Devices, Arms, Achievement

What is a device? A Device is the shield-shaped design which displays a person's own personal heraldic design.

What is an Achievement of Arms? To answer this is to explain the difference between a Device and Arms. A device will become arms when the person is awarded arms (AoA award). Before they have achieved this award, it is simply called something different - a device. Or, to quote another SCA member (personal site/Non-SCA link), "an Achievement of Arms is the whole heraldic display, not just the escutcheon (shield-shaped thing) with your device on it."

You can decorate your Achievement if you choose to. You can even have a scroll designed for you which displays this Achievement of Arms. (This is what they mean when they say to consult with a Herald to find a suitable arms, if you so choose. ;) Your device (whether with the embellishments or not) signifies your presence. To mark your presence, you can fly your heraldic design on a banner wherever you are at, too! (To be true to the medieval time period, what folks used to do was never display it if they weren't actually present, so you would take your banner with you if you left the area, such as upon the battlefield.)

There are numerous examples from Medieval European history showing heraldry. Heraldic display within the SCA is at least modeled after this, so you can get some great inspirations for your own by looking at images of those. For example, look here: http://www.wappenbuch.de/index.htm (non-SCA link)

Most Kingdoms have sumptuary laws, which dictate how much heraldic display goes into your Arms achievement. In Meridies, currently (1/31/2013) we do not have this restraint. So if you have already gotten your AoA, explore and beautify that device of yours, and turn it into something more grand! Here are the only rules you need to keep in mind:

- Members who have received the AoA award (Award of Arms) may not use supporters

- Members who have received the GoA award (Grant of Arms) may use one supporter

- Members who have received the Augmentation of Arms award may use two supporters

You should ALWAYS know and heed the current Kingdom laws. Review them perioidically in case they are changed. Meridian Sumptuary Laws may be found in the last section of our Kingdom Law in the Seneschal's handbook which is located on the Kingdom website. http://www.kingdom.meridies.org/index.php/offices/seneschal

NOTE: There are certain things not mentioned in the laws specifically in regards to Achievements, but make note of other things in the laws such as gold chains and white belts being reserved to Knights. You can get some good ideas of how to follow those standards on Achievements from An Tir's College of Heralds, including the use of coronets in the display - http://www.antirheralds.org/display/achievements/achievements.html

What are the options?

So, you're ready to fancy up your Device and display those Arms. What options can you select from? A good layout of the basic elements of an Achievement can be found on this Wikipedia page: (non-SCA link) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achievement_(heraldry)

Check out the links below for some visuals, and explanations of the part you can choose from when designing your own. (Hint, when they tell you consult with a Herald, this is the stuff they would be telling you!)

Note: [Non-SCA Links]

Have a look at this page for explanations, to tell you what all the pieces in the Coat of Arms are, and a diagram shown at the bottom: http://www.motherbedford.com/Heraldry02.htm

Have a look at this Knight's page for a wonderful example! His Achievement of Arms is pictured at the very top. http://rich.ellawheelerwilcox.org/newsca.htm

This page also shows you what each part of the heraldic display is called. http://www.heraldica.com/HowToDesign.aspx

Also, this page explains the parts of heraldry quite well. http://home.comcast.net/~suzyq9/GBQ-CoatOfArms.html See the chart diagramming each part.

You can also view my Pinterest board where I have started to collect images and links concerning this topic. http://pinterest.com/wisteareia/sca-heraldry/