Post date: Feb 27, 2017 2:04:29 PM
or, "Why do we have to use European heraldry rules when we can have Japanese personas?"
This is a question that comes up a lot in the various Facebook groups for heraldry and SCA persona development. Why are SCAdians 'forced' into European heraldry rules if they have personas that had other heraldic traditions, or none at all? I'd like to break this question down into some component parts, if I may.
I'll start by saying that I view heraldry as an A&S discipline, heavily focused on research and authenticity for our SCA period. My definition of "SCA period" is the same as the official rules - pre-1600, from anywhere that saw significant European contact. I acknowledge that the SCA, and therefore SCA heraldic practice, centers on medieval Europe. You can read here exactly how the College of Arms defines SCA period, and I'll be getting into it below as well.
Nope. You can call yourself whatever you want and paint whatever you want on your shields, banners, coolers, and minions. There is no heraldic police to come and take you to task.
In some kingdoms it is required to have a name and/or device formally registered (or in progress) to compete for or hold a Crown. Check your kingdom laws about that. Otherwise - it's your choice whether to register your name or device. If you do not choose to take the step toward registration, the only rules that exist are those of Corpora, Kingdom, and your own sense of medieval aesthetics.
Third part - So why would I want to register a name or device?
The benefit of a registered device is that it is yours. No one else other than me can have my device, it is mine. The king and queen of the East awarded it to me with my AoA, I think that's spiffy.
Does that stop anyone else from painting green fox masks on their stuff? Nope. But in an official setting, I can lay claim to my registered device and badges, and be recognized by others when I display them.
I think of heraldry as an A&S discipline, or a bardic competition. No one has to participate in those activities, but if you do, you do so under the rules/guidelines of the style or competition.
Our heraldry rules are a conglomeration of the common denominators of the medieval European cultures that the SCA broadly represents. Over time the cultures have expanded as we learn more about history, and so have heraldry and name rules changed over time. But not all the way into Victorian times! Our heraldry rules represent our SCA setting, not the real world.
And the SCA isn't the real world, so it's good to have a system that doesn't infringe upon or try to duplicate what modern heraldry societies do.
Like I said above, participation in SCA registered names and heraldry is like participation in A&S. Nobody thinks A&S is a failure because not all SCA members garb themselves in period-perfect style and manner. As a society in general, we celebrate the people who take the time and effort to do the research and work. We admire the beauty of the creation, take note of the areas where research wasn't enough and things had be be done on educated guesswork, and think to ourselves what a fine thing A&S is for the society as a whole, promoting a period feel and sharing the historical research. Even if NOT EVERY MEMBER does it, the few who do enrich us all.
SCA name and device registration is the same way. Nobody forces you to do the work and research and registration - but when you do, it has plausible authenticity to the extent that you wish to put into it, and when you display your period-plausible registered name and device to the rest of the society, you are doing a fine thing for the society as a whole.
Heralds encourage research and learning. We encourage period authenticity and plausibility - the whole society benefits from that. We have two routes to offer the populace, and which route will depend on how much time and research a person wants to do.
1) We have a core set of rules that are a conglomeration of European/continental heraldry rules, which gives a set of guidelines that allow the most SCAdians to achieve period plausibility with the least amount of extra research on their individual part. This is the generic tunic and 8 gore dress route - accessible to anyone who wants to sit with a herald for a little while and hammer it out.
2) We have built in flexibility for any individual to research the dickens out of visual representation in their culture and time period, and provide reliable historical documentation for what they find. If there is a way to get a new culture or style of representation into the fold, you can find a research-oriented herald to help you navigate the Individually Attested Pattern route. This is the fully-documented garb with period-accurate stitch patterns, hand stitched from top to toe, undergarments and jewelry not excepted from research, documentation, and construction route.
It doesn't have to be about battlefield identification - mine certainly isn't. There was no heraldry in my culture or period. I have registered my heraldry so that as a visitor to battlefields or foreign courts, those on the field or presenting me to a court can identify me and say, "Here be dragons." It is a courtesy to others, a nod toward acceptance of the way that people recognize one another - and courtesy is a value that is certainly appropriate to my persona and culture.
From Yehuda - The College does enrichen the society through study of period practice. And we also have SCA-based rules that make it easier for non-heralds to easily design periodish devices. Almost all of those rules can be "broken" by showing documentation of period practice.
They are really more like guidelines - stay within these lines and you'll get something reasonably decent, with no research needed. Want something appropriate to a specific time and place? Do some research and you can ignore the guidelines.
____________
I consider heraldry to be a branch of A&S.
We do research into how they did it in period.
We attempt to re-create their result using what we found, to make our own period accurate products.
We allow some conjecture and short cuts to get plausible results as well.
We aren't being mean and stifling creativity. We are using our research and knowledge to help any member explore these period practices (names and armory.)
There's very little that requires a member to register a name or Armory - usually only the highest offices, such as Crown, for example. Therefore, everyone can explore our topics to the level they want to.
If a dress is sewn with a serger, that doesn't matter unless it's entered into an A&S competition with rules - so wear it.
If someone is attached to a name that can't be documented, nobody requires them to try. Just use it.
If someone is attached to armory that can't be registered, nobody requires them to try. Just use it.
But if someone wants to enter their clothing as A&S, they will need to follow the relevant rules. And to register a name or armory, there are rules to follow.
_____________
(Rebecca Le Get)
I suspect, the issue is the difference between "allow" for people to show up to an event, and "allow" under the rules of how heraldry is submitted and registered?
So, the two rules you *have* to abide by in the SCA is
a) wear an attempt at pre-1600 clothes, and
b) don't be a dickhead.
So within those very broad strokes, we "allow" pretty much anyone and everyone to show up, and enjoy themselves.
But if you want to move beyond that bare minimum, and get a name and device registered, then there are *more* (self-imposed) rules involved in that process, and they are to do with issues such as knowledge of non-European animals, either by Europeans (and therefore using them in European-style heraldry) or by non-Europeans who may have used it in their own heraldic tradition.
(I don't think we have any evidence for the Chinese using red pandas in heraldry though.)
Third part - My persona that did not have a heraldic tradition in that time/culture!
Fourth part - My persona is from a culture that is not medieval Europe, how do I register something appropriate to my persona?