To all the College of Arms and all others who may read this missive, from Birgitta Laurel, Sara Pelican, and Iago Wreath, greetings.

This special April letter contains the final decisions of the peerage-related items from the letters of intent from Laurel dated August 15, November 30, and December 10, 2024. These items had all gone through the full commentary cycle and been pended until this letter.

* From Laurel: Order of the Mark

Writs for the Order of the Mark will be issued on or after May 1, with the first elevations to take place on or after June 7, 2025.

On June 5 last year, the Board of Directors approved a new peerage for ranged martial arts and directed Laurel Queen of Arms to start the process for devising and registering a name and armory for the order. Names proposed over the course of the summer and autumn were submitted to the registration process on three separate Letters of Intent; decisions on them were pended until the Board made their selection at their quarterly meeting on April 12.

We would like to thank the working group that devoted their efforts to proposing names and insignia for the incipient Order. Furthermore, we thank everyone for the 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. 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.

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

We note the following acceptable styles for members of the Order: X, Master / Mistress / Companion (or equivalent) of the Order of the Mark, and X, Master / Mistress / Companion (or equivalent) of the Mark. On the question of post-nominal abbreviations (the practice of putting initials for awards behind one's name), we decline to specify an abbreviation as this is not a period practice. We wish to use this opportunity to remind everyone that all other abbreviations for Society honours are similarly unofficial.

* From Laurel: Reserving the Badge of the Order

We traditionally protect badges of Peerage Orders from presumption to the extent that only members of the order may register a reserved motif as part of their armory; the only exception to this is the Order of the Laurel, as laurel wreaths are reserved for Society branches. Continuing this tradition, using the badge of the Order of the Mark will be reserved for members of the order.

* From Laurel: Additional Insignia for Peerage Orders

We respect the ability of each Peerage Order to define themselves and acknowledge that new members may have different ideas of what they would like to see as badges and regalia for their order, subject to the general rules regarding our heraldic registrations. In the past the Order of Defence has taken this route, and one of their suggestions was accepted while another was rejected due to conflict. A similar process is available for all Peerage Orders: proposals regarding badges and regalia of peerage orders will be considered in the same manner as other heraldic submissions, as long as support of the order in question can be obtained in writing from a majority of kingdoms, subject to eventual Board approval.

* 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 uploaded to the OSCAR packet for that letter. For armory, only colored forms are required.

Cheques or money orders for submissions, payable to "SCA Inc.-College of Arms" are to be sent to Trent Le Clair, 928 Frazier Dr, Walla Walla, WA 99362.

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

To subscribe to the mailings of the LoAR, please see the bottom of https://heraldry.sca.org/heraldry/lists.html#lists for more instructions.

For all administrative matters, please contact Laurel.

Be assured that I remain

In service

Birgitta Lulli
Laurel Queen of Arms

Created at 2025-04-30T18:14:31