Sable is literally a fur, but in heraldry it’s black, which is a tincture in both the narrow sense (one of the five colors, the others being gules, azure, vert and purpure) and the broad sense (in which the five colors comprise one class of tinctures, the other classes being furs, metals, stains and propers).
I thought a proper tincture was itself to be specified in the blazon, not assumed. This doesn’t say one way or another. I wonder if it’s because the ankh is a new charge, and therefore there isn’t a convention for what its proper coloring is?
The tincture of the Ankh isn’t specified because it’s Argent – the blazon describes “an ankh between four roundels…” Argent. That tincture applies to the whole clause, basically.
The Crest is Upon a Helm >> On top of the shield is a helmet, on which more stuff will be piled
with a Wreath >> the helmet has a headband on it under the stuff, which we will get to eventually
Argent and Sable >> the wreath on the helmet is argent (silver/white) and sable (black) ((wreaths (headbands) are usually two colors, twisted together like a rope)) (((we’re getting closer to the pile of other stuff)))
On Water Barry wavy Sable Argent and Sable >> We’re starting to pile things on the helmet with the headband now (you can tell, cause we said ‘on’, that we’re describing from the bottom, up). At the bottom of the pile (but on top of the helmet and headband) is Water. Now barry means made of bars, or stripes. Wavy means the stack of bars is, well, wavy. Sable, argent, and sable means first there’s a black stripe, then a white stripe, then another black stripe, all of it meant to represent water even though you usually can’t stack water (nor draw a chalk outline on it) and even though water is usually depicted in heraldry as barry wavy azure (blue) and argent (white). I think you can guess why the water’s not blue.
an Owl affronty >> an owl looking forward straight at you (stacked On the water)
wings displayed >> wings outstretched
and inverted >> with the tips pointing down
Or >> the color of the owl is Or (gold/yellow)
supporting thereby >> which looks like it’s holding up by its wings
two closed Books >> I think you’ve got that part
erect >> the books are standing up, rather than laying flat
Gules >> and the books are red. Well, if they’re pTerry’s books, they’ve been read a lot, haven’t they?
So, the helmet and wreath are standard bits (now that I think on it, the wreath probably includes the foliage-looking stuff around the arms, which originally was a slashed (to show much mighty knightly battle use) cloak or cape). The dark, stackable water brings to mind the Ankh River. The owl is (presumably) meant to be a morpork. And his books are read.
Not bad.
Oh, and if you must have hippos, you can see them at the wikipedia entry for Ankh-Morpork.
[First we do the shield itself]
Sable [We start with the background color, called the “field.” This one’s black.] an ankh [main charge] between four Roundels [discs; minor charges] in saltire [in an X shape] each issuing [apparently this refers to the roundels only, no the ankh; issuing means their outlines go off the edge of the shield] Argent [white–& since no color was named immediately after the ankh, this covers all five charges].
[then the other crud around it]
The Crest [funny thing above the helmet] is Upon a Helm with a Wreath [this confused me, as the wreath is mostly hidden by the lifted visor of the helm & I thought the “water” had replaced it–it’s below the “water”] Argent and Sable [white & black; colors of the wreath] [there’s an unmarked break here, what follows is the crest] On Water Barry wavy Sable Argent and Sable [water presumably means what this is supposed to represent–it’s the three wavy bars; barry=several horizontal lines; wavy=the lines are wavy; sable argent and sable=black, white and black, thus naming three bars] an Owl affronty [facing us] wings displayed [spread] and inverted [tips downward] Or [colored gold] supporting [holding] thereby two closed Books erect [upright] Gules .
__
Punctuation would be nice. I understood the shield, but I got lost in that crest/wreath description. Also, the motto is left off the blazon, there are no supporters, & I guess the flowy thing coming off the helm is an artistic extension of the wreath, sorta, & not part of the official blazon.
From memory: the motto isn’t part of the grant in English heraldry (but is in Scottish); supporters, mounds, etc are usually only granted for higher orders of chivalry, and the mantling (flowy thing) is part of the wreath and the same colours. (Supposedly the whole thing being derived from cloth coverings that crusaders affixed to their helms to help prevent their brains being broiled).
The backstory of how the motto was derived is classic PTerry: The Ankh-Morpork Watch & Ward was founded in AM 1561 by King Veltrick I. They had full copper armour and a copper shield inscribed “Fabricati Diem, Pvncti Agvnt Celeriter” (“Make the Day, the Moments Pass Quickly”, Veltrick’s motto).
Time and vandalism reduced the words in the motto to its current “Fabricati Diem, Punc”.
