Base (heraldry)

In French heraldry, the champagne is considered an "honourable ordinary" (pièce honorable),[3] but in English heraldry, it is frequently omitted from lists of the honourable ordinaries, and grouped, if at all, with the subordinaries.

[4] The diminutive of the base, occupying one half the height of the ordinary, is termed plaine in French heraldry.

[5] Another, now less common, English language term for the base is the foot,[6] a usage the recalls the German Schildfuß, Danish skjoldfod, and Dutch schildvoet.

In English heraldry, the terms base, terrace in base, and champagne are synonyms that include both charges with a straight-line upper edge running parallel to the chief and those with an upper edge curved or otherwise varied.

[7] In French heraldry in contrast, the terms champagne and its diminutive plaine are reserved for those with straight upper edges and the term terrasse (terrace in base) for those with curved or otherwise varied upper edges.