It is sometimes said that the tail passing between the legs constitutes a definite heraldic variation, but this is extremely unlikely. The term ascribed to it of “coward” is much too dangerous to have been intentionally borne on a shield which symbolically stood for its owner, except with some other symbol in a position of superiority, such as the eagle over the dragon in the Guelph arms. Most probably it was one of the trivial inventions by which the later heraldic writers sought to fix and give meaning to an accidental and unessential detail. There are numerous instances of this free treatment of the tail when there could be no possible heraldic intention, and in every case it is apparent that some difficulty in arrangement was overcome, as in both the Great Seals for Scotland of Charles I the lion supporter has the tail between the legs, and it is not possible to consider this a Scottish joke, though the animal looks singularly mild and cheerful. However this may be, the tail may certainly go anywhere outside the legs. A lion’s tail may be double or forked, and in that case the blazon says _double queued or queue forchée_. Both terms mean the same thing, for the double tail issues from but one root. In rare instances it is twisted into a knot, and is then said to be nowed. Although the lion has been conventionalized, more or less, into a pattern, and his positions are always the subject of careful regulation, he is still susceptible of considerable variation of pose, within heraldic limits, based on the facts of anatomical structure; so that while the possibilities of animal movement are observed, it may be designed to cover its field pattern-wise whatever the shape of the shield may be, and at the same time retain great vitality and power. The effort to express vigorous action without suggesting progression out of the space is not easy perhaps, but the contrary effect is very ludicrous, as is often apparent in modern mural decorations that are based on heraldic motives, rampant lions seeming to be walking placidly up a wall in a procession of their fellows. The _lion passant_ is depicted with all the limbs separated and the right forepaw raised (Fig. 94), and when its head is full faced, affrontée, it is passant guardant, the position of the lions in the Royal arms of England, viz. Gules three lions passant guardant in pale Or. The most frequent error in rendering this coat is the turning the heads in profile, and it cannot therefore be too often insisted upon that lions so treated are not “lions of England” at all. [Illustration: FIG. 94.--Passant.] [Illustration: FIG. 95.--Statant.]