What Are The Golden Circles Around A Coat Of Arms Called?

In heraldry, solid golden circles are called bezants; if they’re rings, they’re annulets.

If you’ve spotted gold circles around a shield and wondered, what are the golden circles around a coat of arms called?, the short answer splits in two. A filled, coin-like disc is a bezant. A hollow ring is an annulet. The shape tells you which term to use, and the way they’re arranged tells you how to write the blazon. This guide shows you how to name them, read them, and spot common variants you’ll meet in armorials and on carved stone.

Golden Circles On A Coat Of Arms: What They Are

Heralds group all simple circles under the family of roundels. Each color has its own traditional name. Gold, known in heraldry as Or, takes the special name bezant, a nod to the Byzantine gold coin. A ring with an empty center is a different charge: the annulet. Both often appear around the edge of a shield, in rows across the field, or set in specific positions like chief (top) or fess (middle).

Roundel Names By Color (Quick ID)

Here’s a quick chart to help you name circles by color. This is handy when you’re matching a carving or a painted shield to its correct blazon.

Tincture (Color/Metal)	Roundel Name	What You’re Seeing
Or (gold)	Bezant	Solid gold disc
Argent (silver/white)	Plate	Solid silver/white disc
Gules (red)	Torteau	Solid red disc
Azure (blue)	Hurt	Solid blue disc
Sable (black)	Pellet/Ogress	Solid black disc
Vert (green)	Pomme	Solid green disc
Purpure (purple)	Golpe	Solid purple disc
Tenné (orange tawny)	Orange/Guze	Solid orange disc (rare)
Any tincture, ring form	Annulet	Ring; a “roundel voided”

How Heralds Name And Place Golden Circles

Blazoning a shield means naming the field, then the charges, with their number, color, and placement. With golden circles you’ll meet three routine patterns.

Solid Discs: Bezants

Use bezant for filled gold circles. A line such as “Gules, three bezants” means a red field bearing three gold discs. If a writer wants to be ultra-literal, you may see “roundels Or,” but bezant is the standard term in English blazonry.

Rings: Annulets

Use annulet for rings. You may see the description “a roundel voided,” which simply says the center is cut out. Annulets also serve as a small difference mark in English cadency (the traditional way of marking birth order), where they label a fifth son.

Placement Terms You’ll See

In Orle: A set of charges follows the outline of the shield inside the edge, forming a ring of items. A classic blazon would read “eight bezants in orle.”
Bordure Bezanty: A border around the shield that is strewn with bezants. “Bezanty” means sprinkled with many small bezants.
Semé / Bezanty: The field is scattered with small charges. “Sable bezanty” means a black field sprinkled with gold discs.
In Chief / In Fess: Rows across the top or middle. “In chief three annulets” places them in a straight row at the top.

If you’re double-checking terminology and want a reliable, readable reference list of roundel names, the University of Notre Dame’s heraldry dictionary has a clear chart of roundels by tincture. See its entry for “Roundels” (Roundels chart). For historic wording like “bezanty” and “in orle,” James Parker’s classic glossary (indexed online) remains a staple (Parker on “Bezant”).

What Are The Golden Circles Around A Coat Of Arms Called? Variants You’ll Meet

You now have the core answer to “what are the golden circles around a coat of arms called?”—they’re bezants if solid, annulets if rings. A few related terms appear often enough to keep handy:

Orle Of Bezants: A ring of eight or more bezants following the inner outline of the shield. The count is usually eight by default unless stated.
Bordure Bezanty: A full border sprinkled with small bezants. The border itself has a color; the bezants are the gold dots upon it.
Sable Bezanty: The whole field is black with many small gold discs. This pattern is closely associated with Cornwall.
Annulets In Orle: The same circular arrangement, but with rings instead of solid discs.

Why Cornwall Keeps Appearing In This Topic

If you browse armorials you’ll run into a famous shield: Sable, fifteen bezants. Those are the arms of the Duchy of Cornwall, long linked with the heir apparent. The bezants there are arranged in a pyramid—rows of five, four, three, two, and one. The fifteen gold discs turned into a regional emblem, so many Cornish crests echo the look with bezants on crosses, borders, and fields. You’ll see this arrangement referenced in heraldry texts and civic emblems across Cornwall.

Reading That Blazon In Plain Steps

Field: Sable means black.
Charge: Fifteen bezants means fifteen gold roundels.
Order: Often specified as “five, four, three, two, one,” showing a neat triangular stack.

How To Tell Bezants From Annulets At A Glance

Stone carvings and weathered paint can blur details, so speed checks help:

Look for the center: Filled center? Use bezant. Hole through the middle? Use annulet.
Check the thickness: An annulet has a band with visible width; a bezant is a flat disc with no inner line.
Watch the count and layout: A neat ring inside the edge hints “in orle.” A full border with tiny dots points to “bordure bezanty.” A scattered field leans to “bezanty.”

Blazoning Golden Circles With Confidence

When you draft or decode a blazon with golden circles, keep to a steady order: field → charges → number → tincture → position. Simple, consistent wording helps readers picture the shield on the first pass.

Bezants And Annulets: Example Blazons

Use this small cheatsheet to match what you see to clean, standard wording.

What It Looks Like	Correct Blazon	Meaning In Plain Words
Black field; 15 gold discs in a pyramid	Sable, fifteen bezants, five, four, three, two, and one	Black shield charged with fifteen bezants set in rows
Red field; a ring at the top center	Gules, an annulet in chief Or	Single gold ring placed across the top
Blue field; eight gold discs forming a circle inside the edge	Azure, eight bezants in orle	Ring of bezants following the shield’s outline
White field with a gold-dotted border	Argent, a bordure bezanty	Full border sprinkled with small bezants
Green field scattered with many small gold discs	Vert bezanty	Field strewn with bezants
Gold ring, black field, three in a row across the middle	Sable, three annulets in fess Or	Three gold rings in a straight horizontal row
Red field; two concentric rings	Gules, two annulets conjoined Or	Linked or nested rings on a red field

Common Mistakes When Naming Golden Circles

Calling every circle a “roundel” in the blazon: Roundel is the family name; use bezant for gold, plate for silver/white, and so on.
Mixing bezants and annulets: If the center is hollow, the charge is an annulet no matter its color.
Forgetting the count: If a standard number is implied by a layout term, say so when it matters. “In orle” often implies eight unless you state another number.
Leaving out the order: Large groups, like fifteen bezants, read cleaner with the row pattern spelled out.

A Short Guide To Reading Carvings And Old Paint

Church monuments and town halls often show weathered shields. When paint has flaked, the gold might shift toward tan or pale brown. If the circle still looks filled, read it as a bezant. If you can slide a finger into a carved hole, that’s an annulet. On borders, rows of tiny domes point to “bezanty.” On a flat field with an even ring of charges just inside the edge, think “in orle.”

Trusted Glossaries And Where To Learn More

You don’t need a bookshelf to confirm terms. Two quick, dependable lookups live online. A university glossary gives you a clean list of roundel names by color (Roundels chart). A classic heraldic glossary covers wording like “in orle” and “bezanty,” with period citations (Parker on “Bezant”). If you need a compact list of general terms, the Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies offers a free handout (IHGS glossary).

Putting It All Together

When someone asks, what are the golden circles around a coat of arms called?, you can answer with precision. Solid discs in gold are bezants, and they belong to the family of roundels. Hollow rings are annulets. Add the count, the color, and the layout term—“in orle,” “in chief,” “in fess,” “bordure bezanty,” or “bezanty”—and your blazon will draw the shield faithfully in the reader’s mind. Once you grasp those few names, the famous Cornish arms, and many others like them, become easy to read.