Inheraldry,sable (/ˈseɪbəl/ ^ⓘ) is thetincture equivalent toblack. It is one of the five dark tinctures calledcolours.

Sable is portrayed in heraldichatching by criss-crossing perpendicular lines. Sable is indicated by the abbreviation s. or sa. when a coat of arms istricked.

The wordsable can be traced back to Middle English, Anglo-French, and ultimately to theMiddle Low Germansabel, which refers to a species ofmarten known as asable. This is related to theMiddle High Germanzobel, which is of Slavic origin and akin to the Russianсобольsobol', which likewise refers to the sable. Since at least the 14th century,sable has been used as a synonym for the colour black.^[1]

Bothsable andnegro are used for black in Spanish heraldry. In Portuguese, black is known asnegro, and in Germany the colour is calledSchwarz.Sabel is the spelling used in Dutch heraldry.

The different tinctures are traditionally associated with particular heavenly bodies, precious stones, virtues, and flowers, although these associations have been mostly disregarded by serious heraldists.^[2] Sable is associated with:

• Of jewels, thediamond^[3]
• Of heavenly bodies,Saturn^[4]
• Of virtues, constancy or prudence^[2]
• Of flowers, the herbnightshade, in these circumstances also called dwal^[5]

Sable is considered acolour in British and French heraldry, and contrasts with lightermetals,argent andOr. However, in the heraldry ofGermany,Poland and other parts ofCentral Europe, sable is not infrequentlyplaced on colour fields. As a result, a sable cross may appear on a red shield, or a sable bird may appear on a blue or a red field, as in the arms ofAlbania.

InHungary, for example, one can find examples of sable on gules and azure fields as early as the sixteenth century in the arms of the family Kanizsai (granted in 1519):Azure, an eagle's wing sable taloned Or between a decrescent argent and a sun Or.^[6][a] Another early Hungarian example was granted in 1628 to the family Karomi Bornemisza:Per fess gules, an eagle displayed sable crowned Or, and azure, a buffalo's head cabossed sable maintaining in its mouth a fish (argent?).^[6][b]

Polish examples abound as early as the fifteenth century. Józef Szymański^[7] includes no fewer than seven examples of sable primary charges on either gules or azure fields out of the approximately 200 shields from this period whose blazons are known. These include the arms ofCorvin, "Azure, a raven sable with a circlet or in its beak"; Kownaty, "Gules, a trumpet sable with a cord or, a Passion cross of the same issuing from its opening"; and Słońce, "Gules, a sphere radiant sable, its centre argent". In addition to the seven major examples, he describes occasional variants for the arms of somerody which also use sable charges on azure or gules fields.

Sable charges on gules fields also appear in the armory used inLithuania. This is not surprising, since a significant fraction of Lithuania's personal coats of arms are of Polish origin,^[8] so there is a certain similarity of style. Among these coats are those ofGreat Žemaitija: "a black bear with an argent chain on its neck on a field gules".

• 
  Arms ofDalziel family of Scotland
• 
  Arms of the Foljambe family of Walton, Osberton and Aldwark.
• 
  Coat of arms of Frank II van Borselen.
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  Coat of arms ofHückelhoven, Germany.
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  Coat of arms ofFrançois-Antoine de Boissy d'Anglas.
• 
  Arms of the Castelyn family of London.
• 
  The arms of Albania.
• 
  The historical coat of arms ofSamogitia
• 
  Arms of Paulet, Marquess of Winchester

• The dictionary definition ofsable at Wiktionary

• Colours (heraldry)
• Shades of gray
• Shades of black

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