Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Vair"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Vair \Vair\, n. [F. vair, from OF. vair, a., L. varius various,
variegated. See {Various}, and cf. {Menivel}.]
The skin of the squirrel, much used in the fourteenth century
as fur for garments, and frequently mentioned by writers of
that period in describing the costly dresses of kings,
nobles, and prelates. It is represented in heraldry by a
series of small shields placed close together, and
alternately white and blue. --Fairholt.
No vair or ermine decked his garment. --Sir W.
Scott.
{Counter vair} (Her.), a fur resembling vair, except in the
arrangement of the patches or figures.
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