Since colored inks were not always available in the days that heraldry was being developed, the colors as respresented in black ink on white paper are depicted in certain images. For example, gold, termed or in heraldry, is represented in black ink by dots. Silver, termed argent , is any area left blank. Here are the different tinctures and their heraldic name and ink depictions. The two furs are ermine, and vair.
Ermine consists of a white field with black spots.
Erminois is a golden field with black spots, and pean is a black field with golden spots. Each spot resembles an animal's tail with three spots above and to each side of its point. Its variation is counter-vair which consists of shields placed directly beneath one another. Also the counter-vair is a metal and a color rather than a fur. The crest is a common adjunct of the shield, and consists of any object or objects placed above it, and used as a hereditary distinction to, for example, tell two branches of the same family apart.