Green - Vert

Primary tinctures – Green

A heraldic tincture belonging to the group of colours. In heraldry, only one type of emerald or grass green is used. Some lighter or darker shades have very rarely become non-heraldic colours, a few of which form a transition toward blue.

It was rare in medieval heraldry, as it did not contrast strongly enough with the colours of the surrounding landscape.

The etymology of green

In the Beszterce Glossary (c. 1395) it appears in the form “virideus: zold”. In medieval Hungarian Latin, viridis meant “flourishing, healthy”. This is also the origin of the word vert used in English heraldry and in Old French heraldry. In French heraldry, the term later became sinople. This derives from the name of the Asia Minor city of Sinope, where the clay was cinnabar red. From the end of the 14th century, or at least from 1415, that is from the time of Prinsault, the meaning of sinople changed from red to green. The reason for this is unknown. Its background may have been an attempt to prevent confusion between the similarly sounding words vert and vair (ermine). Meanwhile, in everyday French the term vert remained in use.

The symbolism of green

In the period of so-called “dead heraldry”, various symbolic meanings were attached to it. Among the colours, it was initially rare. In Prinsault’s work, it symbolised love, honour, and courtesy. The medieval herald known as Heraldus Britannus, mentioned by Spener, used the term prasino for it.

Production

In the early centuries of heraldry, green was produced using copper rust, and later, in the 19th century, with Schweinfurt green pigment (Cu(C₂H₃O₂)₂ · 3Cu(AsO₂)₂). Prussian blue was used for shading, and chrome yellow for highlighting.

Chromium oxide (known in English as viridian, from the Latin viridis), a dark shade, and malachite were also used. The earliest pigments were ochres and malachite (Cu₂[(OH)₂CO₃]), which is chemically very similar to azurite. It was ground, but is very sensitive to acids. It was used from antiquity until about 1800, and was also applied as a medicine. Coarsely ground malachite produced a darker shade, while finely ground malachite yielded a lighter one. In ancient Egypt it was mixed with egg white, acacia resin, and fig sap, producing a medicine called vazsd. Artificial pigments were also produced from antiquity: copper plates were sprinkled with grape juice, urine, and vinegar; the resulting copper deposit was scraped off, dried, and rolled into pellets.

Source: Wikipedia