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defacement

noun

  1. term used in heraldry and vexillology to refer to the addition of a symbol or charge to another flag
L319190 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /dɪˈfeɪsmənt/

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree English deface Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥ Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥tom Proto-Italic *-mentom Latin -mentum Old French -mentbor. Middle English -ment English -ment English defacement From deface + -ment.

  1. An act of defacing; an instance of visibly marring or disfiguring something.

    Some consider the defacement of the Sphinx to be the most egregious crime of Napolean's campaigns.

  2. An act of voiding or devaluing; nullification of the face value.

    The soldiers found a variety of creative uses for their payment scrip after its defacement to scrap paper; some used it as toilet paper.

  3. A symbol added to a flag or coat of arms to change it or make it different from another.