Iron Heart

This article is about a Mandalorian diamond. You may be looking for Ka'rta Tor, a Mandalorian war chant.

JangoSansHelmet-SWE — Jango Fett's armor featured the Iron Heart

"At the juncture of the breastplates sits a small lozenge-shaped piece of armor known as ka'rta beskar or tapul."

―Tor Vizsla, Ba'jurne Kyr'tsad Mando'ad^[1]

The Iron Heart,^[2] also known as ka'rta beskar in the Mandalorian language of Mando'a,^[1] and colloquially as the Mandalorian Diamond, was an ancient symbol used by the Mandalorian people since the time of the Mandalorian Excision in 738 BBY. It was notably featured on the chest part of the Mandalorian Shock Trooper Armor. During the Clone Wars, the Iron Heart was used in one way or another by both the traditional Mandalorian warriors, as well as the pacifist New Mandalorians. The Iron Heart saw use in various architectural works throughout New Mandalorian society, on police equipment, and even featured on civilian attire.^[2]

The symbol was noted in Ba'jurne Kyr'tsad Mando'ad, a manifesto of the Death Watch Mandalorian splinter group. The document was supposedly written by the movement's leader, Tor Vizsla—although the Death Watch's opponent Jango Fett doubted its authenticity—and was eventually included in the book The Bounty Hunter Code by Jango's son, the bounty hunter Boba Fett.^[1]

Behind the scenes[]

In The Bounty Hunter Code: From the Files of Boba Fett, the canonical Mando'a name of the Iron Heart was given as ka'rta beskar. However, the proper spelling of the first word is kar'ta and the rules of that language established by Karen Traviss state the adjectives come before the noun they modify—as seen in cin vhetin, in which cin is "white."^[3] Furthermore, the word beskar is a noun, and would require the addition of a suffix, either -la or -yc, to be used as an adjective.^[4] According to those rules, the most proper Mando'a form to convey the meaning of "Iron Heart" would be Beskaryc Kar'ta.^[3]^[4]