Laurel Letter of Pends and Discussion (LoPaD): December 29, 2003

To all the College of Arms and all others who may read this missive, from François Laurel, Zenobia Wreath, and Mari Pelican, greetings.

This letter contains the issues raised in the September 2003 LoAR for CoA discussion. The text in this letter is copied verbatim from that LoAR; it is provided here for convenience. As with a July LoI, these matters are currently scheduled for the Laurel meetings in APRIL 2004. Original commentary must be in the College's hands no later than February 29, 2004. Responses and rebuttals to commentary must be in the College's hands no later than March 31,2004.

1. Leifr Hrólfsson and Lucia de la Valette. Badge. (Fieldless) A Maltese cross gules within and conjoined to an annulet sable charged with the words "Antiquity Camaradery Generosity" argent.

   The Maltese cross is gules, but this was not mentioned in the blazon. As a result, the cross was believed to be sable, not gules. As a result this needs to be pended for further conflict research.

   While this is being pended, we need further research and commentary on the words on the annulet as well. The Oxford English Dictionary does not date the spellings of any of these words exactly as cited, with a terminal "y." The dated spellings of "antiquity" and "generosity" end in an "e" or an "ie", with the "e" spelling in the 15th C and the "ie" spelling in the 16th C. The Oxford English Dictionary does not give any spelling of the word "camaradery" with a date before the 1800s. The word derives from the French. The French word camaraderie in Dauzat etc.'s Dictionnaire Etymologique et Historique du Francais is not dated earlier than 1671. Thus, there are some questions concerning the propriety of these words on the annulet. In general, we would like to see discussion from the College on what text should be considered acceptable for use in armory: should it be within the usual range of spelling for that language? Should a phrase in a motto be allowed to mix languages? Does the motto need to make sense?

Pray know that I remain

In service

François la Flamme
Laurel Principal King of Arms

Created at 2004-01-13T22:00:10