In heraldry, a stain is one of a few non-standardtinctures or colours, which are only known to occur in post-medieval heraldry and are thought to denote a rebatement of honour. Almost none of these rebatements are found in fact of heraldic practice, however, and in British heraldry the stains find only exceptional use, other than for purposes of livery.
Murrey
is mulberry-coloured, or reddish purple. The murrey colour used in coats of arms & armorials should be clearly darker than purpure and stand out from it, to approximately the same extent that sanguine is darker than Gules and brunâtre from tenné. A good comparison between the two tinctures could be obtained from comparing the murrey in the coat of arms of the University of Wales, with the lion purpure adorning the coat of arms of the Kingdom of León.
Sanguine
is a brownish red, or blood-red colour. It is due to be darker than Gules, the regular red, from approximately the same extent as murrey to purpure, and brunâtre from tenné. It can also be used for the depiction of animals said écorché in French heraldry, although this is very rarely used among the already rare occurrences of blazons depicting bleeding animals, on which the regular Gules is used instead.
Tenné
is an orange-tawny colour, though orange is considered distinct in continental European and African heraldic traditions. Called tanné in modern and actual French heraldry, it refers to the leather tanning process and to the color the finished product is said to have, hence the name tanné. Being the initial shade of brown available by itself in heraldry, its hatching form naturally took the shape of red and green linesmixed together. Tenné is expected to be slightly darker than Gules, clearly darker than orange, but lighter than brunatre, sanguine, murrey & sable.
The University of Wales, established in 1893, adopted a coat of arms blazoned: Argent on a fesse murrey three medieval lamps Or all within a bordure of the second charged with eight mullets of the third.
