It goes back, as does . The word ''vair'' is derived from the Middle English forms ''veir'' and ''vairé'', meaning ''variegated fur'' (from the French vair, itself from the Latin ''varius'', variegated).
The squirrel in question was apparently blue-grey on the back and white underneath, and was much used for the lining of cloaks. It was sewn together in alternating cup-shaped pieces of back and stomach fur, resulting in a pattern of grey-blue and grey-white which, when simplified in heraldic drawing and painting, became blue and white in alternating pieces. The species involved has never been accurately identified.
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