#guardant

249 Guardant There is Dormant, Couchant, Couchant Guardant and Couchant Regardant, but no Dormant Guardant - Dormant is, by definition, sleeping!

25 A charge charged with another charge still has to follow the tincture rule and have contrast (color on metal or metal on color). Couchant is not the position shown here. The cat is actually "Courant", which is running with all legs off the ground. Couchant is lying down with the head up. Similar positions are "Dormant"*- or Sleeping with head down; "Couchant Guardant" head facing the observer; "Couchant Regardant"- looking behind. *Dormant, rather a rare position, is often alternatively affectionately referred to as "Meatloafant" due to the difficulty of identifying the animal while in this position. Being that it has few or no identifying limbs or features, it could easily be meatloaf from a distance. Charges should be identifiable from a distance to be good heraldry. To ensure identifiability, animals, beasts and birds should be in their default or common positions, rather than rare and unusual positions to achieve heraldic difference.