In heraldry, a stain (sometimes termed stainand colour or staynard colour) is one of a few non-standard tinctures or colours (namely murrey, sanguine and tenné), which are only known to occur in post-medieval heraldry and are thought to denote a rebatement of honour. Almost none of these rebatements are found in fact of heraldic practice, however, and in British heraldry the stains find only exceptional use, other than for purposes of livery.
Murrey (deriving from late Middle English, via Old French from Medieval Latin moratus, from morum 'mulberry') is mulberry-coloured, or reddish purple. The murrey colour used in coats of arms should be clearly darker than purpure and stand out from it, to approximately the same extent that sanguine is darker than Gules and tenné from brunatre. A good comparison between the two tinctures could be obtained from comparing the murrey in the coat of arms of the University of Wales, with the lion purpure adorning the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Léon.
A stain is a discoloration that can be clearly distinguished from the surface, material, or medium it is found upon. They are caused by the chemical or physical interaction of two dissimilar materials. Staining is used for biochemical research, metal staining, and art (e.g., wood staining, stained glass).
There can be intentional stains (such as wood stains or paint), indicative stains (such as food coloring or adding a substance to make bacteria visible under a microscope), natural stains (such as rust on iron or a patina on bronze), and accidental stains such as ketchup on a shirt.
Different types of material can be stained by different substances, and stain resistance is an important characteristic in modern textile engineering.
The primary method of stain formation is surface stains, where the staining substance is spilled out onto the surface or material and is trapped in the fibers, pores, indentations, or other capillary structures on the surface. The material that is trapped coats the underlying material, and the stain reflects back light according to its own color. Applying paint, spilled food, and wood stains are of this nature.
Stain is the third album by Living Colour. It was released on March 2, 1993, by Epic Records. It is the first album to feature bassist Doug Wimbish. Stain features a much heavier and aggressive Living Colour, containing elements of thrash metal and industrial music. It reached No. 26 on the Billboard 200. The band split up in January 1995 following a tour with Bad Brains.
The cover art shows a woman wearing a brank.
From the mid-1990s through the early 2010s, the album was out of print due to rights issues after a lawsuit from Jon Stainbrook of the band The Stain forced Sony to cease production of the album. In November 2013, the album was reissued by Music On CD and is also available as an MP3 download.
Stain is the first EP release by the Canadian rock band Mystery Machine.