VAIR, or VAIRE, a kind of fur, formerly used for lining the garments of great men and knights of renown. It is represented in engraving by the figures of little bells reversed, ranged in a line; see HERALDRY, Pl. CLXIV, fig. 2. n° 15. Of this fur is sometimes formed a cross, a bend, &c. M. de la Colombière observes, that when furriers first made this lining, they used small pieces, most frequently of an azure colour, which they fitted to white furs; and he infers from that, that those who have settled the rules of heraldry decreed, in relation to vair, that this fur in its natural blazon should always be argent and azure; so that if it be said, such a family bears vair, it is supposed to be argent and azure; but if there be any other tincture, the same must be expressed, saying, such a family bears vairy, or, and gules, or otherwise. The same author relates an account of this fur being first introduced into French armour, but too tedious to be inserted here.