This is related to the Middle High German zobel, which is of Slav origin and akin to the Russian sobol', which likewise refers to the sable.
However, in the heraldry of Germany, Poland and other parts of Central Europe, sable is not infrequently placed on colour fields.
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.
In addition to the seven major examples, he describes occasional variants for the arms of some rody which also use sable charges on azure or gules fields.
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.