Sinople, also called vert, is a green or dark green color, usually in the context of heraldry. In engravings, sinople is represented by diagonal lines from the field or figure's top right to bottom left (that is, from the observer's left to right). In French heraldry, sinople meant red until the mid-14th century, when it replaced vert to mean green. Today, in English-language heraldry, vert is usually used to mean green.

Sinople (or sinopite) is also a clay or quartz containing iron oxides, with a "blood-red or brownish red color, sometimes with a tinge of yellow" [Webster's Dictionary]. It was used by medieval muralists to make the red pigment sinopia.

The word comes from the Black Sea city of Sinop (historically Sinope) in modern-day Turkey, where the clay had a red-ochre color.

External links

• The Tincture Gules
• Colours of dye