Fimbriation

In heraldry and vexillology, fimbriation is the placement of small stripes of colour (technically called "tincture" in this sense in heraldry) around common charges or ordinaries, usually in order for them to stand out from the background, or perhaps just because the designer felt it looked better, or for a more technical reason (in heraldry only) to avoid what would otherwise be a violation of the rule of tincture. While fimbriation almost invariably applies to both or all sides of a charge, there are very unusual examples of fimbriation on one side only. Another rather rare form is double fimbriation (blazoned "double fimbriated"), where the charge or ordinary is accompanied by two stripes of colour instead of only one. In cases of double fimbriation the outer colour is blazoned first. The arms of Mozirje, in Slovenia, show an example of fimbriation that itself is fimbriated.