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Glite Dictionary
gardant

gardant

9.9
An animal drawn with its head facing you
  • adjective
  • /ˈɡɑrdənt/
  • Archaic
: gardante
  • In the family crest, the lion is shown gardant, staring directly at the viewer.

Examples

  • The gardant lion on the coat of arms symbolizes courage.

  • The arms featured a bear gardant as a symbol of vigilance.

  • A dragon gardant appears on the town's ancient heraldic shield.

  • In heraldry, a gardant beast is often more striking.

  • In the family crest, the lion is shown gardant, staring directly at the viewer.

  • A dragon gardant appears on the town's ancient heraldic shield.

  • The arms featured a bear gardant as a symbol of vigilance.

Synonyms

guardant
vsgardant
  • Specialized
1 9.9

An animal drawn from the side with its head turned to look at the viewer

is the same meaning but is the traditional heraldic variant

Surface Forms

gardant positive

Etymology

The word gardant comes from Old French garder 'to guard' plus the ending -ant meaning 'doing' or 'watching', and it is related to English guard and guardian. So a gardant animal in heraldry is shown 'watching' the viewer, as if it is guarding or keeping an eye on you.