Party, Parted

The field divided in the heraldic manner, when it is blazoned party per bend, party per fess or, more simply, per bend, per fess. The word party is thus rendered superfluous. See Partition Lines for illustrations of the various divisions.

A bend bretessed biparted

A field or charge may also be parted, double parted or biparted; treble or triparted; quatreparted or caterparted; and cinqueparted; indicating that the field or charge is divided into two, three, four and five parts. See also Cross Parted

Parted of two colours is an old English term in blazon, and signifies per fess.

Some early authors maintained that simple lines of partition  have great claim to the origin of armorial bearings, and the following deduction advanced by Colombiere is quoted as a matter of historical interest.

'It is to be believed that the first who took up weapons against their neighbours made use of defensive, as well as offensive arms, and that there were, consequently shields, as well as clubs or staves: but when men had fetched iron and steel out of the bowels of the earth, and learnt to make swords and battle-axes, javelins, halberts, and other sorts of mortal instruments, there was then no approaching one another without armour, bucklers, shields and targets. These they bore on their left arms to guard their bodies, whilst with the weapons in the right, they endeavoured to destroy their enemies. Thus, after engagements, their shields appeared all slashed, cut and battered with the strokes they had received on them, and those who had been in the hottest of the action, were known by the many cuts and bruises that appeared on their shields, as evident proofs of their courage and resolution, which had carried them into the greatest danger. These tokens gaining them esteem and reputation among other people, they endeavoured to preserve them, and in order to perpetuate, they caused them to be painted on their shields, just as they had brought them out of the battle, and thus transmitted them to posterity, and thus they began to become arms and marks of honour to the future family.

Now to the end that there might be some method observed in this case, and that the use of such honourable tokens might not be abused, every one taking them up according to his own fancy, the rulers of nations, and generals of armies, commissioned certain old knights, whose valour, worth and wisdom were universally known, for them to grant such marks and tokens to those they thought worthy of them; and in order that they might proceed therein the more regularly, they gave names to those cuts answerable to the nature of them, appointing four chief and principal sorts from which all the others proceed, which sorts are, parti, (in English, party per pale); couppé, (in English, party per fess; tranche, (in English, party per bend dexter) and taille, (in English, party per bend sinister).

Per pale, is when the shield has received a cut down-right, or perpendicular in the middle, from top to bottom. Per fess, when the cut had been across the middle of the shield from side to side. Per bend dexter, when the cut fell upon the upper corner of the shield on the right hand, and descended athwart to the opposite lower corner; and per bend sinister, when the cut had been on the left upper corner, and came athwart to the opposite lower corner. These sort of cuts which had fallen on their shields in combat, they caused afterwards to be painted on them. The Germans, and particular the Swiss, have preserved these arms above other nations, which have thought to embellish them by the addition of several figures, either of things animate or inanimate, which things are indeed an ornament, but do not render them more honourable than the bare partitions.'