ppl. a. Also 6 conter-, contre-. [f. as prec. + -ED.] Her. Of a charge (on a field of two tinctures): Having the tinctures of the field reversed; transmuted.
c. 1500. Sc. Poem Heraldry, 132, in Q. Eliz. Acad., etc. 38. The xij copy conter changit.
1572. Bossewell, Armorie, II. 29 b. Sable and Argente parted per Fesse Nebule, two Faucons volante, and a Greyhounde cursante, contrechanged of the fielde.
1708. J. Chamberlayne, St. Gt. Brit., I. II. v. (1743), 58. The Arms of the Princes of Wales … bear, quarterly, gules and or, four Lions passant guardant counter-changed.
1864. Boutell, Heraldry Hist. & Pop., xv. (ed. 3), 182.
b. transf. (In quot. 1648 = chequered).
1648. Herrick, Hesper., ‘Life is the Bodies Light,’ 3. Those counter-changed tabbies in the ayre, The sun once set, all of one colour are.
1861. Neale, Notes Eccl., 128. A dress of red or green moreen … open in front, bound round the neck and arms with counter-changed green or red cloth.
