Bend sinister (heraldry)

In heraldry, a bend is a band or strap running from the upper dexter (the bearer's right side and the viewer's left) corner of the shield to the lower sinister (the bearer's left side, and the viewer's right). Authorities differ as to how much of the field it should cover, ranging from one-fifth (if shown between other charges) up to one-third (if charged alone). The supposed rule that a bend should occupy a maximum of one-third of the field appears to exclude the possibility of two or three bends being shown together, but contrary examples exist. Outside of heraldry, the term "bend (or bar) sinister" is sometimes used to imply ancestral illegitimacy.

A bend can be modified by most of the lines of partition, such as the bend engrailed in the ancient arms of Fortescue or in the more modern examples of Cleethorpes Borough Council, England, and the bend wavy in the ancient coat of Wallop, Earls of Portsmouth of the modern Picard, Canada.

The usual bend is occasionally called a bend dexter when it needs to contrast with the bend sinister, which runs in the other direction, like a sash worn diagonally from the left shoulder (Latin sinister means left).

The bend sinister and its diminutives such as the Baton sinister are rare as an independent motif; they occur more often as marks of distinction, added to another coat to denote bastardy. For example, Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle (d.1542), illegitimate son of Edward IV of England, bore the arms of the House of York with a bendlet sinister overall.

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