Bar sinister

heraldry. (not in technical use) a bend sinister or a baton.
the proof, condition, or stigma of illegitimate birth.
historical examples

you display no coat of arms that no bar sinister may be displayed.
the lion’s skin rafael sabatini

also, she thought she was all-white, and never dreamed of a bar sinister.
a son of the sun jack london

the bar sinister stayed him from broadweald, so the judges had said, and haughty fitzooth had perforce to bear with their finding.
robin hood paul creswick

lilian boyd is smart and ambitious but there is the bar sinister.
the girls at mount morris amanda minnie douglas

he has nothing to gain—even glory, for the senate has fixed a bar sinister on gallantry in indian warfare.
marion’s faith. charles king

i do not mean by this that any bar sinister defaced his escutcheon.
a few words about the devil charles bradlaugh

i would rather smudge my fingers in saving her than wear the bar sinister of cowardice.
the game and the candle eleanor m. ingram

it was the weight that crushed her almost to lifelessness; it was the bar sinister.
the daughter of anderson crow george barr mccutcheon

the bar sinister on his artistic coat of arms is the lack of fundamental training.
egoists james huneker

at the same moment, verbally, he cast the bar sinister on my genealogy.
the road jack london

noun
(not in heraldic usage) another name for bend sinister
the condition, implication, or stigma of being of illegitimate birth