Gusset (heraldry)
{{short description|Heraldic charge shaped like a "Y"}}
Image:Gussets gules (old style) demo.png
In heraldry, a gusset is a charge resembling the union of a pile with a pale extending from chief to base (or in the case of a flag typically resembling the union of a pile and a fess extending from hoist to fly). In French heraldry, it has been classed as one of the thirty honorable ordinaries.{{cite book |last1=Gheusi |first1=Pierre-Barthélemy |title=Le blason héraldique: Manuel nouveau de l'art héraldique de la science du blason et de la polychromie féodale d'après les règles du moyen age avec 1300 gravures et un armorial |date=1892 |publisher=Librairie de Firmin Didot et c. |location=Paris |page=40 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fApBAQAAMAAJ&q=gousset}} For an 'inverted' gusset, one issuing from base and extending to the chief, some authors prefer the term graft.{{cite book |last1=Gough |first1=Henry |last2=Parker |first2=James |title=A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry |date=1894 |publisher=J. Parker and Co. |location=Oxford and London |pages=718 |edition=New |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=luMMAAAAYAAJ}}
Other heraldic traditions conceive of the gusset not as this central charge but as a "line of truncation of the field",{{cite book |last1=Gough |first1=Henry |last2=Parker |first2=James |title=A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry |date=1894 |publisher=J. Parker and Co. |location=Oxford and London |page=xii |edition=New |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=luMMAAAAYAAJ}} a flank-like charge similar to the gore or flaunch. A pair of gussets defined this way produce said central form as negative space between them upon the field. Heraldic writers in these traditions describe the gusset as 'line of truncation of the field' as "a traverse line"{{cite book |last1=Bailey |first1=Nathan |title=An universal etymological English dictionary |date=1724 |publisher=E. Bell |pages=978 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DtbzjHUHvAwC&dq=bailey+etymological+gusset&pg=PP408}} extending diagonally from the dexter or sinister point of the chief across one-third of the field, then descending in a straight line orthogonal to the base.{{cite book |last1=Newton |first1=William |title=Display of Heraldry |date=1846 |publisher=William Pickering |location=London |page=392 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mqpfAAAAcAAJ&q=display+heraldry}}
Gusset as [[Abatement (heraldry)|abatement]]
In English heraldry, the gusset, in the conception of it as a charge resembling a gore or flaunch, was at one time regarded as an abatement of the field—a mark of dishonor or disgrace. A "sanguine" (blood-red) gusset dexter was said to signify adultery and a gusset sinister of the same tincture, drunkenness. A noble so disgraced could also be compelled to bear both dexter and sinister on their escutcheon.{{cite book |last1=Newton |first1=William |title=Display of Heraldry |date=1846 |publisher=William Pickering |location=London |page=393 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mqpfAAAAcAAJ&q=display+heraldry}} However, heraldic writers emphasized that a pair of gussets in other tinctures, such as metals or furs, was not an abatement at all but a charge "of perfect bearing".{{cite book |last1=Guillim |first1=John |title=A Display of Heraldry |date=1724 |location=London |page=457 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4FwzAQAAMAAJ&q=display+heraldry}} But heraldic writers have also dismissed the purported use of the gusset as an abatement as "whimsical"{{cite book |last1=Guillim |first1=John |title=A Display of Heraldry |date=1724 |location=London |page=12 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4FwzAQAAMAAJ&q=display+heraldry}} and "probably fanciful",{{cite book |last1=Whitmore |first1=William Henry |title=The Elements of Heraldry: Containing an Explanation of the Principles of the Science and a Glossary of the Technical Terms Employed |date=1866 |publisher=W. J. Widdleon |location=New York |page=40 |url=https://archive.org/details/elementsheraldr00whitgoog/page/n54/mode/2up?q=gusset}} noting that no actual examples of its use were known.
Origin of term
The English word gusset derives from the Norman French 'gousset' meaning literally 'hollow of the armpit'. But in use the word referred not to the body but to a piece of armor. A gousset was small piece of chainmail used in the early 15th century, during the transition from chainmail to plate armor. It covered vulnerable areas not protected by the plate armor of the time—the joints, the hollow of the armpit, elbow, or knee.
Other contemporary uses of the term gusset
In contemporary English, the term gusset refers to a small pieces of fabric used in sewing both to reinforce garments at key points—such as the armpit or crotch—and to help clothing conform to the body. The term is also used in metal work and construction, as 'gusset plate', to denote a piece of metal used to brace the joining of structural elements—such as beams or girders to columns. The term gyron for that (triangular) heraldic charge is said to be derived an Old French word for gusset.
Gallery
File:Blason ville fr Landévennec (29).svg|Coat of arms of Landévennec
File:Blason ville fr Paluel (Seine-Maritime).svg|Coat of arms of Paluel, Seine-Maritime
File:Blason ville fr Saint-Pabu (Finistère).svg|Coat of arms of Saint-Pabu
File:Blason ville ca Saint-Raymond (Québec).svg|Coat of arms of Saint-Raymond, Quebec
File:Blason ville fr Sainte-Marie-du-Mont (Manche).svg|Coat of arms of Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, Manche
File:Blason ville ca Cabano (Québec).svg|Coat of arms of the former Cabano, Quebec
File:Proposition de blason département fr Bouches-du-Rhône.svg|Coat of arms of Bouches-du-Rhône
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