Describes a heraldic pattern where a checkerboard design is reversed or inverted, switching which colors appear on top.
From counter- + fessed (from Old French fesse, meaning a horizontal band in heraldry). This is specialized heraldic terminology dating back to medieval times when complex color patterns distinguished noble families.
Medieval heralds invented incredibly specific rules for flipping patterns so that opposing families could both have nearly identical shields but still be legally distinct—counterfessed was heraldry's version of a legal loophole.
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