In heraldry, a mount (also mountain, hill, hillock) is a representation of a hill or mountain as a curved terrace in base.[1] When the mount is included in the lower part of the shield, it may be considered an ordinary rather than a charge.
A trimount, also called a mount mounted, shapournet shapourned, or (in German) German: Dreiberg, is a representation of a mount with three tops.[2] The trimount can be found throughout heraldic traditions (Gallo-British, German-Nordic, and Latin), but it is especially common in Switzerland.
A design of six hills (German: Sechsberg) can also be found in Swiss and Italian heraldry. For mounts with more than three tops, the number of tops is blazoned as coupeaux, e.g. German German: Sechsberg would be a mount of six coupeaux, and German German: Zehnberg as a mount of ten coupeaux.[3] A mount with more than six tops can also be blazoned as German: Schroffen in German heraldry. In medieval German heraldry, mounts could have more than ten peaks.[4]
A terrace in base curved is blazoned mount, hill, or hillock when represented in vert; sometimes as a mount vert for clarity. A terrace in base curved may occasionally be blazoned as mount even when not tinctured vert; this is mostly found in cases where the base represents a hill for one or several of the charges in the coat of arms. Classification of a mount as either an ordinary or a charge, is, in many cases, a matter of interpretation.
The coats of arms of Hungary and Slovakia depict a trimount with a double cross, first used in the seal of Stephen V of Hungary (1270 - 1272). At first, it was only a small element at the bottom of the coat of arms, later it became a regular heraldic figure. Originally it represented biblical Golgotha.[5] [6] [7] Modern day Slovak interpretation is that it represents three mountain ranges of the Kingdom of Hungary: the Tatra, Fatra, and Mátra.[8] [9] [10]
The representation of three pointed mountains (not a heraldic trimount) in the 1991 coat of arms of Slovenia symbolises Triglav, the highest mountain in Slovenia.