Heraldry

Heraldry is an important part of creating the feel of a medieval environment within the SCA. Banners waving in the wind or hanging on walls, heraldic devices decorating clothing and other personal possessions, and shields and tabards used to identify armed combatants provide a colorful setting for our events. Heraldry is also used to identify a particular person's role in the SCA, whether as royalty or simply as an officer. Heraldry also involves choosing and registering unique names that could have (but didn't) exist in the Middle ages or Renaissance. The Laurel Sovereign Arms coordinates the registration of names and devices for all the kingdoms, to make sure everyone adheres to the same standards and that there are not conflicts.

Heralds also generally maintain the Order of Precedence, a listing of all the awards individuals have received by date. They keep track of appropriate protocol, including what titles should be used and what types of restrictions there are on clothing and jewelry (called sumptuary laws). (Some items are restricted to certain individuals, particularly crowns and wide metal circlets, as well as gold chains). In lieu of specially designated individuals, Heralds are also responsible for keeping track of the history of the groups.

Interested in learning more? Contact person is the herald.

Return home

---

Shire Armorial
Awards Received by Shire Inhabitants

Names:
Choosing a Name
Medieval naming guides
Online Catasto of 1427 -- Searchable tax data for the city of Florence,  1427-9.

 

Arms/Devices in the SCA:
About SCA heraldry
Search the SCA armorial

Badges in the SCA
 

General SCA Heraldry Sites
Kingdom of Calontir College of Heralds
SCA Inc Heraldry links
Laurel Sovereign of Arms Education Page
Academy of St. Gabriel's

Modar's Heraldry Page

 

Non-SCA Heraldry sources:
The Zurich Roll of Arms -- Die Wappenrolle von Zürich - the oldest surviving original of a roll of arms, dated to ca. 1340

Heraldic Times -- A blog about heraldry

European Rolls of Arms of the Thirteenth Century

 

Awards:
Explanation of awards in the SCA by Mistress Jessa d'Avondale
Living in the SCA (Why awards exist) by Herzog Thoman Shadan Secarius
Calontir Order of Precedence

Sumptuary laws:
Calontir Sumptuary Laws