Tincture (heraldry) as the field upon which they rest, with the colours reversed. In the municipal arms of Behnsdorf, Saxony-Anhalt, seen at right, the field is divided with the left half white (argent) and the right half green (vert), and the counterchanged tree is green where it lies on the white part of the field, and white where it lies on the green part. The flag of Maryland is another example of counterchanging. The only U.S. state flag to be directly based on English heraldry, it is the arms of George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, who founded the colony of Maryland in
Azure (heraldry) Azure (heraldry) In heraldry, azure ( ) is the tincture with the colour blue, and belongs to the class of tinctures called "colours". In engraving, it is sometimes depicted as a region of horizontal lines or else is marked with either az. or b. as an abbreviation. The term azure derives from the name of the deep blue stone now called lapis lazuli (stone of "Lazhward"). The word was adopted into Old French by the 12th century, after which the word passed into use in the blazon of coats of arms. As an heraldic colour, the word "azure" means "blue",