In
heraldry, a broad band
vertically down a shield. In theory it divides the shield equally into three parts, but in practice it is not that wide, and is a
stripe over a field.
A narrow vertical band is called a pallet; pallets do not occur singly.
A field divided in half by a vertical line is described as 'per pale' or 'party per pale'. A field divided into, say, eight equal vertical parts is called 'paly of eight'.
An individual object oriented vertically is described as palewise; a group of objects arranged one above another are described as in pale.
When a shield with a pale is also divided "per fess", that is horizontally in half, it is divided into six regions. In this case the pale does occupy a full third, and each of the six parts is equal.