# Counterchanged flags **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 21, 2026, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterchanged-flags/1026878 "2026-01-21T06:20:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2026, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterchanged-flags/1026878/21 "2026-01-24T09:33:19Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > I’m afraid neither of those actually qualifies as counterchanged. The division line between the two sections needs to be across the thing (_charge_ in heraldry terms) counterchanged, so that half of it is one color and half the other. No. All that is required is that the tincures are swapped charge for field. See, for example, the Welsh badge I already showed, _quarterly Or and gules, **four lions passant guardant counterchanged** _ or the arms of Lord Peach " _Per fess Or and Azure the Sword of Mercy erect pommel in base Proper **between four Stafford Knots all counterchanged** _" [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d3/Coat_of_arms_of_Air_Chief_Marshal_Stuart_William_Peach%2C_Baron_Peach%2C_KG%2C_GBE%2C_KCB%2C_DL.png/120px-Coat_of_arms_of_Air_Chief_Marshal_Stuart_William_Peach%2C_Baron_Peach%2C_KG%2C_GBE%2C_KCB%2C_DL.png) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d3/Coat_of_arms_of_Air_Chief_Marshal_Stuart_William_Peach%2C_Baron_Peach%2C_KG%2C_GBE%2C_KCB%2C_DL.png/120px-Coat_of_arms_of_Air_Chief_Marshal_Stuart_William_Peach%2C_Baron_Peach%2C_KG%2C_GBE%2C_KCB%2C_DL.png) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2026, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterchanged-flags/1026878/22 "2026-01-24T09:38:00Z")
I was going by the description in Wikipedia. Perhaps I misinterpreted it. > **[Tincture (heraldry) | Counterchanging](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tincture_(heraldry)#Counterchanging)** > > When a charge or group of charges is placed across a division line, variation, or ordinary, it may be counterchanged (Fr. contre-changé, but modern de l'un en l'autre, Ger. verwechselte Farben or verschränkte Farben), meaning that the charges are divided the same way as the field upon which they rest, with the colours reversed. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2026, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterchanged-flags/1026878/23 "2026-01-24T09:41:03Z")
And I’m going by how several actual real arms are blazoned. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2026, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterchanged-flags/1026878/24 "2026-02-28T14:51:33Z")
Found a new one while doing a jigsaw puzzle today - the town of [Brienz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brienz), Switzerland: [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/25/CHE_Brienz_COA.svg/960px-CHE_Brienz_COA.svg.png) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/25/CHE_Brienz_COA.svg/960px-CHE_Brienz_COA.svg.png) _Per bend sinister wavy Azure and Argent overall a Lion rampant counterchanged langued and vilené Gules_ (I would say _pizzled_ not _vilené_, in an English blazon) ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2026, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterchanged-flags/1026878/25 "2026-02-28T17:59:06Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > (I would say _pizzled_ not _vilené_, in an English blazon) Gotta love heraldic terminology. So whoever was drawing this up wanted to make sure we knew that was a _very_ rampant lion. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2026, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterchanged-flags/1026878/26 "2026-03-29T07:56:11Z")
Here’s an image recognition game to play with flags: > **[Flagle](https://www.flagle.io/)** ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2026, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterchanged-flags/1026878/27 "2026-03-29T14:13:34Z")
The [Colleoni](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colleoni) family of Bergamo, Italy bore a coat of arms “party per fess, gules and argent, three inverted hearts countercharged”. “Inverted heart” was a 19th Century euphemism. Their medieval ancestors had blazoned it “three scrotums” or “three pairs of testicles”. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterchanged-flags/1026878/28 "2026-04-30T20:30:31Z")
You don’t have the _balls_ to be a Colleoni. Actually, come to think of it, no one does… 🤔 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterchanged-flags/1026878/29 "2026-04-30T21:02:08Z")
I was just thinking of this thread the other day, because I passed by a house flying a counterchanged flag. In fact, one of the ones in the OP: The flag of Greenland. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterchanged-flags/1026878/30 "2026-04-30T22:35:10Z")
Found one: the emblem of the Israeli city of Yavne (Jamnia): [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/Coat_of_Arms_of_Yavne.svg/960px-Coat_of_Arms_of_Yavne.svg.png) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/Coat_of_Arms_of_Yavne.svg/960px-Coat_of_Arms_of_Yavne.svg.png) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2026, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterchanged-flags/1026878/31 "2026-05-07T04:21:28Z")
I am at a loss as to how to blazon it in traditional heraldic jargon, but that’s pretty cool. Argent, 6 inverted chevronels per pale azure and gules (or perhaps tenne?) below 6 archlets countercharged, below 3 mountains of the second? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2026, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterchanged-flags/1026878/32 "2026-05-07T07:17:12Z")
It’s a three domes, over a sunrise, over a book. Seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2026, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterchanged-flags/1026878/33 "2026-05-07T13:50:44Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > I am at a loss as to how to blazon it in traditional heraldic jargon, but that’s pretty cool. > > Argent, 6 inverted chevronels per pale azure and gules (or perhaps tenne?) below 6 archlets countercharged, below 3 mountains of the second? I threw that into ChatGPT for a couple tries and got these: [![](https://i.gyazo.com/1d226bd7b7b9ce63938f27d70c12f4e3.png) ](https://i.gyazo.com/1d226bd7b7b9ce63938f27d70c12f4e3.png) [![](https://i.gyazo.com/533dfa151ebbf25a99823e2da1da582e.png) ](https://i.gyazo.com/533dfa151ebbf25a99823e2da1da582e.png) And I was oh, that’s not quite right. Then I left it there. But then I came back to the thread later and saw this addition > [@Alessan](#): > > It’s a three domes, over a sunrise, over a book. Seriously. And went back into ChatGPT. Some back and forth over terms and language, I got this: A badge: Sable, an open book displayed in base, its leaves formed of arched barrulets issuant from a point in base, dexter Azure and sinister Tenné; above the same, a rising sun composed of concentric demi-annulets counterchanged Tenné and Azure; in chief three domed edifices conjoined, composed of upright pallets and voided of the field, per pale Azure and Tenné; beneath, the Hebrew legend “עיריית יבנה” Azure. Which when fed back, produced this: [![](https://i.gyazo.com/2b67ec3c4cfad01daf37c1c5b4465e24.png) ](https://i.gyazo.com/2b67ec3c4cfad01daf37c1c5b4465e24.png) Those images weren’t in front of each other and the sun wasn’t properly counterchanged, so more back and forth, and got this: A badge Sable: in base an open book displayed and foremost, its leaves formed of concentric arched barrulets issuing from a point in base, dexter Azure and sinister Tenné; behind the book a rising sun of concentric demi-annulets, each per pale Tenné and Azure, the arcs descending to and partly hidden by the upper leaves of the book; behind the sun in chief three domed edifices conjoined, per pale Azure and Tenné, composed of upright pallets voided of the field and prolonged downward to the uppermost arc of the sun; beneath the whole the Hebrew legend “עיריית יבנה” Azure. which produced this: [![](https://i.gyazo.com/7c5fc942637a0b74ba109eea00200e5b.png) ](https://i.gyazo.com/7c5fc942637a0b74ba109eea00200e5b.png) Taking out the “a badge” from the prompt produced this: [![](https://i.gyazo.com/a874b68c64aa66a7529df2158da1a6b9.png) ](https://i.gyazo.com/a874b68c64aa66a7529df2158da1a6b9.png) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2026, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterchanged-flags/1026878/34 "2026-05-07T21:15:32Z")
[Bows] Your Heraldry-Fu is superior to mine. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2026, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterchanged-flags/1026878/35 "2026-05-07T22:45:29Z")
Give ChatGPT the credit. I don’t really know beans about heraldry. I had just enough smarts to copy/paste prompts between different parts of the conversation tree to avoid contamination from previous pictures influencing future results. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2026, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterchanged-flags/1026878/36 "2026-05-08T06:09:51Z")
I mean, it’s sort of appropriately heraldic gibberish your AI buddy eventually came up with, but no actual herald would have produced that city logo - that’s definitely the work of a graphic designer. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2026, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterchanged-flags/1026878/37 "2026-05-08T07:35:23Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > that’s definitely the work of a graphic designer. True, but it was a fun game to try to get as close as I could using a traditional blazon. Something looking a bit more period-appropriate without all the thin lines: A badge Sable: in base an open book displayed and foremost, pages dexter Azure and sinister Tenné; behind the book a rising sun, dexter Tenné and sinister Azure, descending to and partly hidden by the upper leaves of the book; behind the sun in chief three domes conjoined, per pale Azure and Tenné, prolonged downward to the uppermost arc of the sun; beneath the whole the Hebrew legend “עיריית יבנה” Azure. [![](https://i.gyazo.com/44025de3216d07ce661e34b488966ddf.png) ](https://i.gyazo.com/44025de3216d07ce661e34b488966ddf.png) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counterchanged-flags/1026878.md?page=1)