Talk:Chevron (insignia)

Improvement

Needs references. Inge 13:40, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

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<<The word comes from the French word for "roof". >>

It is not:

• Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary [[1]]:

Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, rafter, chevron, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin caprion-, caprio rafter; akin to Latin caper goat.

• Dictionary.com [[2]]

Middle English cheveron, from Old French chevron, rafter (from the meeting of rafters at an angle), probably from Vulgar Latin *capri, *caprin-, from Latin caper, capr-, goat.

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DIG 05:44, 14 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Da Vinci Code claims that chevron is a symbol of penis. Is that true? Kahkonen 16:29, 2005 Feb 6 (UTC)

Da Vinci Code claims a lot of things. And, like most of them, this is not true. Slicing 04:10, 11 August 2005 (UTC)

In norwegian architetural history chevron depicts the zigzag linear pattern ornament in roman vaults in norman-style churches.

Chinese does indeed use chevrons to denote titles and also quotations. Japanese does not use chevrons, but tiny brackets. For example: 「hello」 『hello』. So I'm taking Japanese off from the languages that use chevrons.

I think that constitutes original research. I'm not quite sure about the Japanese usage but in Chinese chevron and it's inverse version are only used for media titles and are only used in vertical scripts; quotation marks in Chinese for vertical scripts is a side way version of your Japanese brackets. However, in horizontal scripts regular inverse comma quotation marks are used for quotation while a side way chevron is used for media titles. Chevrox (talk) 19:00, 1 August 2008 (UTC)

Suggested move to Chevron (pattern)

I would like to move the article to Chevron (pattern), as the word insignia has a military connotation - and the article deals with the military/heraldic insignia in just one of two sections. Comments? Do you agree? -- Ravn 12:09, 8 March 2006 (UTC)

The US Army insignia shown is for a PFC. That is rank E-3. (In the USMC, an E-2 is a PFC) You enter the Army as an E-1, and after 4 months you become an E-2 (and get a raise.) PFC takes about a year, but is optional; if you have bad performance you may not get it.

A triangle has three (3) sides. A chevron does not.

I think that your suggestion is a good one Ravn. I'd fully support such a move.--Eva ^bd 13:23, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

I personally don't associate "insignia" too closely with the military and I think the term covers its heraldic use quite well, but I suggest we compromise and move it to Chevron (symbol) instead. Orchastrattor (talk) 04:38, 31 December 2020 (UTC)

Bar?

I've never heard of 'bar' being used to describe chevrons in Australia. I assume this is the case in the UK and NZ as well. I believe this is not a common usage in Commonwealth countries. Ozdaren 15:44, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

The "Chev" reference

I've always thought that the "Chev" part of the word "Chevron" or "Chevrolet" referred to an angle cut, as in the angled cut end of the horizontal bar in the Chevrolet logo, as well as a definition for the V shape. There must be some kind of correlation... mulgamutt 20:42, 1 August 2008

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Goddess

"represented the goddess"? What goddess? Drutt (talk) 23:18, 16 March 2009 (UTC)

Boeing

"Boeing calls some of its afterburner jets "variable-geometry chevrons"." That is wrong according to my information. A quick Google search will show that those VCGs are actually designed for commercial jetliners, of which no Boeing model has an afterburning turbofan. Unless someone objects, I will modify this -- unless I forget or can't be bothered. 129.194.8.73 (talk) 11:55, 22 April 2009 (UTC)

Concave triangles

Hi. I had the impression that the "chevron" symbol was something more like the the Pontiac symbol, which has four verticies, one reflex angle and four sides, similar to having one actute triangle cut out from the side of another acute angle, or two identical obtuse triangles connected along a line of identical length, serving as the line of symmetry between the two...there must be a name for that shape. Thanks. ~AH1 ^(discuss!) 21:55, 8 October 2011 (UTC)

Downward-pointing chevrons

"A chevron is an inverted V-shaped pattern". Is there a name for a non-inverted v-shaped pattern, or would it just be an "inverted" or "downward-pointing chevron"? 86.152.136.183 (talk) 13:27, 25 August 2013 (UTC)

I think the name for a non-inverted v-shaped pattern could be "v-shaped pattern." Given that chevrons can point either up or down, and do so even within the article itself, I can't see why the article suggests an exclusivity for one direction. I'll remove it.1canuckbuck (talk) 07:03, 12 November 2013 (UTC)

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Heraldic example oversaturation

There are way too many derivative and/or superficially similar example images in this single section, highly recommend culling to only include the most profound, iconic, or exemplary ones. Orchastrattor (talk) 04:35, 31 December 2020 (UTC)

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Timeline

The article says chevrons became rank insignia “In Western European tradition”. But when? A reference for the evolution of the chevron in militaries would be useful. Humphrey Tribble (talk) 04:29, 16 August 2023 (UTC)

One issue -- "éclaté" chevrons

This sentence is not supported:

"When the ends [of a chevron] are cut off in a way that looks like the splintered ends of a broken piece of wood, with an irregular zig-zag pattern, it is called éclaté.[4]"

So I looked this up. The source seems to be a list describing French achievements. The only reference to this supposed "éclaté" style of chevron is the following:

"Blanluz en Dauphiné. D'azur au chevron éclaté d'or..."

In English: "Blanluz in Dauphine. Azure with a chevron burst/broken Or."

With no image or further description, we cannot assume that this means the ends of the chevron are "cut off in a way that looks like the splintered ends of a broken piece of wood, with an irregular zig-zag pattern."

We do not have enough information to be able to say this. We would need either a picture next to the description demonstrating what it means, or a fuller description explaining what it means. Otherwise, "chevron éclaté" could mean something else.

Furthermore, I looked up "chevron éclaté" and found no examples of that being a style of chevron. I also looked up "heraldry éclaté" and found nothing on the matter. I also tried English-language approximations, "chevron burst" and "chevron broken," and found nothing. Finally, I looked up the coat of arms of "Blanluz en Dauphiné" and found no other descriptions, and no imagery, of the gentleman's heraldry.

I think this entire sentence "When the ends...éclaté" should be removed. 2601:19C:5080:18E0:C416:C4C3:80AA:B7A5 (talk) 17:12, 19 January 2024 (UTC)

• See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variations_of_ordinaries#Ecimé_and_other_modified_chevrons. Also the section Rompu in the same article.
• also see Category:Chevrons broken in heraldry unfortunately none are broken at the ends
• here is an example of the term éclaté, although it is not used with a chevron:

https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/wiki/Neuvilly-en-Argonne

Rather, it is a broken disc and a broken circle.

Searching on "chevron éclaté héraldique" turned up another whole area of the information

• Here are two examples of broken chevrons:

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrezel#Héraldique,_logotype_et_devise

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oppède#Héraldique

The first uses the term brisés, while the second says "rompus"

• there are many examples at http://blason-armoiries.org/heraldique/c/chevron.htm

while http://blason-armoiries.org/heraldique/e/eclate.htm defines éclaté

The word is used of to describe wooden shafts or rafters which are broken "with violence"

• https://www.cosmovisions.com/$Chevron.htm explains:

chevrons appointés, deux chevrons opposés l'un à l'autre, leur tête étant au coeur de l'écu; chevron brisé, éclaté ou fendu, celui dont la pointe est fendue; chevron couché, celui dont la pointe est tournée vers l'un des côtés de l'écu; chevron coupé ou écimé, celui dont la pointe est coupée; chevron failli ou rompu, celui qui a une branche séparée en deux

• my guess is that "chevron éclaté" is a valid term to describe the arms being "broken with violence", in other words "splintered". However, I did not find a clear definition with illustration amongst the webpages which turned up first. "chevron éclaté" must be rare so it will take more work to find nail it down. For the time being, my inclination is to leave the statement and simply flag it "citation needed"

Humphrey Tribble (talk) 23:05, 19 January 2024 (UTC)

Chevronnel

From this article: "When shown as a smaller size than standard, it is a diminutive called a chevronel."

Good, this makes perfect sense except one thing: standard size. If we say "smaller size than standard", our definition is worthless until "the standard size for a chevron" is known to equal some number, or some proportion of what it's on, or whatever is the way it's done. TooManyFingers (talk) 14:02, 29 February 2024 (UTC)