Compartment (heraldry) Compartment (heraldry) In heraldry, a compartment is a design placed under the shield, usually rocks, a grassy mount ("mount vert"), or some sort of other landscape upon which the supporters are depicted as standing. Care must be taken to distinguish true compartments from items upon which supporters are merely resting one or more feet, or, sometimes, mere heraldic badges or pure decoration under the shield, and, conversely, care must also be taken in very unusual cases such as the coat of arms of Belize, in which what may be taken to be a crest, the mahogany tree rising above the
Crosses in heraldry Crowns. Several national flags are based on late medieval war flags, including the white-on-red crosses of the flag of Denmark and the flag of Switzerland. The elongated Nordic cross originates in the 18th century due to the rectangular shape of maritime flags. The Red Cross flag originates in 1906 as a colour-switched version of the flag of Switzerland. Crosses in heraldry The cross is a basic design of two intersecting lines (X) used from pre-historic times. Its use was enormously expanded as the Christian cross, from about the 6th century, deriving from a T-shape representing the gibbet ("stauros", "crux") of