Dexter and sinister

Not to be confused with Sinistral and dextral.

Division of the heraldic escutcheon: Dexter to the bearer's right (viewers left), position of honour, Sinister to the bearers left (viewer's right)

Dexter and sinister are terms used in heraldry to refer to specific locations in an escutcheon bearing a coat of arms and by extension also to a crest. "Dexter" (from Latin dextra, right) means to the right from the viewpoint of the bearer of the arms, to the left of that of the viewer. "Sinister" (from Latin sinistra, left) means to the left from the viewpoint of the bearer, to the right of that of the viewer. The dexter side is considered the side of greatest honour.

A bend sinister^[1] is a bend which runs from top-right to bottom-left, as opposed to top-left to bottom-right. As the shield would have been carried with the design facing outwards from the bearer, the bend sinister would slant in the same direction as a sash worn diagonally on the left shoulder.

This division is a key to dimidiation, a method of joining two coats of arms by placing the dexter half of one coat of arms alongside the sinister half of the other. In the case of marriage, the dexter half of the husband's arms would be placed alongside the sinister half of the wife's. The practice fell out of use as in some cases it would result in a shield that looked like one coat of arms rather than a combination of two.

The Great Seal of the United States features an eagle clutching an olive branch in its dexter talon, and arrows in its sinister talon, indicating the nation's intended inclination to peace. In 1945, one of the changes ordered for the similarly arranged Flag of the President of the United States by President Harry S. Truman was having the eagle face towards its right (dexter, the direction of honor) and thus towards the olive branch.

Origin

It is certain that the sides of a shield were originally named for the purpose of military training of knights and soldiers long before heraldry came into use early in the 13th century, thus the only viewpoint which was relevant was the bearer's, the front of the purely functional shield being originally undecorated. It is likely that the use of the shield as a defensive and offensive weapon was almost as developed as that of the sword itself, and therefore the various positions or strokes of the shield needed to be described to students of arms. For example, using pure conjecture, "parry with the dexter, repulse with the sinister", "defend the face with the dexter, the body with the sinister". Such usage may indeed have descended directly from Roman training techniques spread throughout Roman occupied Europe and continued during the age of chivalry during which heraldry came into use.

References

1. ^ Coats of arms of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, providing an example in the coat of arms of Thomas McKean.