View source for Componée

[[File:Arms of John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset.svg|right|thumb|Coat of arms of Beaufort, earls and dukes of Somerset: the royal arms of England [[cadency|differenced]] with a ''[[bordure]] compony argent and azure'', which indicate the first earl's illegitimate birth]]
In [[heraldry]], an [[ordinary (heraldry)|ordinary]] '''componée'''<ref>{{1728|inline=yes|title=Compony}}</ref><ref>For convention of "ée" spellings (feminine singular form), see Cussans, John E. (1874). ''The Handbook of Heraldry'' (2nd ed.). London: Chatto & Windus. p. 47[https://archive.org/stream/handbookofherald00cuss_0#page/n51/mode/2up]</ref> (anciently '''gobonnée'''),<ref>{{cite book | title=A Catalogve and Succession of the Kings, Princes, Dukes, Marquesses, Earles, and Viscounts of this Realme of England | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gMRCAQAAMAAJ&q=bordure+gobonne&pg=PA74 | first1=Ralph | last1=Brooke | first2=William | last2=Jaggard | first3=Thomas | last3=Clopton | page=75| year=1619 }}</ref> anglicised to '''compony''' and '''gobony''',  is composed of a row of squares, rectangles or other quadrilaterals, of alternating [[tincture (heraldry)|tinctures]], often found as a  [[bordure]], most notably in the arms of the English [[House of Beaufort]].
[[File:COA Evreux Navarre Philippe III d'Evreux (1301-1343).svg|thumb|125px|right|The [[Capetian dynasty|Capetian]] counts of Évreux [[cadency|differenced]] the French royal arms with a ''bend compony''.]]
Like a [[baton sinister]], a bordure compony can be used as a [[cadency|difference]] to delineate [[cadency]] and often indicates an [[illegitimate]] son, acknowledged but legally barred from inheritance of the [[fief|feudal estates]] of his father. The first [[John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset|Earl of Somerset]] was later legitimized (allowed to inherit the feudal estates) by an act of Parliament, yet retained his original arms as also displayed by his legitimate descendants.
Certain charges cannot be compony, for practical reasons, for example  common charges and the chief as they are generally not long and thin in shape. The alternative for thicker shapes is ''paly'' or ''barry'', as shown for example in the arms of [[Earl of Ilchester|Strangways]], featuring lions ''paly argent and gules''.<ref>See [[:File:StrangwaysArms.svg]]</ref>
Usually only two tinctures are used, but the arms of [[Formia]], [[Italy]], show an unusual bordure which could be blazoned ''compony of 24 vert, gules, argent, vert, argent, gules''.
A variant is ''counter-compony'', with two rows of panes.
A bend or fess ''billety-counter-billety'' is, in effect, [[chequy]] of three rows of stretched (rather than square) panes, as in the arms of Cullimore in Canada: ''Azure; a fess billetty counter billetty gules and argent, between, in chief, two crescents and, in base, a wheel or; a bordure or for difference''.<ref>Scots Public Register, vol 52, p 82</ref>
Sometimes compony-like arrangements, such as in the arms of the Duke de Vargas Machuca,<ref>{{cite web|title=Burke's Peerage & Gentry International Register of Arms: International Register of Armorial Bearings (Coats of Arms): The Arms of His Excellency Duke Don Diego de Vargas Machuca, Head of the Ducal House de Vargas Machuca|url=http://www.armorial-register.com/arms-it/duke-de-vargas.html|accessdate=2007-10-07|archive-date=2007-10-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071030085255/http://www.armorial-register.com/arms-it/duke-de-vargas.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> are not so described in blazon. The coat of arms of the [[108th Aviation Regiment (United States)|108th Aviation Regiment]] of the United States Army is blazoned ''bordered gyronny of ten''.
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