Bowen knot

Bowen knot


Information
Family	Bowen Family
Region	Wales

The Bowen knot (also known as the heraldic knot in symbolism) is not a true knot, but is rather a heraldic knot, sometimes used as a heraldic charge. It is named after the Welshman James Bowen (died 1629)^[1] and is also called true lover’s knot.^[1] It consists of a rope in the form of a continuous loop laid out as an upright square shape with loops at each of the four corners.^[2] Since the rope is not actually knotted, it would in topological terms be considered an unknot.

An angular Bowen knot is such a knot with no rounded sides, so that it appears to be made of five squares. A lozenge-shaped Bowen knot is called a bendwise Bowen knot or a Bowen cross.

The Bowen knot resembles the symbol ⌘ (Looped square or “St. John’s Arms”), which is used on the command key in some keyboard layouts. However, the origin of this use is not related to the use of the Bowen knot in heraldic designs.

The Dacre, Hungerford, Lacy, Shakespeare, and Tristram knots are all considered variations of the Bowen knot, and are sometimes blazoned as such.

Bowen knot in a book from 1827^[3]
Angular Bowen knot
Bowen cross

References

1 2 Francis Jones: Bowen of Pentre Ifan and Llwyngwair, in: The Pembrokeshire historian journal of the Pembrokeshire Local History Society, No. 6 (1979), p. 40, online here on the National Library of Wales website: “James Bowen … died at Llwyngwair on 22 October 1629 … The main escutcheon borne on the melancholy occasion showed in the first and fourth quarters, azure a lion rampant or within an orle of roses or, in the second quarter gules a chevron or between three true-love knots or, and in the third quarter, azure a bird standing argent.” (emphasis added)
↑ Julian Franklyn, John Tanner: An Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Heraldry, Oxford 1970, p. 47: “a grummet laid out square and turned over at the corners forming external loops.”
↑ Hugh Clark, A Short and Easy Introduction to Heraldry, London 1827, Part 2, Table 3 Bordures Counterchangings & Lines, fig. 7

Sources

"Lord Kyl's Heraldry – Glossary – Bo… – Entry: Bowen's Knot". Lord Padraig MacKay of Kyle. Archived from the original on 2008-10-15. Retrieved 2013-02-15.
Heraldic Templates — Knots.

Heraldic knots

Bourchier knot Bowen knot Cavendish knot Dacre knot Harrington knot Hastings knot Heneage knot Hinckaert knot Hungerford knot Lacy knot Medici knot Morvillier knot Ormonde knot Savoy knot Shakespeare knot Stafford knot Trafford knot Tristram knot Wake knot

Knots

By type

Bends	Adjustable Albright special Ashley's Alpine butterfly Basket weave Beer Blood Carrick Double fisherman's Fisherman's Flemish Grief Halyard Harness Heaving line Hunter's Nail One-sided overhand Racking Sheet Shoelace Shroud Simple Simon under Single carrick Surgeon's Surgeon's loop Triple fisherman's True lover's Water Zeppelin

Binding	Boa Bottle sling Constrictor Corned beef Granny Ground-line hitch Jamming Miller's Packer's Reef Strangle Thief Transom

Climbing	Autoblock Bachmann Beer Bowline on a bight Alpine butterfly Directional figure eight Double bowline Farmer's loop Figure-eight Figure-eight loop Figure-of-nine loop Friction hitch Klemheist Munter hitch Overhand loop Prusik Trident loop Yosemite bowline

Coils & Shanks	Alpine coil Butterfly coil Over/under cable coiling Chain sinnet Sheepshank

Decorative	Carrick mat Chinese button Celtic button Diamond Fiador Friendship Ghiordes Matthew Walker Turk's head Wall and crown

Fishing (angling)	Angler's loop Arbor Bimini twist Blood Fisherman's Half blood Improved clinch Knotless Nail Palomar Snell Trilene Triple fisherman's Turle Uni

Hitches	Adjustable grip Anchor bend Axle Bachmann Bale sling Barrel Becket Blackwall Blake's Boom Buntline Cat's paw Clove Cow Distel Double overhand noose Falconer's Farrimond friction Friction hitch Garda Ground-line Half Halter Highpoint Highwayman's Hitching tie Icicle Improved clinch knot Killick Knute Lobster buoy Marlinespike Munter Ossel Pile Pipe Sailor's Snuggle Swing Taut-line Timber

Loop	Angler's Artillery loop Bale sling hitch Bowline Bumper Carrick bend loop Cossack Cowboy bowline Diamond Double bowline Dropper loop Eskimo bowline Fiador Fireman's chair Friendship knot Halter hitch Handcuff Honda Jury mast Overhand Portuguese bowline Rigid double splayed loop in the bight Slippery eight Span Spanish bowline Tom fool's Trident Triple bowline Triple crown Water bowline Yosemite bowline Zeppelin

Running (slip)	Hangman's Running bowline Running highwayman's hitch Tarbuck

Splices & splicing	Eye Fid Marlinspike Rat-tail T Western Union

Stopper	Ashley's stopper Button Double overhand Monkey's fist Overhand Stevedore

Whipping	Common Overhand knot with draw-loop Portuguese Sailmaker's West Country

Lists of knots
Related topics

Lists of knots	Bends Bindings Decorative knots Hitches (friction) Mathematical

Related topics	Chinese knotting Density History International Guild of Knot Tyers Macramé Mizuhiki Norigae Ropework Lashing Splicing Seizing Sennit

Category
WikiProject
Commons

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