grammar of division and combination add up to a design system that has run for 800 years.
| Alchemical Symbols | Heraldry | |
|---|---|---|
| Era | medieval–18th century | 12th century– |
| Family | Symbol Systems | Symbol Systems |
| Kind | Style | Style |
| Cues | Planet-metal correspondences / Geometry composed with crosses / Cipher-like secrecy / Tables handed down | Limited tincture colors / The grammar of shield divisions / Describability in blazon / Stylized animal poses |
| Best used for | Building signs for a binding or package on themes of secrecy · Designing props for a fantasy story from images with real lineage | Arms for schools and clubs that must explain their origin and rank · Expressing a merger or a succession through division and combination |
| Type | Chosen from existing tables, unified as circle, triangle and cross | Motto lettering sits outside the arms, never on the shield itself |
| Composition | Signs ranged evenly as a table, glosses gathered underneath | The shield divided by the grammar, one charge to each part |
| Material | Engraved hairlines on yellowed paper, no metallic sheen | Metals and a short list of colors, color never laid on color |
| Caution | Signs invented for atmosphere read as false to anyone who knows which substance each one names, and the work sinks to decoration. | Choosing tinctures by eye breaks the rule about metal on color, and the result can no longer be described as arms at all. |