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Inheraldry, acompartment is a design placed under theshield, usually rocks, a grassy mount (mount vert), or some sort of other landscape upon which thesupporters are depicted as standing.[1] 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 thecoat of arms of Belize andGabon, in which what may be taken to be a crest, trees in both coats of arms rising above the shield, is really part of the compartment. It is sometimes said to represent the land held by the bearer. As an official part of the blazon it is a comparatively late feature of heraldry, often derived from the need to have different supporters for different families or entities, although sometimes the compartment is treated in theblazon separately from the supporters.
If the compartment is mentioned in the blazon it forms part of the grant and is an integral part of the arms e.g. the currentroyal arms of the United Kingdom are required to have a compartment with plant badges.[2] If no compartment is specified in the blazon then whether to draw one is at the discretion of the artist.[3] The currentcoat of arms of Australia are usually depicted on a compartment of a wreath ofwattle, the national flower. It would be acceptable to omit the wattle or substitute something else as it does not form part of the grant.
The decorative flourish which was often placed byheraldic artists under the feet, hooves or paws of supporters, chiefly in the 19th century, was disparagingly known by some[who?] as the "gas bracket", although this term never had any official currency. One case in which such a compartment is formally described in the blazon is the "arabesque vert" on which the supporters balance in thecoat of arms of Zaanstad. Thecoat of arms of Michigan is a notable example of the more usual case, as the decorative flourish is specifically noted in its blazon'sobservations as the conventional design rather than part of the arms grant.[4]
A rare instance in which the supporters stand on the motto scroll is in the arms ofNew Jersey.[5] Thecoat of arms of the Netherlands, likewise, features the two lion supporters standing on the motto scroll.
Usually when arms are augmented by supporters, a compartment will be added too. In rare cases, a compartment might be granted as anaugmentation. A compartment without supporters is possible but practically unknown, with the exception of thecoat of arms of South Australia.
A compartment is usually some kind of landscape (in the case of Scottish chiefs it is generally a "mount vert" -grassy mount covered with the clan's flower) or seascape, and these can be quite elaborate. These elaborate designs particularly feature in more recentCanadian grants,[citation needed] such as the compartment of theUniversity of Northern British Columbia, in which the femaleKermode bear andwoodland caribou buck stand on aforest,mountain peaks and ears ofwheat, all rising out of the conventionalised heraldic representation of water, which is itself charged with anorca.[6]
Compartments can have a specific piece of geography;Kenya's compartment isMount Kenya and the compartment ofArbeláez,Cundinamarca, Colombia is a globe.[7]
There are some unusual compartments. The compartment of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada is a quadrangle.[8] The arms of the formerCumberland County Council have a wall as a compartment,[9] while theCanadian Academy of Engineering has a bridge spanning water.[10][11] The chief ofClan Donnachaidh has a man in chains as a compartment, while that of Dundas of that Ilk is "a salamander in flames of fire".
Recent compartments can also feature indigenous non-European features. The arms ofGisborne, New Zealand contain another unique compartment, a Māoriwaka (canoe).[12]
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