TIMELINE OF THE SCA COLLEGE OF ARMS

TIMELINE OF THE SCA COLLEGE OF ARMS

by Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme

Last updated 22-April-1998

May 1966 The First Tournament. Beginnings of the Society. Harold Breakstone acted as herald for the day, and for several events thereafter.
early 1967 The Society has grown to the point where its structure must be formalized: Tournaments Illuminated begins publication; offices of Earl Marshall, Lists Mistress, and Registrar are created. Beginnings of a College of Heralds, with three heralds (Harold Breakstone, Karina of the Far West, and Randall of Hightower) assuming titles of Laurel Herald, Banner Pursuivant, and Clarion Pursuivant. College acts as recorder of the names and arms assumed by SCA members.
Jan 1968 Knighthood, Mastery of Arms, and Order of the Laurel formally instituted.
July 1968 East Kingdom created. Need seen for overall heraldic authority. "National College of Heralds" created by decree of first Board of Directors, as announced in T.I. issue #9. Laurel becomes King of Arms. Basic principles of SCA heraldry laid down (e.g., 1485 cutoff)
Jan 1969 Grants of Arms, Awards of Arms, Court Baronies, and precedence of ranks established.
mid-late 1969 Middle Kingdom and Barony (soon to be Kingdom) of Atenveldt created. Dragon (Middle), Mural (East) and Aten (Aten) collect and mail submissions to Laurel for registration.
Feb 1970 Oldest existing Laurel meeting minutes: All names and devices in use up to this point considered "grandfathered" and are registered. Distinction first made between arms and devices, with separate rules for each (!). (Note that names are not registered, per se, but are simply accepted as file holder for armory.) The "Rule of Three" used for determining heraldic conflict. Green cloak designated the heralds garb of office.
May 1970 Laurel rules that all SCA branch arms must have laurel wreath; all Kingdom arms must in addition have crown. Article in T.I. describes basics of SCA heraldry (two metals, five tinctures, no stains; Rule of Three differences; &c).
late 1970 Present heraldic submission process was established, with each Principal Herald considering submissions within Kingdom, forwarding acceptable ones to Laurel, and College given 30 days to comment before Laurel decides. Names begin to be returned for conflict.
mid-1971 Board of Directors issues several directives for the heralds: 1) National College of Arms to separate from West Kingdom College; 2) Grandfather Clause instituted; 3) names of people could not be used as heraldic titles (after an attempted registration of Sequoia Herald); 4) English proclaimed as the official documentary language of the SCA.
early 1972 Laurel rules that, though the Kings give the right to arms, the College registers them and thus regulates their form (later upheld by Board). Board creates the Order of the Pelican. First Armorial & Ordinary made & maintained (in the form of a card file).
Nov 1972 Ioseph of Locksley becomes Laurel King of Arms. He begins to tackle the "large backlog" of submissions. In the next two months he rules that all heralds, throughout the Known World, are to use the crossed trumpet badge of the College; no lower offices to register badges (later extended to all officers).
June 1973 Laurel catches up on the backlog. The A&O totaled 585 names, devices, and badges.
Sept 1973 First Known World Heraldic Symposium held, in Tir Ysgithir.
late 73-early 74 Laurel once again has backlog of submissions. Iosephs last LoAR issued July 74, though he kept the office for several more months.
August 1975 Karina of the Far West becomes Laurel Queen of Arms. A&O grown to well over a thousand entries; backlog grown to several hundred.
late 1975 First edition of the Rules for Submission (as practiced in the West) codified and published in T.I. issue #37.
through 1976 Names are returned for offensiveness, overuse of fantasy, and non-period style (e.g. surnames as given names). (This had happened only rarely before; by this point it had become the most common reason for returning names. Armory was returned with the name.)
April 1977 Six-month backlog of submissions.
late 1978 The backlog having grown intolerable, the Board of Directors requests Laurels resignation. Board decrees a Great Conclave ("Heraldicon") to process the backlog in one marathon weekend, and subsidizes travel for all Kingdom and Principality Heralds to attend.
June 1979 Great Conclave held in Oakland, CA, organized by John ap Griffin and Wilhelm von Schlüssel, with Karina of the Far West presiding. She resigns her office the following month, and Wilhelm von Schlüssel becomes Laurel King of Arms. An 81-page LoAR was issued Aug 79.
Nov 1979 Laurel issues the first official edition of the Rules for Submission (later published in T.I.). Inheritance of SCA arms was instituted. Names may now be registered separately from armory.
May 1980 First volume of Precedents (of Karinas tenure) published by Baldwin of Erebor. Precedents become recognized as authoritative where Rules were silent.
October 1980 Heraldic cutoff date moved from 1485 to 1600. About this time, though 1600 remained the official end of the SCA period, names documented between 1600 and 1650 (the "grey area") were accepted case-by-case.
Feb 1981 Laurel begins the use of questionnaires to decide heraldic issues. About this time, Laurel rules that Sindarin (Elvish) is unacceptable in SCA branch names; publishes a list of SCA heraldic titles; and begins the use of demotion of points of difference.
July 1981 On Laurels advice, Board of Directors combines Knights and Masters of Arms (hitherto two orders) into a single Order of Chivalry.
Nov 1981 Laurel starts enforcement of registration of official branch name and devices.
Dec 1982 Laurel begins use of the "List of Discouraged Practices", later codified as the Rule of Two Weirdnesses.
May 1983 At the Known World Heraldic Symposium in Caer Maer, Mr John Brooke-Little, Norroy & Ulster King of Arms, was the guest speaker. He told the assembled heralds that, so long as SCA members considered their SCA armory to apply only within the SCA and not in the real world, and as long as an honest attempt was made to avoid infringement, the English College of Arms would have no objection to the registration and use of SCA arms within the Commonwealth.
July 1983 Number of badges limited to three per individual. Lightning flashes, overuse of proper, and overuse of fimbriation banned.
end of 1983 Submission rate continues to climb: 1060 submission in 1980, 1343 in 1981, 1726 in 1982, and 2067 in 1983.
early 1984 Laurel institutes the use of holding names for submissions with acceptable armory but unregisterable names.
August 1984 Baldwin of Erebor becomes Laurel King of Arms. Just before taking the job, he publishes the Precedents of Wilhelms tenure. About this time, the Board reaffirms "pre-1600 Europe" as the domain of the Society, with persons of other times and places considered visitors.
Sept 1985 Laurel establishes the rule of thumb that a group of three dissimilar charges ("slot-machine heraldry") was too complex to be registered. About this time, the LoARs began to be less timely, coming out 30-60 days after the meeting.
May 1986 College of Arms holds a meeting at the Twenty-Year Celebration in lieu of a Symposium. Laurel proposes for discussion "Baldwins Bombshell": discontinuing conflict checking against most mundane armory. It meets with mixed reviews.
July 1986 The Board of Directors adopts Baldwins Bombshell (officially the Independent Heraldic Jurisdiction, or IHJ) as official SCA policy, before any real discussion can take place within the College. It makes implementation of the policy a condition for choosing the next Laurel.
August 1986 Alisoun MacCoul of Elphane becomes Laurel Queen of Arms. About this time, Baldwins revised form of the Rules for Submission is published.
Sept 1986 Laurel begins to delegate some of the offices functions (e.g. Rules revision). A project to photocopy and distribute heraldic reference books is begun.
June 1987 Known World Heraldic Symposium held at Berkeley, CA. Full College meeting, presided by Laurel, debating the Boards directive to implement the IHJ ("Heralds go oop ack! Film at eleven"). Final upshot was statement from Laurel Ombudsman that, if the College can devise a plan that fulfills the goals of the IHJ, the Board will consider it.
July 1987 Laurel begins work on a complete revision of the Rules for Submission: intended to be derived from first principles, highly simplified in form, reducing conflict requirements.
Sept 1987 Household names are ruled to be protected against all use by individual submitters (i.e., if House Smith is registered, a later submitter cannot be John Smith).
October 1987 Complete Difference of Charge rule extended to any number of primary charges (formerly limited to three or less).
Jan 1988 Board of Directors reaffirms that Laurel, and not the Crowns of the Kingdoms, determines the forms of registered armory (in a case involving an augmentation of arms).
October 1988 By this time, LoARs are coming out 60-90 days after the meeting.
late 1988 Laurel issues a poll of the populace in T.I. Topics include household names, non-human names, and alternate persona names.
May 1989 Final draft of the new Rules for Submission distributed to the College for comments. These Rules were designed to satisfy the Board mandate, by simplifying the submission process. Results of the T.I. poll show that the populace favored the current ban on non-human names, and gave no mandate regarding alternate persona names. Based on the poll, Laurel reverses her ruling on protecting household names against individuals.
July 1989 Known World Heraldic Symposium held in Caid. Heightened feelings about the direction of the Rules discussion resulted in Wilhelm von Schlüssel moderating the Rules discussion. Later the Rules revisions process was handed to Marten Bröker. Australian flora and fauna are disallowed as charges. About this time, the newest edition of Corpora was released, with several changes of heraldic interest.
October 1989 Board of Directors accepts the new Rules for Submission (essentially the current form) in lieu of the IHJ. The new Rules to be phased into use, with a couple of Laurel meetings run under both sets to compare the number of conflicts.
April 1990 SCA Chirurgeons badge has trouble with badge of the Red Cross. Board directs the College to submit new badge. (The second time we've had trouble with this badge.)
June 1990 Daud ibn Auda becomes Laurel King of Arms. He begins a regular column in T.I. as part of his ongoing education process.
August 1990 Laurel reaffirms Colleges ban on pentacles in SCA armory. The submission is subsequently appealed to the Board of Directors, who affirm Laurels right to make the ruling.
late 90-early 91 About this time, as part of an ongoing evolution to the Rules for Submission, they undergo minor adjustments: to allow more difference for tertiary charges, to decrease name conflict, &c.
May 1991 Laurel proposes, for discussion, that the College reduce difference against mundane arms to a single change.
October 1991 Response to Laurels proposal being uniformly negative, he drops the idea.
Dec 1991 The titles Don/Doña are expanded for use by all armigers (i.e., no longer reserved to the Chivalry).
Feb 1992 Elvish names of all sorts are finally banned from the SCA. Laurel announces a rate increase beginning in July 1992.
June 1992 Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme becomes Laurel King of Arms. He begins the long-discussed archiving project (to protect the Laurel files in case of accident) by requiring an extra archive copy of each submitted emblazon. About this time, the Board of Directors considers a proposal to reorganize the three SCA peerages as Orders of Knighthood, and publishes a populace poll in T.I.
July 1992 The Board of Directors directs the College to find a way to protect members submissions against those of non-members (i.e., require membership to register arms).
Sept 1992 Due to the rate increase, this is the largest Laurel meeting since the Great Conclave.
early 1993 The Board of Directors decides not to reorganize the peerage as three Orders of Knighthood. They accept Laurels counterproposal regarding member status of submitters: only if two submissions at the same meeting would conflict, shall membership be checked. About this time, the LoARs began to be less timely, coming out 30-60 days after the meeting.
early 1993 Talan Gwynek, Laurels deputy in charge of Rules commentary, brings out a "Modest Proposal": the IHJ again, with only important mundane arms to be protected. The discussion (pro and con) proceeds over the course of several months in an orderly fashion.
October 1993 Laurel forced to resign due to mundane work conflicts. Board appoints Daud ibn Auda as new Laurel King of Arms. At the same meeting, the Board reaffirms Laurels authority over the regalia of the SCA-wide orders (e.g. Dukes, Knights, &c).
Nov 1993 In a case involving color trimounts on color fields it was ruled that specific well documented period practices might on a case by case basis be permitted to contravene the Rules for Submission.
Feb 1994 Laurel proposes that, due to the increasing workload, name submissions be handled separately from armory registrations, under a separate King of Arms.
May 1994 The section of the Rules for Submission dealing with names are completely revised, to require greater authenticity.
July 1994 Laurel decides to implement the Modest Proposal, effective Jan 1995. About this time, a tentative list of "important" arms is produced for discussion.
June 1995 Laurels warrant is renewed by the Board, with Talan Gwynek becoming Pelican King of Arms, deputy in charge of name registration. Naming standards, already increasing in the preceding months, become ever more rigorous (e.g., Gaelic/English names disallowed).
June 1996 Jaelle of Armida becomes Laurel Queen of Arms.