Roundel (heraldry) "pommes" is now more common. The term for a red roundel, "torteau", is typically pluralised in the French manner as "torteaux" rather than "torteaus", although "torteaus" is occasionally seen. A "pellet" may also be called an "ogress". In modern French blazonry, a roundel of either metal ("or" or "argent") is a "besant", and a roundel of any colour (dark tincture) is a "torteau", with the tincture specified. However, an alternate naming system has been used for the non-mental tinctures, with similar terms as English heraldry ("guse" for "gules", "heurte" for "azure", "ogoesse" for "sable", "somme", "volet" or "pomme" for "vert",
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