The Standards for Evaluation of Names and Armory - SCA Heraldry

A. ArmoryThe Standards for Evaluation of Names and Armory:The Rules for SubmissionsArmorial submissions fit into four categories: primary armory, fielded badges, fieldless badges, andaugmentations of honor. The first two follow identical rules and are just administrative categories. Primaryarmory refers to the single main armorial device for an individual or branch. Fielded badges are similarsecondary items; they may function as badges or as devices for alternate personas. Fieldless badges, which can bedisplayed on any background, are more typical of period badges. They have some special rules for style andconflict, discussed in the relevant sections. Augmentations of honor are additions to existing pieces of primaryarmory to reflect an honor bestowed by the Crown of an individual kingdom. See A.3 for discussion of the ruleswhich apply specifically to augmentations of arms. There is no separation between personal armory and nonpersonalarmory for style, conflict or presumption. The Ordinary and Armorial contains some other types ofitems, such as flags of important non-SCA entities; these are also considered armory for the purposes of conflictand presumption.To be registered, an armorial submission must meet the following standards:- The armorial elements, charge groups, and overall design must be compatible with period style. Thatmeans demonstrating that it follows the rules in A.2 and A.3 or the rules in A.4. A.1 explains how todo this in more detail.- The armory must be free of conflict and presumption as described in A.5 and A.6.- The armory must not be offensive as described in A.7.A.1. Armory Style PrinciplesA. Definitions of Rule Sets: We require an armorial submission to be compatible with period armorial contentand style. We consider a design that follows attested patterns for armorial content and style within our periodto meet this requirement. There are two ways to follow attested patterns:1. Core Style Rules: Designs that follow the Core Style rules in A.2 and A.3 below meet this requirement.These sections comprise our core style. Our core style is not identical to the style of any single specificplace and time, although it is based on the dominant style in medieval Western Europe, the Anglo-Normanstyle.Some of those rules require documentation of an element, demonstrating that it is attested or constructed. Insome cases, these rules or the Appendices are sufficient documentation. For example, a submitter mightdemonstrate that a plant was known to period Europeans.Submissions that are documented under the Core Style rules are allowed to have a single step from periodpractice, sometimes denoted as SFPP. In older rulings this same concept was described as a weirdness. Astep from period practice is an element not found in period, core style armory that we nonetheless allow.Some types of elements which are designated as a step from period practice are mentioned in the style rules.In addition, a partial list of elements that are a step from period practice is found in Appendix F. Anyarmorial submissions with more than one step from period practice will not be registered under the CoreStyle rules.2. Individually Attested Patterns: Designs which follow period examples but do not fall within the corestyle rules in A.2 and A.3 may instead meet the style standards of the Individually Attested Pattern rules asexplained in A.4.Under the Individually Attested Pattern rules, all elements (including charges, arrangement, complexity,Standards for Evaluation of Names and Armory – April 29, 2012 - Page 35 of 73