"Aspilogiam desidero." (I long for heraldry.)
Are you interested in designing a device to display on the field or in your encampment? Creating a badge to label your household, your belongings, or your minions? Wondering what all of this talk about armory is about?
In the SCA, armory (devices and badges) is a way to create a visual display. You will see it displayed on the shields of fighters, on the favors they wear on their belts, on banners behind the thrones at court, or flying above processions. Armory is a very visual way to help transform events into medieval-feeling environments.
My viewpoint is that the designing of heraldry is a branch of the Arts and Sciences. Our SCA heraldry has a set of rules, based on research into period practices, which help us to recreate visuals that resemble the ones that might be found in-period. The Standards for Evaluating Names and Armory (SENA) rule set was updated in 2012, and is based on the standard location definition of the SCA governing documents at the time - pre-1600's, medieval and Renaissance Europe. (While the Mission Statement was updated to remove the Euro-centric wording, Corpora retains that focus.) Generally speaking, armory rules are based on Anglo-Norman period armorial practices, including the methods by which armory shows family relationships (cadency and marshalling.)
SENA does have provisions to register armory based on themes from non-European cultures as an attested pattern. This requires some research and careful presentation, but is entirely possible.
Registering your device or badge (names too!) with the SCA College of Arms will make sure that your unique name or armory design are reserved to you for your use. College rules ensure that no other registered name or device will be close enough to be mistaken for yours. Here are some other benefits to think about:
What can a herald do for me?
I have a library of resources, books, and graphics, and multiple online heraldry communities to use as research material to help design a device. We will help you through all of the stages - research and documentation of a name, design of a device, conflict checking and any necessary adjustments, and getting your forms ready to send in.
I don't have an Award of Arms yet, can I still register a name or device?
Of course you can! And please do! You don't even have to be a paid member to choose and register names and devices. Take your time to come up with a name and device that suit you best, and they will be ready in the system when the heralds and scribes need to make up an award scroll at some future date.
What should I consider when I'm thinking about designing armory?
There are resources down below to get you started in thinking about names and devices. Some questions you should be asking yourself are:
It can be helpful to review some period rolls of arms (here, or here) to see what designs tended to look like. Remember that bad art is very period, and that colors fade over time. Argent might fade to look grey, greens might fade to look like blues... but you'll get a good general idea as you go through the rolls.
Take a look through the Heraldry Myths and What You Heard Was Wrong articles to dispel some common misconceptions before you get started. Rules have changed over time, and these articles are a good way to sort out current fact from previous fact, or avoid some of the more prevalent (untrue!) rumors about what is allowed or not allowed.
Some resources to explore:
Can you explain the whole color/metal thing to me?
Simply stated color rules:
We have two classes of tincture - metals and colors. Metals cannot go on top of metals, colors cannot go on top of colors. (Side by side is fine.)
Think of your device as being layered up from the field. We are allowed three layers to the heraldic cupcake. Any more and it would fall over and be a terrible waste of good frosting. Because we do not allow metal on metal or color on color, you have to alternate your layers between the two.
The field is the first layer, and side by side color/color or metal/metal is fine here if the field is divided into three or fewer pieces.
Charges, including ordinaries like bends and subordinaries like bordures and chiefs, are laid on top of the field. That is the second layer.
Anything that you laid on top of your second layer would be the third and final allowable layer.
There is of course a lot more to it than this simplification, but that gives you a beginning idea of SCA Heraldry color theory.
What do all of these various charges mean? What about colors?
Most of the "mythos" assigning meaning to heraldic symbols and colors is post-period for the SCA - the late Tudor era and the Victorians were a main source of this kind of thinking. Owls don't mean wisdom, foxes don't mean stealth, and lions do not mean courage.
Your device/badge should be simple to reproduce, but don't make it do the work of being your SCA resume (I am a quilter, but I don't have needles on my device or badge. Cooks don't need to have spoons on their devices. Bards don't need a harp. Fighters don't need rapiers/swords.)
For more information take a look at The Meaning of Heraldry on the Poore House website, and the preface of Heraldry for Non-Heralds by Cormac Mor.
So how do I choose charges and colors?
Take a look through some period rolls of arms (here, or here) and find a few charges that you like. Choose a few colors that interest you - one out of the metals (argent and Or, which is silver and gold) and two out of the colors (red, blue, black, and very sparingly found in-period, green and purple.) Then talk to a herald about ways that they can be combined to make a design unique to you.
Please remember flexibility! In order to make a design that's unique, you may have to work with a herald to move things around, choose secondary charges, or secondary colors.
Hey wait - what's the difference between a device and a badge?
You can only have one main "device", but you may have up to 5 other alternate devices or badges.
Your device indicates "I am here" or "this is me". You should use it for your banners and for your own personal tabard or shield. Hanging a banner in your campsite with your device on it is a ceremonial statement of "I am present in this area." If you want to observe strictest ceremony, you would take down your banner when you leave camp, and put it back up when you return. Your device should never be worn by anyone else, not even family, except maybe a herald who is speaking on your behalf.
Your badge indicates, "this is affiliated with me". You can use it on favors to mark members of your household, you can use it to label your personal belongings, your pets, your vehicle... the uses of your badge are endless.
Lord Michael FitzGeoffrey presented a talk on the differences between badges and devices at the An Tir Kingdom Heraldic and Scribal Symposium in 2014, which you can read for more detail.
How long does it take?
On average, the submission process takes between 6 and 9 months, depending on when you submit your registration form(s). Pennsic always results in a very large batch of submissions for the East Kingdom, which adds extra time to items submitted between August and November. The first month after submission is spent in kingdom-level review by area heralds as a group. The next few months are spent in society-level review by society-wide heralds. The last few months are spent in Laurel-level final review.
Holidays, large SCA events, and Real Life Events (tm) can and often do extend the submission process.
How does it work?
With the assistance of a herald, you can prepare documentation for your chosen name. You can also get help with your armory design to make sure that your images are registrable with the College (we have archives of images to work from, and rules to help us with new items), and are arranged in a fashion that is reasonably in-period. Your herald then helps you check your name and/or armory to make sure that it is unique enough and does not conflict with already-registered items. Finally, your herald will help you fill out the forms to get them ready for submission.
Wait, what's "conflict"?
Conflict is the term that heralds use for when a proposed name or device is too close to a name or device already registered. When a conflict is found with what you propose to submit, your herald will work with you to adjust your ideas to make your submission more unique to you. For names that can include adding a phrase or changing a spelling, and for devices it may include re-arranging the images, adding or removing images, or suggesting alternatives for color.
It's important to have some ideas in mind for what you want for a name or device, but it's also important to have some flexibility to make adjustments as necessary.
Where do I submit my forms, and how much does it cost?
Local heralds cannot accept payment, so you will be mailing your fee ($9 for new names or new armory, other fees vary) to the Eastern Kingdom Submissions Herald. The forms, mailing info, and some tips are found on the Blue Tyger Herald's website.
Okay, I've submitted. How do I find out if my item passes?
First, your device has to go through review in-Kingdom, which is an internal process. But you will receive an email in about 1-2 months to tell you that your device has either passed Kingdom review and been sent onward, or is being returned to you (with reasons explained.)
After that, keep an eye out on the Submission Status page of OSCAR, the system used for heralds to review and comment on new devices and names. You will see it as it passes through each stage (use ctrl-F to search for your own name on the page, which is rather lengthy.) And your herald can always check on your item(s) and let you know how they are proceeding.
When your item(s) are finally decided on, they will appear on a monthly Letter of Acceptances and Returns, published by Laurel and found on the SCA Heraldry website.
So what do I do now?
Please feel free to contact me for help with your name or device (muirenn.heraldry@gmail.com), or use the EK Ask a Herald form to be assigned a herald. We will help you through all of the stages - research and documentation of a name, design of a device, conflict checking and any necessary adjustments, and getting your forms ready to send in.
Designing armory
EK College of Heralds
Conflict resources