Society for Creative Anachronism
College of Arms

103 E. 30th St. Bldg 1 Apt 203
Austin, TX 78705
+1 512 942 7005
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For the April 2015 special meetings, printed April 5, 2015

To all the College of Arms and all others who may read this missive, from Andrewe Laurel, Lillia Pelican, and Brunissende Wreath, greetings.

This special April decision meeting was held on April 1, 2015 to consider the letter of intent from Laurel dated February 2, 2015. All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Tuesday, March 31, 2015.

By consensus, the Board permitted Laurel to waive the College of Arms Administrative Handbook section VIII.A, Scheduling Submissions, in order to consider this letter early.

* From Laurel: Order of Defense

The Order of Defense will be opened on May 1, 2015. This is the first peerage created since 1972. Registration and protection of regalia for peerage orders was formalized in 1982. Since that time the submissions process has become standardized and documented. As no new peerage orders were submitted until this year, the submissions process did not include a formal procedure for the submission of items for new peerage orders.

To ensure that the items submitted for this peerage received the input, review, and consideration standard for all submissions, calls for comments were issued when the Additional Peerage Exploratory Committee (APEC) and Additional Peerage Review Committee (APRC) reports were released. The Board of Directors submitted these items to Laurel after their February conference call meeting. These items were included in a Letter of Intent issued by Laurel on February 2, 2015, which began the official College of Arms commentary period for these items.

In consultation with and by direction of the Board, Laurel suspended the provisions of the Administrative Handbook VIII.A related to the scheduling of Letters of Intent in order that these items could be considered and ruled on before members were inducted into this peerage. Due to the timing of the Letter of Intent containing these items, the sole effect of waiving this provision was to reduce the commentary period for these items by a single day. The College of Arms commentary period covers two months after a Letter of Intent is issued. As most Letters of Intent are issued at the end of a month, the commentary period usually averages two months and a day or so more. A Letter of Intent issued on February 1st is counted as a January Letter of Intent for the purposes of the College of Arms commentary period and commentary closes for January Letters of Intent on March 31st. Thus the commentary period was only one day shorter than it would have been if the it had been issued on February 1st.

We would like to thank everyone for the diverse commentary received on these important items during both the calls for comments and the College of Arms commentary period. Commentary is critical to providing due consideration for all submissions and to maintaining balances in our submissions process. Several concerns were voiced in commentary and are addressed in the rulings on these items. As the last peerage creation predates our formalized rules systems, we have little precedent that fully applies to these situation. This made the commentary provided that much more critical as we were largely working without a road map in these decisions. In this exceptional case, we strove to apply the rules in good fashion while preserving the ability to add additional peerage items both fairly and without infringing upon the registered names and armory of individuals and groups. We believe that these rulings are the best compromise between the structure of The Standards for Evaluation of Names and Armory and the spirit of the Society in recognizing excellence.

The Sovereigns would like to offer our thanks not only to all of those who gave comments, but also to those heralds who have assisted with the accelerated timeline of making these items available for consideration: Non Scripta, Temperaunce, Aldyrne, Palimpsest, and Ogress. Without their hard work, we would not have been able to meet the timeline requested by the Board.

* From Laurel: On the style for members of the Order of Defense

In her ruling on the order name, Pelican wrote:

"We must note that this order name is deliberately reminiscent of the historical Company of the Masters of Defence (commonly known as the London Masters of Defence). The phrase, Master of Defence, is also found in the writings of Jean-Pierre Camus: "An excellent Master of defence, with whom no man will fight..for feare of his dexterity" (1639 English translation, OED). We can think of no better description for companions of this new order."

We note the following acceptable styles for members of the Order: X, Master of the Order of Defense, and X, Master of Defense. On the question of post-nomial abbreviations (the practice of putting initials for awards behind one's name), we decline to specify an abbreviation as this practice is post-period.

* From Laurel: Comments sought

1) During the commentary period for the badge of the Order of Defense, there was some concern about appropriately protecting the badge from presumption.

Under SENA we protect from presumption both charges (a pelican in its piety, a white belt) and motifs (two straight trumpets in saltire). We ask the College whether the motif utilized in the badge for the Order of Defense should be protected from presumption.

2) With the exception of the Order of the Laurel, members of peerage orders may register motifs restricted to their orders as part of their armory. We request discussion of whether the motif for the Order of Defense should be registerable in the armory of members of the Order. Is this ability something the members of the order would desire? Though it is a practice in the Society (the popularity of which varies by kingdom) it is not a period practice. We would invite members of this order to voice their thoughts on this issue. We again thank the members of the Order of the Laurel for their contributions to the discussion of this issue for their order in 2008. It was incredibly helpful and insightful. Any member of the Order of Defense who wishes to provide commentary for consideration may send it via their kingdom's Principal Herald who will post it to the commentary area within OSCAR.

Comments will be solicited following the release of this LoAR, and will be open until August 31, 2015.

* From Laurel: Additional Badges for the Order of Defense

During the commentary period, it was noted that some of the announced but not-yet-inducted members of the Order had voiced a desire for additional or different badge options.

We very much respect the ability of each Order to define themselves, and acknowledge that new members may have a very different idea of what they would like to see as badges and regalia for their order. While Laurel has the authority to fully regulate regalia for the peerage orders, the Society itself is the owner of any badges for Society-wide offices and orders. Thus, any new submissions for any peerage order would need to be submitted by the Board acting on behalf of the Society. Such submissions would include any item to be registered for use by that peerage including (but not limited to) additional badges, modifications to current badges, or release of current badges.

Given this structure, Laurel advises that once the Order of Defense is sufficiently birthed in each kingdom, the membership of the Order should propose any new armory to the Board of Directors for submission to Laurel. We remind the Order members that such armory must be clear of conflict and otherwise registerable.

* Send What to Whom

Letters of Intent, Comment, Response, Correction, et cetera are to be posted to the OSCAR online system. No paper copies need be sent. All submission forms plus documentation, including petitions, must be posted to the OSCAR online system. While black-and-white emblazons must be included in the Letter of Intent, only colored armory forms need to be posted in the forms area.

Cheques or money orders for submissions, payable to "SCA Inc.-College of Arms" are to be sent to David Duggar, 1705 Holiday Place, Bossier City, LA 71112.

Send roster changes and corrections to Laurel. College of Arms members may also request a copy of the current roster from Laurel.

For a paper copy of a LoAR, please contact Laurel, at the address above. The cost for one LoAR is $3. Please make all checks or money orders payable to "SCA Inc.-College of Arms". The electronic copy of the LoAR is available free of charge. To subscribe to the mailings of the electronic copy, please see the bottom of http://heraldry.sca.org/heraldry/lists.html#lists for more instructions.

For all administrative matters, please contact Laurel.

Pray know that I remain,

In service,

Andrewe Bawldwyn
Laurel Principal King of Arms


Created at 2015-04-05T14:15:16