Stoat in the context of Ermine (heraldry)

The ruff (Calidris pugnax) is a medium-sized wading bird that breeds in marshes and wet meadows across northern Eurasia. This highly gregarious sandpiper is migratory and sometimes forms huge flocks in its winter grounds, which include southern and western Europe, Africa, southern Asia and Australia.

The ruff is a long-necked, pot-bellied bird. This species shows marked sexual dimorphism; the male is much larger than the female (the reeve), and has a breeding plumage that includes brightly coloured head tufts, bare orange facial skin, extensive black on the breast, and the large collar of ornamental feathers that inspired this bird's English name. The female and the non-breeding male have grey-brown upperparts and mainly white underparts. Three differently plumaged types of male, including a rare form that mimics the female, use a variety of strategies to obtain mating opportunities at a lek, and the colourful head and neck feathers are erected as part of the elaborate main courting display. The female has one brood per year and lays four eggs in a well-hidden ground nest, incubating the eggs and rearing the chicks, which are mobile soon after hatching, on her own. Predators of wader chicks and eggs include mammals such as foxes, feral cats and stoats, and birds such as large gulls, crows and skuas.

Tinctures are the colours, metals, and furs used in heraldry. There are nine tinctures in common use: two metals, five colours, and two furs. The metals are or (gold or yellow) and argent (silver or white); the colours gules (red), azure (blue), vert (green), sable (black), and purpure (purple); and the furs ermine, which is derived from the winter fur of a stoat, and vair, which is derived from the fur of a red squirrel. The use of other tinctures varies depending on the time period and heraldic tradition in question.

Where the tinctures are not depicted in full colour, they may be represented using one of several systems of hatching, in which each tincture is assigned a distinct pattern, or tricking, in which each tincture is designated by a letter or abbreviation.

Ermine (/ˈɜːrmɪn/) in heraldry is a fur, a type of tincture, consisting of a white background with a pattern of black shapes representing the winter coat of the stoat (a species of weasel with white fur and a black-tipped tail). The linings of medieval coronation cloaks and some other garments, usually reserved for use by high-ranking peers and royalty, were made by sewing many ermine furs together to produce a luxurious white fur with patterns of hanging black-tipped tails. Due largely to the association of the ermine fur with the linings of coronation cloaks, crowns and peerage caps, the heraldic tincture of ermine was usually reserved to similar applications in heraldry (i.e., the linings of crowns and chapeaux and of the royal canopy). In heraldry it has become especially associated with the Duchy of Brittany and Breton heraldry.

The Patriotic Party (Polish: Stronnictwo Patriotyczne), also known as the Patriot Party or, in English, as the Reform Party, was a political movement in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the period of the Four-Year Sejm (Great Sejm) of 1788–1792, whose chief achievement was the Constitution of 3 May 1791. The reformers aimed to strengthen the ailing political machinery of the Commonwealth, to bolster its military, and to reduce foreign political influence, particularly that of the Russian Empire. It has been called the first Polish political party, though it had no formal organizational structure. The Party was inspired by the ideals of the French Revolution, and its name, proudly used by themselves, was a tribute to the Dutch Patriots.

The Patriotic Party ceased to exist soon after the adoption of the Constitution when, in the War in Defense of the Constitution, the Targowica Confederates, backed by the Russians, overthrew the reformed government. In 1795 the Third Partition of Poland ended the Commonwealth's independent existence. Many of the movement's leaders emigrated abroad. The party is considered to be the first left-wing party in the history of Poland, given its reformist and egalitarian aspirations, as well as its commitment to national liberation.

Weasels /ˈwiːzəlz/ are mammals of the genus Mustela of the family Mustelidae. The genus Mustela includes the least weasels, polecats, stoats, ferrets, and European mink. Members of this genus are small, active predators, with long and slender bodies and short legs. The family Mustelidae, or mustelids (which also includes badgers, otters, and wolverines), is often referred to as the "weasel family". In Great Britain, the term "weasel" usually refers to the smallest species, the least weasel (M. nivalis), the smallest carnivoran species.

Least weasels vary in length from 173 to 217 mm (6+3⁄4 to 8+1⁄2 in), females being smaller than the males, and usually have red or brown upper coats and white bellies; some populations of some species moult to a wholly white coat in winter. They have long, slender bodies, which enable them to follow their prey into burrows. Their tails may be from 34 to 52 mm (1+1⁄4 to 2 in) long.

The Robe of State (also known as the Parliament Robe) is a robe worn by the British monarch on state occasions. A monarch typically has a robe made for their coronation and reuses it when attending the State Opening of Parliament at the start of each legislative session. Traditionally the robes have an ermine cape with a long train made of crimson coloured velvet, trimmed in gold lace and lined with ermine.