Whether it's for personal satisfaction, for embroidering on clothing or tents, or for display on a scroll you've won, having a device or arms is a wonderful thing. There's a sense of pride and accomplishment when you or a family or household member go to an event properly emblazoned with your device. It represents you, makes you visible, and is unique to you. It's also a very "period" thing to do.
SCA heraldry rules are not always satisfying, though. There are times when they seem downright frustrating. Device rules in particular are one of the main reasons that some heralds have a bad rap as being "the guys who always say no." Believe me when I say, we really want to say yes! We'll work with you for hours on end, trying to find a modification to your ideas to make them fit within our rules and without conflicting with someone else's device. We are uplifted whenever we see someone's device pass and become registered, knowing that we helped with the loving creation of it.
Part of the problem that heraldry in the SCA has, is that our Society covers a period of time that existed long before heraldry did. When we're talking about creating arms for someone who's persona lived in the 6th century, we're talking about an era that hadn't even conceptualized such a thing as heraldry. How do we make those early cultures such as early Brits, Celts, Picts, the early Byzantines and Romans, the Vikings, fit into current heraldry rules for our own Society?
The first thing we really should do is wrap our minds around the idea that the SCA is a "country" all on its own. Each country throughout the "heraldry years" had their own style. They differed greatly depending on the time and place you were looking at. Heraldry from medieval Germany often includes black and red (sable and gules in heraldic language) together, but other cultures such as France considered it to be lacking in contrast and so did not allow it. We, the Society for Creative Anachronisms, have created our own heraldry, and it is unique to our Society, just as German or French heraldry is unique to their countries.
From an historical standpoint, think of it like this: If a very late period Viking type person came to live in England or France, and made a name for themselves and were granted arms by the ruler of that place, they would be required to match their heraldry choices to what was allowed in the place they were registering them. So that late period Viking type would be able to use ravens, sure, and gyronny of 8. They might have been allowed to use an "overhead" (migrant in heraldic speech) view of the raven, or maybe not. They definitely wouldn't have been permitted to use the same raven design as Duke So-and-So in Northumbria, though.
If you're the type who has a persona dead center of the "heraldry years", you can skip the above, and just move on. *chuckle*
How do you actually choose your device? There are a lot of great guides out there, and I'm not trying to replace them. At a very basic level, look at your persona, and at yourself, and see what colors and symbols are important to you. Try and limit yourself to one or two colors and one or two symbols at most, because heraldry really isn't meant to be complicated when displayed. The idea of it is to be able to identify a particular fighter across a battlefield by his device alone. Keep that in mind when choosing your design elements!
As an example, I originally picked an owl, blue and gold, and a key. I was thinking that perhaps I could have the owl striking down onto the key, in a dramatic silhouette. Simple silhouettes aren't allowed in heraldry, however, so that idea was nixed. Then I thought about doing a proper medieval owl, but after looking at them and trying a dozen different combinations, I decided that wasn't working for me, either. On top of everything else, owls didn't really hold a strong association to wisdom or learning in Viking era culture. Owls were definitely out.
I then looked at hawks, and found what I was after. Hawks can come in a variety of colors in nature, and heraldically, can be pretty much any color. Being a Viking, I figured I might try an gyronny of eight on the field of my device, but our rules state you can't put a charge (a picture) on top of a gyronny of eight or more. I tried looking at quarterly (the field cut into four pieces up-down, and across) and saltire (a big X), but really did not like the visuals. I then tried it with a bend, and liked it, a lot. Visually speaking, I couldn't have a brown hawk, so I went with Or (gold or yellow). I made my field two colors, blue and red, because a "metal" (Or or argent) can only be placed on a "color" (azure, gules, purpure, vert, or sable, which are, in order, blue, red, purple, green, and black), and because the Vikings tended to use red and blue a lot on their shields when a'viking. My last addition to the device was the small horn that the hawk is holding in its claws, a hint of my enjoyment of mead and my Viking nature, but also a "cant" (play on words/visual joke/pun of sorts) about my coffee mug for events, which is a Goat Mug (looking remarkably like a drinking horn).
A slight side mention of heraldic canting is necessary here. Canting is a great way of coming up with ideas for your device! Essentially, a cant is a visual pun of some sort, usually obvious within context. Medieval heraldic cants sometimes aren't obvious to us, but only because we don't live in their time period and place. If you were to see them in context, you'd either be groaning, rolling your eyes, or giggling. It made you memorable, because people remember puns and jokes as a rule. For more information on canting, please check out the Heraldry 300 site.
The most basic rules for heraldry in the SCA are these:
And that's the important part. While not all Kingdoms require the populace to consult with a herald before submitting a device (or name), it's always a good idea to do so. If you're not sure who your local herald is, go to www.sca.org and look up your Kingdom, then go to the Kingdom website, and look for a list of the Kingdom officers. This should allow you to look up the herald in charge of your area. While it might seem like a hassle, I guarantee you that there will be a herald who is more than happy to help you with the creation and submission of your device. Just as some people enjoy fighting and others enjoy archery, we enjoy putzing around with devices and names!
If you happen to be in the Barony of Stonemarche, which is mundanely known as New Hampshire, then the Granite Pursuviant Herald (the principle herald for the Barony) is Lord Daithi Dubh, and he can be contacted at [email protected]. You can reach me at [email protected], as well!
SCA heraldry rules are not always satisfying, though. There are times when they seem downright frustrating. Device rules in particular are one of the main reasons that some heralds have a bad rap as being "the guys who always say no." Believe me when I say, we really want to say yes! We'll work with you for hours on end, trying to find a modification to your ideas to make them fit within our rules and without conflicting with someone else's device. We are uplifted whenever we see someone's device pass and become registered, knowing that we helped with the loving creation of it.
Part of the problem that heraldry in the SCA has, is that our Society covers a period of time that existed long before heraldry did. When we're talking about creating arms for someone who's persona lived in the 6th century, we're talking about an era that hadn't even conceptualized such a thing as heraldry. How do we make those early cultures such as early Brits, Celts, Picts, the early Byzantines and Romans, the Vikings, fit into current heraldry rules for our own Society?
The first thing we really should do is wrap our minds around the idea that the SCA is a "country" all on its own. Each country throughout the "heraldry years" had their own style. They differed greatly depending on the time and place you were looking at. Heraldry from medieval Germany often includes black and red (sable and gules in heraldic language) together, but other cultures such as France considered it to be lacking in contrast and so did not allow it. We, the Society for Creative Anachronisms, have created our own heraldry, and it is unique to our Society, just as German or French heraldry is unique to their countries.
From an historical standpoint, think of it like this: If a very late period Viking type person came to live in England or France, and made a name for themselves and were granted arms by the ruler of that place, they would be required to match their heraldry choices to what was allowed in the place they were registering them. So that late period Viking type would be able to use ravens, sure, and gyronny of 8. They might have been allowed to use an "overhead" (migrant in heraldic speech) view of the raven, or maybe not. They definitely wouldn't have been permitted to use the same raven design as Duke So-and-So in Northumbria, though.
If you're the type who has a persona dead center of the "heraldry years", you can skip the above, and just move on. *chuckle*
How do you actually choose your device? There are a lot of great guides out there, and I'm not trying to replace them. At a very basic level, look at your persona, and at yourself, and see what colors and symbols are important to you. Try and limit yourself to one or two colors and one or two symbols at most, because heraldry really isn't meant to be complicated when displayed. The idea of it is to be able to identify a particular fighter across a battlefield by his device alone. Keep that in mind when choosing your design elements!
As an example, I originally picked an owl, blue and gold, and a key. I was thinking that perhaps I could have the owl striking down onto the key, in a dramatic silhouette. Simple silhouettes aren't allowed in heraldry, however, so that idea was nixed. Then I thought about doing a proper medieval owl, but after looking at them and trying a dozen different combinations, I decided that wasn't working for me, either. On top of everything else, owls didn't really hold a strong association to wisdom or learning in Viking era culture. Owls were definitely out.
I then looked at hawks, and found what I was after. Hawks can come in a variety of colors in nature, and heraldically, can be pretty much any color. Being a Viking, I figured I might try an gyronny of eight on the field of my device, but our rules state you can't put a charge (a picture) on top of a gyronny of eight or more. I tried looking at quarterly (the field cut into four pieces up-down, and across) and saltire (a big X), but really did not like the visuals. I then tried it with a bend, and liked it, a lot. Visually speaking, I couldn't have a brown hawk, so I went with Or (gold or yellow). I made my field two colors, blue and red, because a "metal" (Or or argent) can only be placed on a "color" (azure, gules, purpure, vert, or sable, which are, in order, blue, red, purple, green, and black), and because the Vikings tended to use red and blue a lot on their shields when a'viking. My last addition to the device was the small horn that the hawk is holding in its claws, a hint of my enjoyment of mead and my Viking nature, but also a "cant" (play on words/visual joke/pun of sorts) about my coffee mug for events, which is a Goat Mug (looking remarkably like a drinking horn).
A slight side mention of heraldic canting is necessary here. Canting is a great way of coming up with ideas for your device! Essentially, a cant is a visual pun of some sort, usually obvious within context. Medieval heraldic cants sometimes aren't obvious to us, but only because we don't live in their time period and place. If you were to see them in context, you'd either be groaning, rolling your eyes, or giggling. It made you memorable, because people remember puns and jokes as a rule. For more information on canting, please check out the Heraldry 300 site.
The most basic rules for heraldry in the SCA are these:
- you may not put a color on a color or a metal on a metal
- don't make your device "slot machine" (three or more different images in the same "layer" of your device)
- simple is much better than complex (rule of thumb, every item and color on your device is "one point" of complexity, and we generally don't allow a complexity count of more than eight)
- draw your images (or copy and paste them) in medieval style
- don't make it too much of a "picture" because that just wasn't done in medieval times
- if you're using complex lines of division (bumps or castle crenelations or waves or rays, for instance), make them Big and Beautiful, because that's how they did it during our period.
And that's the important part. While not all Kingdoms require the populace to consult with a herald before submitting a device (or name), it's always a good idea to do so. If you're not sure who your local herald is, go to www.sca.org and look up your Kingdom, then go to the Kingdom website, and look for a list of the Kingdom officers. This should allow you to look up the herald in charge of your area. While it might seem like a hassle, I guarantee you that there will be a herald who is more than happy to help you with the creation and submission of your device. Just as some people enjoy fighting and others enjoy archery, we enjoy putzing around with devices and names!
If you happen to be in the Barony of Stonemarche, which is mundanely known as New Hampshire, then the Granite Pursuviant Herald (the principle herald for the Barony) is Lord Daithi Dubh, and he can be contacted at [email protected]. You can reach me at [email protected], as well!