Bordure — Chambers's Encyclopaedia

Bordure, in Heraldry, a border surrounding a shield (fig. 1), generally said to occupy one-fifth of the field. Though sometimes an independent bearing, it is often a difference of a cadet; and the differencing of cadets by bordures, according to a definite system of rules, has never ceased to be in use in the heraldry of Scotland. There is a great variety in bordures. Besides being engrailed, invected, wavy, &c., they may be parted in many ways and charged. A bordure compony or gobonated—i.e. divided into sixteen squares (fig. 2)—is often an indication of illegitimacy; and in later times a bordure wavy has been used in England

Three heraldic shields illustrating different types of bordures. Figure 1 shows a simple, continuous border around the shield. Figure 2 shows a bordure compony, which is divided into sixteen squares. Figure 3 shows a bordure wavy, with a wavy line running along the border.

Fig. 2.

Fig. 3.

(not Scotland) with the same significance. A chief or a canton is sometimes placed over a bordure: but this is not done when the bordure is a mark of cadency. It then always surrounds a coat, and may even surround a quartered coat, a very frequent arrangement in Scotland.

When, however, a coat having a bordure is impaled with another, the bordure is omitted along the line of impalement (fig. 3).