Chimal (Verg40r)

Chimal (Verg40r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This simplex Nahuatl hieroglyph is a black-line drawing of the personal name Chimal (probably “War Shield”), attested here as a man’s name. It shows a circular war shield with five hanging decorations (feathered?) hanging down from the center of the lower half. The top two thirds of the circle have a kind of ruffle along the edge. In the middle of the shield is a happy face, with human eyes, a nose, and an upturned mouth with lots of teeth showing.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The smiley-face shield may be a take-off on the cuexyo shield design. Is it an effort to make a possibly threatening name seem more benign? On the other hand, European crests sometimes had faces on them, so perhaps this was learned from colonial instructors. The Codex Azcatitlan (Library of Congress, Image #30) shows Pedro de Alvarado (“Tonatiuh”) carrying a shield with a face in profile. In the latter, the face of the sun may be implied, given the use of suns as a heraldic charge in medieval and Renaissance art. See, for example, the fifteenth-century Book of Hours in France. Faces on European shields can also represent Christ or saints. Smiley face shields also appear in the Vergara for the name Yaotl (“Combatant” or “Enemy”). In this collection, hieroglyphs for Yaotl or Chimalli will often show war shields, but these smiley faces are so far (as of March 2026) limited to the Vergara Codex.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image: 
Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription: 

mrs. chimal.

Gloss/Text Normalization: 

Marcos Chimal

Gloss/Text Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Vergara, Codex (Verg)
Date of Manuscript: 

1539

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

near Tepetlaoztoc, near Tetzcoco

Semantic Categories: 
personal name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Anatomy, human body parts
Feathers
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
War or Conflict
Weapons, Shields, Armor
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
circle, circular or rounded
frontal view
Keywords: 

war, guerra, conflict, conflicto, conflictos, escudos, rodela, rodelas, round, redondo, cara, caras, sonrisa, sonrisas, smiling, sonriendo

Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s): 

chimal(li), war shield, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/chimalli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Escudo

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Available at Codex Vergara, folio 40r, https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b84528032/f87.item.zoom, accessed 10 March 2026. The Vergara is associated with Tepetlaoztoc, in the larger region of Tetzcoco, c. 1539–1543. “Source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF.” We would also appreciate a citation to the Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs, https://aztecglyphs.wired-humanities.org/.

Image Source, Rights: 

Image Rights: The non-commercial reuse of images from the Bibliothèque nationale de France is free as long as the user is in compliance with the legislation in force and provides the citation: “Source gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France” or “Source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF.” We would also appreciate a citation to the Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs, https://aztecglyphs.wired-humanities.org/

Orthography: 
intrusive period
Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Chimal (MH517v)

Yaotl (Verg26v)

Yaotl (Verg11r)