Heraldry & Livery

The heraldry of the Onyx Dragons is not decoration.

Every color, mark, mantle, oath-bead, and carved symbol serves as a record of duty. The Chapter does not adorn itself for vanity, nor does it cover its warriors in honors lightly earned. A battle-brother’s armor is a battlefield chronicle: the ash he has endured, the quarries he has marked, the brothers he has served beside, and the oaths he has kept beneath fire.

To outsiders, the Onyx Dragons appear severe and almost funerary in aspect. Their black armor evokes volcanic glass, scorched stone, and the ash wastes of Draconia. Their Gore Red markings recall blood willingly spent in service to mankind. Their dragon icon speaks not of prideful savagery, but of chained fury: the predator mastered, the fire contained, the Hunt bound to purpose.

The Chapter’s livery follows the Codex Astartes where useful, but it is filtered through the traditions of Draconia. Company markings, battlefield roles, veteran honors, and campaign badges are all treated as extensions of the Hunt. A symbol is not worn because a warrior desires recognition. It is worn because the Chapter has judged that the deed must be remembered.

Among the Onyx Dragons, bare armor may show humility.

Marked armor shows burden.

To bear the Chapter’s heraldry is to carry the memory of fire, blood, and oath into every war.

The armor of the Onyx Dragons is a reflection of Draconia itself.

The Chapter’s primary armor color is a deep, volcanic black, often described by Imperial armorers as Corvus Black. It evokes obsidian, cooled lava, ash-darkened stone, and the endless black storms that sweep across the Chapter’s homeworld. To the Onyx Dragons, black is not a color of mourning alone. It is the color of endurance after fire has passed. It is the color of the world that remains when the weak have burned away.

Their secondary color is Gore Red, most often displayed upon trim, weapon casings, honor markings, purity seals, and selected heraldic panels. This red is not worn for savagery or ornament. It represents blood willingly spent in the Emperor’s service: the blood of the Chapter, the blood of the innocent they are sworn to protect, and the blood price required to end a worthy quarry.

Together, black and Gore Red express the central nature of the Chapter.

Ash and blood.
Endurance and sacrifice.
The fire survived, and the oath kept.

The Chapter badge is normally rendered in black or dark iron against contrasting panels, or in Gore Red when displayed upon banners, vehicles, or ceremonial wargear. Onyx Dragons do not favor excessive ornamentation on line armor. A battle-brother’s plate is expected to remain severe, functional, and marked only by honors he has earned.

Veterans, officers, Chaplains, and honored specialists may bear additional markings, scale mantles, oath-beads, or drake-scale seals, but these are never treated as decoration alone. Every mark must remember a deed. Every color must serve a meaning. Every honor must carry weight.

To wear the colors of the Onyx Dragons is to carry the image of Draconia into war: blackened stone, burning blood, and the shadow of a predator whose fury remains chained until the moment of the kill.

The badge of the Onyx Dragons is the coiled dragon of Draconia.

Most commonly rendered as a circular, tribal wyrm or drake, the symbol represents the Chapter’s belief that fury must be mastered before it can be righteous. The dragon is not shown as a beast running wild, nor as a creature lost to hunger. It is bound into a circle: controlled, contained, and made purposeful.

To the Onyx Dragons, the circle is as important as the beast.

The dragon represents strength, predation, fire, and the violence required to protect mankind. The circle represents restraint, oath, discipline, and the sacred chain that prevents fury from becoming savagery. Together, they form the central truth of the Chapter: the hunter must be more dangerous than the prey, but never ruled by the hunger to kill.

The badge is usually displayed upon the left pauldron of Chapter battle-brothers, following standard Adeptus Astartes convention. It may be rendered in black, dark iron, bone-white, or Gore Red depending on armor panel, rank, campaign markings, or the needs of battlefield recognition. Veterans and officers may bear more ornate versions worked into cloaks, banners, vehicle hulls, weapon casings, or purity seals, though excessive embellishment is discouraged unless the bearer’s deeds warrant it.

Among the Onyx Dragons, the Chapter badge is not treated as a mark of ownership.

It is a burden.

A warrior who bears the dragon carries the expectation that his strength will remain chained to purpose. He must hunt without becoming cruel, endure without becoming prideful, and kill without mistaking bloodshed for victory. To disgrace the badge through recklessness, cowardice, or hunger for slaughter is to invite the judgment of the Chaplains and the silence of one’s brothers.

The badge is often accompanied by smaller Hunt Marks, oath-beads, scale seals, or campaign symbols, but the dragon remains the first and highest mark of identity.

It declares that the warrior is a son of Draconia.

It declares that the fire has not consumed him.

It declares that the Hunt serves the oath.

The Onyx Dragons broadly follow the Codex Astartes in the use of company markings, though their application is restrained by Chapter tradition.

A battle-brother’s company is most commonly identified by a narrow pauldron trim, a right knee marking, a helm stripe, or a small drake-scale device worked into the armor. These markings are deliberately secondary to the Chapter badge. The warrior belongs first to the Onyx Dragons, then to his company, squad, and battlefield role.

The Chapter does not favor excessive color across its warplate. Even company markings are often darkened, weathered, or edged in ash-black so that they do not break the severe profile of the Chapter’s armor. In ceremonial settings, company colors may be displayed more clearly upon banners, cloak clasps, vehicle panels, and honor shields. In war, they are kept functional and disciplined.

• 1st Company

  • Ash-white, bone, or pale scale markings 

  • Veterans, known as the Scaled, bear the color of old ash and honored bone.

• 2nd–5th Companies

  • Company color shown on trim, knee, or squad badge

  • Battle companies bear the active colors of the Chapter’s main strength.

• 6th–9th Companies

  • Muted reserve markings, often darker or narrower

  • Reserve companies display readiness without rivalry or vanity.

• 10th Company

  • Ash-grey, blackened scout marks, or subdued Phobos identifiers

  • Scouts and recon warriors mark the beginning of the Hunt, where silence matters more than display.

The 1st Company bears the most distinctive markings. Its veterans may display ash-white or bone-toned honor marks, scale mantles, veteran helms, or relic plates worked into their armor. These markings do not signify purity or superiority, but survival. A warrior of the 1st Company has endured long enough for his deeds to become part of the Chapter’s memory.

The battle companies use company colors more visibly, though still within the Chapter’s austere style. Their markings are often seen on pauldron trim, knee plates, tilt shields, squad icons, and vehicle panels. Captains may bear larger company devices upon banners, cloak clasps, or command armor, especially during formal musters or oath-rites before a major campaign.

The reserve companies use more subdued markings. Their role is not lesser, but their heraldry reflects readiness, reinforcement, and disciplined support. Reserve brothers may be seconded across the Chapter’s battle lines, and their colors are often reduced to compact symbols so that their temporary role within another formation remains clear.

The 10th Company is marked with particular restraint. Neophytes, Scouts, and Phobos-armored hunters often operate where visibility is a liability. Their company signs may be darkened, placed on concealed plates, or reduced to ash-grey marks known only to the Chapter. To the Onyx Dragons, this is not a lack of honor. It is appropriate to the first lesson of the Hunt: the quarry must be found before the dragon reveals its claws.

Company markings are never treated as decoration alone. A warrior may take pride in his company, but pride must not divide the Chapter. The Onyx Dragons teach that companies are not competing fires, but embers of the same flame, each placed where the Hunt requires.

The color may differ.

The oath does not.

Squad markings among the Onyx Dragons follow the practical foundations of the Codex Astartes, but the Chapter interprets each battlefield role through the language of the Hunt.

A squad marking does not exist merely to identify formation type. It declares how that brother serves the Chapter’s purpose in war. Some warriors find the quarry. Some hold the line until the prey reveals itself. Some break the shell around the enemy’s strength. Some deliver the killing blow. Each role is honored, provided it serves the mission rather than personal glory.

The Onyx Dragons most often display squad markings upon the right pauldron, right knee, vambrace, backpack casing, or weapon housing. In formal review, the markings may be clear and Codex-standard. In active warzones, they are often darkened, weathered, or worked into ash-script so that battlefield recognition remains possible without breaking the Chapter’s severe appearance.

Common battlefield role markings include:

• Battleline

  • Common markings include an upward arrow, spear-mark, or disciplined line glyph.

  • These warriors form the steady advance and hold the center of the Hunt.

  • Intercessors and other line formations are expected to endure punishment, seize ground, and advance with purpose once the quarry has been identified.

• Close Support

  • Common markings include crossed blades, assault marks, talon-symbols, or flame-edged claw devices.

  • These warriors are the claws of the Chapter.

  • Assault Intercessors, Jump Pack warriors, Inceptors, Reivers, and other shock troops close with the quarry once patience gives way to violence.

• Fire Support

  • Common markings include chevrons, blast marks, broken-shell devices, or flame-scored heavy weapon glyphs.

  • These warriors represent the pressure of the Hunt.

  • Hellblasters, Eradicators, Desolators, Aggressors, and heavy support elements crack armor, breach walls, and expose the enemy’s protected heart.

• Recon and Phobos

  • Common markings include an eye, claw, shadow-mark, ash-grey glyph, or concealed drake-sign.

  • These warriors are the first breath of the Hunt.

  • Infiltrators, Incursors, Eliminators, and other forward hunters find the quarry before the rest of the Chapter reveals its strength.

• Veterans

  • Common markings include a Crux, scale-mark, ash-bone symbol, veteran stripe, or oath-carved honor device.

  • These warriors have proven themselves through fire, restraint, and purpose.

  • Their markings may combine Codex role symbols with older Chapter honors, Hunt Marks, oath-beads, or scale seals.

• Command

  • Common markings include skulls, dragon-eyes, oath-marks, command glyphs, or company devices.

  • These warriors direct the Hunt and keep the Chapter’s fury chained to purpose.

  • Officers and command cadres may bear larger or more ornate symbols, but only where rank and deed justify them.

Battleline squads are regarded as the Chapter’s advancing heart. Their markings are often simple and severe, representing the spear-point that does not break.

Close Support squads bear more aggressive marks, though the Onyx Dragons avoid symbols that suggest uncontrolled fury. Their heraldry represents the moment when patience ends and the claws close around the quarry.

Fire Support squads are marked as the Chapter’s pressure and judgment. Their role is to break the shell around the enemy’s strength so the killing blow can reach the heart.

Recon and Phobos formations use the most subdued markings. Their honor is not display, but silence. They begin the Hunt by finding the true quarry before the rest of the Chapter commits its strength.

Veteran squads often combine battlefield role markings with personal honors. A veteran’s markings do not simply show his role in war. They show that his deeds have entered Chapter memory.

The Onyx Dragons do not consider any squad role lesser. The scout who names the quarry, the Intercessor who holds the line, the Eradicator who breaks the shell, and the Assault brother who delivers the final blow all serve the same sacred purpose.

The Hunt is not one strike.

It is every role working as one will.

Among the Onyx Dragons, rank is never allowed to become ornament without burden.

A veteran’s markings and a sergeant’s honors are not decorations of pride. They are visible records of responsibility, survival, and trust. The Chapter does not reward warriors merely for years served, nor does it grant honors for slaughter without purpose. A brother is marked because his deeds have proven that he can carry greater weight within the Hunt.

Sergeants are the first visible bearers of this burden.

A sergeant of the Onyx Dragons is expected to be more than a squad leader. He is the chain that binds his brothers’ fury to the mission. He must know when to unleash the squad, when to hold them back, when to pursue, and when to deny the Dragon’s Hunger its voice. His honors therefore show not only authority, but restraint.

Common sergeant honors include:

• Red or Gore Red helm markings

  • Used to identify squad leadership in accordance with Chapter tradition.

  • Often darkened with soot, ash, or battle wear so the mark remains severe rather than ornamental.

• Short drake-scale mantle

  • Usually worn over one shoulder.

  • Granted to sergeants who have proven they can lead warriors through fire without wasting lives.

• Enhanced right pauldron markings

  • The squad role symbol remains clear, but may be framed by ash-script, small oath marks, or a company-colored numeral.

  • These markings show that the sergeant is responsible for the squad’s place within the Hunt.

• Oath-beads and Hunt Marks

  • Worn on belts, vambraces, weapon housings, or hidden beneath armor plates.

  • Each mark records a quarry named, a brother honored, or a vow fulfilled.

• Trophy teeth, claws, or scale fragments

  • Used with restraint.

  • A sergeant may bear a small cinder-wyrm tooth, claw, or scale token, but such trophies must represent trial, duty, or command responsibility rather than personal vanity.

Veterans bear deeper honors.

A veteran of the Onyx Dragons is not simply a warrior who has survived many wars. Survival alone is not enough. A veteran is one whose judgment has been tested repeatedly and found worthy. He has endured the fire, mastered the fear, and proven that his strength can serve the oath across campaign after campaign.

Veteran honors may include:

• Ash-bone or pale scale markings

  • Often used by 1st Company veterans or warriors whose deeds have entered Chapter memory.

  • These marks symbolize survival after fire, not purity or superiority.

• Drake-scale seals

  • Small scale-like honor plates fixed to armor, weapons, banners, or reliquaries.

  • Each seal is tied to a campaign, oath, or quarry of significance.

• Veteran helm markings

  • May include ash-white, bone, or subdued Gore Red details depending on company tradition.

  • These markings are usually restrained, allowing the Chapter’s black armor to remain dominant.

• Relic armor plates

  • Older pieces of warplate may be incorporated into a veteran’s armor.

  • Such plates are preserved not because they are old, but because they carry the memory of a fulfilled oath.

• Campaign oath-script

  • Names of major campaigns, fallen brothers, or completed Hunts may be worked into armor trim, cloak clasps, weapon casings, or purity seals.

  • Some are visible. Others are hidden, known only to the bearer, his Chaplain, and the Reclusiam.

• Scale mantles or cloak fragments

  • Veterans may bear short or partial mantles, while higher-ranking veterans may be granted more elaborate drake-scale cloaks.

  • These are never given lightly, and no warrior is permitted to wear a mantle greater than his deeds can bear.

Veteran Sergeants stand between these traditions.

They are both proven hunters and keepers of younger warriors. Their armor often shows the clearest balance of command and experience: a sergeant’s leadership markings combined with veteran honors, oath-beads, scale seals, and the scars of long service. They are among the most respected warriors in the battle companies, for they carry the Chapter’s doctrine at the level where it matters most — squad by squad, kill by kill, decision by decision.

The Onyx Dragons teach that a veteran must not become trapped in memory, and a sergeant must not mistake command for glory. Both are judged by the same standard:

Did he preserve the oath?
Did he guide his brothers through fire?
Did he know when to strike, and when to chain the blade?

A warrior who bears honors without restraint dishonors them.

A warrior who bears them as burden becomes worthy of remembrance.

The drake-scale mantle is one of the most recognizable honors of the Onyx Dragons.

To outsiders, these mantles may appear as trophies. To the Chapter, they are burdens of command and memory. A warrior does not wear the scale because he slew a beast, survived a campaign, or desired a more fearsome image. He wears it because the Chapter has judged that he now carries responsibility for others within the Hunt.

The mantle represents three truths:

• Endurance

  • The scale comes from creatures and rites tied to Draconia’s fire, ash, and predation.

  • To wear it is to show that the warrior has endured the furnace and remained unbroken.

• Restraint

  • The drake is a symbol of fury, but the mantle is worn upon the shoulders like a chain.

  • It reminds the bearer that strength must be mastered before it can be righteous.

• Burden

  • A mantle is not granted for glory alone.

  • It marks a warrior who must guide others, preserve oaths, and keep the Hunt from becoming hunger.

The form of the mantle depends on rank, deed, and tradition:

• Sergeants

  • Usually bear short scale mantles over one shoulder.

  • These are often ash-grey, blackened, or trimmed with Gore Red.

  • The mantle marks the sergeant as the keeper of his squad’s discipline and the first chain upon his brothers’ fury.

• Veteran Sergeants

  • May bear heavier or more scarred mantles, often marked with oath-beads, campaign script, or small scale seals.

  • Their mantles show that they have led brothers through repeated Hunts and returned with discipline intact.

  • Some carry fragments from the mantle of a fallen mentor or predecessor.

• Lieutenants

  • Commonly wear medium-length cloaks, often falling to the knee.

  • Their scales may be etched with campaign marks, company signs, and the names of major quarries.

  • The lieutenant’s mantle reflects command across multiple squads and the burden of translating a captain’s will into action.

• Captains

  • Bear full drake-scale or ceremonial scale cloaks.

  • These may be ash-black, blood-red, company-trimmed, or worked with relic plates from earlier campaigns.

  • A captain’s cloak is a living banner, declaring him not merely a commander, but the embodiment of his company’s place within the Hunt.

• The Chapter Master

  • Bears the most ornate mantle of the Chapter.

  • In the case of Draconis, the mantle is inseparable from the myth of the First Flame, the slaying of Velkrax, and the founding memory of the Onyx Dragons.

  • No other cloak in the Chapter may rival it in significance.

Mantles are made from several sources. Some include true cinder-wyrm scale taken from Draconia’s great predators. Others are formed from ceramite scale plates, relic fragments, ash-treated hide, or symbolic scale-work crafted by the Armoury. The Chapter does not require every mantle to come from a slain beast. A mantle’s worth is measured by the oath it represents, not the rarity of its material.

The destruction or dishonor of a mantle is a grave insult.

If a mantle is lost through cowardice, pride, or neglect, the bearer may be stripped of honor and sent before the Chaplains. If it is broken while preserving the mission or shielding his brothers, the loss is not shameful. Such a mantle may be reforged, its remaining scales worked into a new cloak, banner, reliquary, or armor plate.

To be granted a drake-scale mantle is to be trusted with more than command.

It is to bear the weight of the Chapter’s memory upon the shoulders.

It is to remind every brother who follows that the dragon is strongest when chained.

Among the Onyx Dragons, honor is not counted by trophies alone.

A warrior may slay many enemies and still earn little remembrance if his violence served no greater purpose. The Chapter does not carve marks for slaughter, nor does it hang beads for vanity. Every symbol must answer to the same question that governs the Hunt:

Did the deed serve the oath?

Hunt Marks are the Chapter’s most direct record of quarry and deed. They may be carved into armor plates, etched onto weapon casings, painted in ash-script, engraved upon vehicle hulls, or hidden beneath ceramite where only the bearer and his Chaplain know they exist. Each mark represents a Hunt of significance: a warlord slain, a fortress broken, a xenos beast ended, a daemon banished, a relic recovered, or a threat to mankind extinguished with purpose.

A Hunt Mark is not a simple kill tally.

It records the moment when the prey was known, the shell was broken, and the heart of the threat was destroyed.

Common forms of Hunt Marks include:

• Claw cuts

  • Short angular marks used for completed Hunts.

  • Often placed on vambraces, greaves, weapon housings, or hidden armor plates.

• Broken-shell glyphs

  • Used when a warrior or squad helped breach a fortress, armor column, voidship, monster-hide, or defended command structure.

  • Common among siege troops, fire support elements, Dreadnoughts, and armored companies.

• Dragon-eye marks

  • Used to show that the bearer identified or confirmed the true quarry before the killing strike.

  • Often associated with Scouts, Phobos warriors, Eliminators, Incursors, and command elements.

• Ash-script names

  • Reserved for major campaigns, dead brothers, or enemies whose defeat carried Chapter significance.

  • These may be visible on banners and vehicles, or hidden beneath armor as private burdens.

• Fang or scale marks

  • Used when a Hunt is tied to Draconia, the Trial of the Ember Maw, cinder-wyrm symbolism, or a deed judged worthy by the Reclusiam.

Oath-Beads serve a different purpose.

Where Hunt Marks record deeds, Oath-Beads record burdens. They are small tokens of ash-treated bone, blackened stone, cooled volcanic glass, ceramite, shell fragments, or carved scale. A battle-brother may wear them on cords, chains, belt lines, weapon grips, cloak clasps, reliquaries, or beneath armor where they rest against the body during war.

Some Oath-Beads are given before a campaign. Others are taken up after failure, loss, victory, or penance. A bead may bear a name, a vow, a quarry, a squad number, a place of death, or a single rune known only to the bearer.

Common Oath-Beads include:

• Ember Oath-Beads

  • Taken before a major Hunt.

  • Often marked with ash and promethium oil by a Chaplain.

• Mourning Beads

  • Carried for fallen brothers, destroyed squads, lost civilians, or worlds the Chapter failed to save.

  • These are usually dark, unpolished, and worn close to the body.

• Quarry Beads

  • Mark the name or sign of an enemy not yet destroyed.

  • These are watched carefully by the Chaplains, for too many unfinished Quarry Beads may reveal the first signs of the Dragon’s Hunger.

• Penance Beads

  • Given after failure, disobedience, uncontrolled fury, or judgment by the Reclusiam.

  • A warrior does not remove such a bead until his penance is fulfilled.

• Brother-Beads

  • Exchanged between squadmates or granted by a dying warrior to one who carries his oath forward.

  • These are among the most personal honors a battle-brother may bear.

Hunt Marks and Oath-Beads often appear together, but they are not the same. A Hunt Mark says, “This was done.” An Oath-Bead says, “This must be remembered.”

The Chaplains maintain the strictest oversight of both traditions. A warrior may not freely claim honors beyond his deeds, and a mark carved in pride may be burned away or struck from his armor. Likewise, an oath taken without discipline may become a chain around the soul rather than a guide to duty.

For this reason, the Onyx Dragons teach restraint even in remembrance.

Too few marks may show that a warrior has not yet been tested.

Too many may show that he has begun to measure himself by the Hunt rather than the oath.

The greatest warriors of the Chapter do not bear the most symbols. They bear the ones that matter.

Every mark must remember.

Every bead must bind.

Every oath must serve the Emperor’s will.

The war machines of the Onyx Dragons are marked as extensions of the Hunt.

A vehicle is not merely a transport, gun platform, or armored hull. It is a hunting beast of iron and ceramite, carrying the Chapter’s wrath across ash, ruin, voidship decks, and broken cities. Its heraldry must therefore serve both battlefield recognition and sacred memory.

Onyx Dragons vehicles usually retain the Chapter’s primary colors:

• Corvus Black hulls

  • Used as the dominant armor color.

  • Represents volcanic stone, ash, endurance, and the severe character of the Chapter.

• Gore Red panels and markings

  • Used on doors, weapon casings, front plates, hatches, honor panels, or selected armor sections.

  • Represents blood willingly spent and the violent moment when the Hunt closes.

• Company-colored identifiers

  • Applied with restraint to panels, numeral markings, doors, turret plates, hull stripes, or campaign shields.

  • These markings identify the vehicle’s company without overwhelming the Chapter’s black-and-red identity.

• Official Chapter crest

  • Commonly placed on side doors, front armor plates, Dreadnought sarcophagi, banners, tilt shields, or major display panels.

  • The crest is treated as a sacred mark of purpose, not simple decoration.

Vehicle heraldry is generally larger and more visible than infantry heraldry. A battle-brother carries his honors upon his body. A tank carries the memory of the squad, company, and campaign it serves. For this reason, transports and armor often bear campaign names, completed Hunt Marks, kill tallies, oath-script, and ash-weathered company devices.

Common vehicle markings include:

• Large Chapter crests

  • Displayed on Repulsors, Gladiators, Predators, Land Raiders, Impulsors, Stormravens, and Dreadnoughts.

  • Often placed where the enemy will see it as the vehicle advances or descends.

• Broken-shell glyphs

  • Used on siege vehicles, breachers, Vindicators, Brutalis Dreadnoughts, and armored spearheads.

  • Mark machines that have shattered fortifications, armored prey, voidship doors, or monstrous hides.

• Dragon-eye markings

  • Used on command vehicles, recon transports, Storm Speeders, and vehicles tied to target identification.

  • Represents the moment the quarry is found and named.

• Claw-strike marks

  • Applied after decisive shock assaults, breach actions, or close-range armored kills.

  • Common on Impulsors, Repulsors, Outriders’ support vehicles, and assault transports.

• Ash-script campaign records

  • Names of worlds, fortresses, ships, or quarries may be written along hull edges, weapon casings, or interior armor panels.

  • Some are visible to all. Others are placed where only the crew can see them before battle.

• Heat staining and soot

  • Common near exhausts, flamers, melta weapons, plasma coils, jump assault ramps, and engine vents.

  • The Chapter does not polish away every sign of war. A machine that has endured fire may bear the evidence proudly.

• Drake-scale plating

  • Used sparingly on command vehicles, relic engines, Dreadnoughts, and veteran transports.

  • May be made from actual cinder-wyrm scale, ceramite scale-work, or symbolic armor plates shaped by the Armoury.

Each company adapts vehicle heraldry to its battlefield identity:

• 2nd Company — Iron Claws

  • Uses bold armored markings, yellow company numerals, breach glyphs, and heavy Hunt Marks.

  • Their vehicles are treated as the steel jaws of the Chapter’s ground assault.

• 3rd Company — Skyfangs

  • Uses red company identifiers, winged strike marks, descent glyphs, and flame-scored aircraft panels.

  • Stormravens and Storm Speeders often bear markings tied to aerial kills and rapid redeployment.

• 4th Company — Iron Drakes

  • Uses green company identifiers, broken-wall symbols, siege script, and heavy ash weathering.

  • Their armor often carries the names of fortresses, hive districts, and breaches taken under fire.

• 5th Company — Skyshadows

  • Uses subdued black company markings, shadow glyphs, concealed oath-script, and darker weathering.

  • Their vehicles often appear plain at distance, with honors revealed only up close or beneath battlefield light.

Dreadnoughts are treated with even greater reverence.

To the Onyx Dragons, a Dreadnought is not simply a war machine. It is an ancient brother bound within iron, a caged wyrm whose wrath has been chained to the Chapter’s service. Dreadnought heraldry is therefore both martial and funerary, honoring the warrior within as much as the engine that carries him.

Common Dreadnought honors include:

• Large Chapter crest upon the sarcophagus or shoulder plating

  • Marks the ancient as a living bearer of the Chapter’s oath.

• Personal name plates

  • The warrior’s name, titles, and greatest Hunts may be inscribed in ash-script, High Gothic, or Chapter runes.

• Cinder-wyrm trophies

  • Drake teeth, scale chains, claw relics, or skull motifs may be mounted with restraint.

  • These are most common on ancient Redemptors, Brutalis engines, or honored relic Dreadnoughts.

• Kill tallies and Hunt Marks

  • Usually carved into armor plates, weapon housings, or hanging reliquaries.

  • A Dreadnought’s marks often span centuries and are treated as Chapter records.

• Oath chains and reliquary seals

  • Used to bind banners, fragments of old armor, fallen squad tokens, or campaign relics to the chassis.

  • These remind the ancient that his wrath remains chained to duty.

• Heat-scarred weapon casings

  • Especially common on flame, plasma, melta, or siege-pattern weapons.

  • The Chapter often leaves such marks visible, seeing them as proof that the machine has endured the furnace of war.

A Dreadnought’s company markings remain present, but they are often secondary to personal history. Some ancient brothers have served more than one company across their long existence. In such cases, their current company color may appear on one panel, while older campaign honors remain elsewhere as testimony to a longer life of service.

No Dreadnought of the Onyx Dragons is treated as a mere asset.

When one walks, the Chapter remembers.

When one speaks, younger warriors listen.

When one charges, it is as though the old fire of Draconia has been given iron limbs and a voice of thunder.

The vehicles of the Onyx Dragons carry warriors to the Hunt.

Their Dreadnoughts carry the Hunt’s memory.

Service in the Deathwatch is regarded by the Onyx Dragons as both honor and burden.

A battle-brother sent to the Long Vigil does not cease to be a son of Draconia. He becomes a hunter placed among hunters from other bloodlines, oath-bound to serve a wider war where the quarry is often older, stranger, and more dangerous than any single Chapter can face alone.

The heraldry of an Onyx Dragon in Deathwatch service reflects this dual duty.

The left arm and pauldron are given over to the silver and black of the Deathwatch, marking the warrior’s oath to the Watch Fortress and the alien-hunting mission of the Ordo Xenos. The Chapter badge is moved to the right pauldron, where the Onyx Dragons crest remains a visible reminder of the brother’s origin, discipline, and sacred burden.

For an Onyx Dragon, this shift carries deep meaning.

The dragon is no longer displayed where it would normally stand as the first mark of Chapter identity. It is carried on the opposite shoulder, as though the warrior bears Draconia beside him rather than before him. The Hunt remains, but it is now chained to another oath.

Common Onyx Dragons Deathwatch heraldry includes:

• Right pauldron Chapter badge

  • The official Onyx Dragons crest is displayed on the right shoulder.

  • The field may remain Gore Red with black trim and black crest, preserving the Chapter’s identity.

  • In some Watch Fortresses, the pauldron may be darkened, silver-edged, or weathered according to Deathwatch custom, but the crest itself is not replaced by a generic dragon symbol.

• Reduced company markings

  • Company colors are usually minimized during Deathwatch service.

  • A brother may retain a small company-colored numeral, stripe, bead, or hidden armor mark.

  • The company identity is remembered, but it does not compete with the Long Vigil.

• Suppressed squad role markings

  • Standard battlefield role markings may be moved to the knee, vambrace, weapon casing, or interior armor plate.

  • This reflects the fact that Deathwatch kill-teams often operate outside normal Chapter squad structure.

• Oath-beads of the Long Vigil

  • Many Onyx Dragons add a blackened or silvered oath-bead when they take the Deathwatch oath.

  • Such beads may bear the sign of the Watch Fortress, the name of a xenos quarry, or a private vow known only to the warrior and his Chaplain.

• Xenos Hunt Marks

  • Hunt Marks earned during Deathwatch service are treated with caution.

  • They may be carved into weapon housings, hidden beneath armor, or recorded upon returning to the Chapter.

  • The Onyx Dragons do not allow Deathwatch honors to become boasts of alien trophies. The mark must remember the oath, not glorify the prey.

• Ash and silver mourning marks

  • Brothers who lose kill-team members during the Long Vigil may carry mourning beads or ash-script names.

  • These marks are often retained even after the warrior returns to the Chapter, for the Onyx Dragons recognize the Deathwatch kill-team as a temporary brotherhood forged under sacred burden.

The Reclusiam pays close attention to brothers who return from Deathwatch service.

The Long Vigil exposes an Onyx Dragon to enemies worthy of obsession: ancient xenos warlords, hidden hive strains, impossible machines, and alien horrors that can haunt memory long after the mission ends. A warrior who returns with too many unfinished Quarry Beads, too many silent vows, or too much eagerness to resume a private xenos hunt may be called before the Chaplains for judgment.

This is not shame.

It is preservation.

To the Onyx Dragons, Deathwatch service is one of the highest expressions of the Hunt, but also one of its greatest dangers. The brother fights beside strangers, studies enemies beyond ordinary comprehension, and learns that the galaxy holds quarries older than his Chapter’s own legends.

If he returns unchanged, he has learned nothing.

If he returns consumed, he has failed.

A Deathwatch veteran of the Onyx Dragons is therefore honored not merely for surviving the Long Vigil, but for returning with his fury still chained to purpose. He may bear silver upon his armor, alien scars upon his flesh, and names upon his beads that no brother of his company fully understands.

Yet when he stands once more beneath the banners of Draconia, the judgment remains the same:

Did the Hunt serve the oath?

If the answer is yes, then the silver is honored.

If the answer is no, then even the Long Vigil cannot shield him from the Flame Vigil.