Society for Creative Anachronism
College of Arms
For the November 2025 meetings, printed January 29, 2026
To all the College of Arms and all others who may read this missive, from Birgitta Laurel, Sara Pelican, and Iago Wreath, greetings.
As proposed on Palimpsest's August 18th Rules Letter, SENA A3D2e, Unity of Arrangement, is modified to clarify that a divided field with strewn charges on one side of the line of division is in a unified arrangement even if the charge (or charges) on the other side of the line of division is blazoned as in chief, in base, etc. In this case, we blazon the location of the individual charge(s) to avoid the interpretation of a primary group crossing the line of division with secondary strewn charges. The revised wording will be available at https://heraldry.sca.org/sena.html#A3D2e within a few days.
Based on the August 18th Rules Letter proposal to add a new section (A6H) and commentary on the proposal, the following changes are made to SENA A6C:
The title of A6C is changed from "Claims through Arms of Pretense and Unearned Augmentations" to "Claims through Displays within an Armorial Design".
The current content of A6C has been moved to a new section A6C1, Arms of Pretense and Unearned Augmentations.
A new section, with the proposed changes, has been created - A6C2, Other Independent Displays. This section discusses how charges that were used as independent displays of armory, such as sails, banners, tabards, and barding, can be used as elements in armorial designs.
The changes to SENA A6C will be available at https://heraldry.sca.org/sena.html#A6C within a few days.
The proposal on Palimpsest's August 18th Rules Letter to incorporate examples of the cot/caught and pin/pen merger in SENA PN3C3, Substantial Changes to the Sound of a Single-Syllable Name, is accepted. We wish to remind heralds that this simply updates SENA to reflect how aural conflict is determined in practice. The changes will be available at https://heraldry.sca.org/sena.html#PN3C3 within a few days.
During discussion of this item, it became clear that a broader conversation around aural conflict is needed. This is something that we will be investigating in the future.
The proposal on the August 18th Rules Letter to revise SENA Appendix C to allow the combination of Jewish names which are documented in the same language to be combined regardless of where they are documented from is accepted with some modifications based on commentary. The revised wording will be available at https://heraldry.sca.org/sena.html#AppendixC within a few days.
As noted elsewhere on this Cover Letter, we are working on a larger update to this appendix. This includes whether or not the use of "Jewish" to describe this regional naming group is actually appropriate.
In discussing item 3, regarding changes to Appendix C, on Palimpsest's August 18th Rules Letter, it became apparent that the current approach and subsequent lingual mixes defined in that Appendix need to be redefined based on the increase in available data and understanding of the pre-1600 CE world. To that end, we are establishing a working group to firstly redefine the approach SENA takes to lingual mixes, and secondly, to define these new rules. Pelican will be hosting a roundtable at vKWHSS 2026 to discuss potential approaches with a broad audience, and to get input from the entire heraldic community. We will be working on establishing new language groups and whether they can be combined in the near future. At that point, we will put out a call for language experts who will be better placed to advise the College.
On October 25, 2025, at Samhain in the Principality of the Summits in An Tir, Their Majesties of An Tir Octamasades and Achaxe awarded Vesta Antonia Aurelia, Glyn Dwfn Pursuivant, the Wordsmith of An Tir. This is a non-armigerous award given for exceptional crafting of ceremony text.
On January 3, 2026, at 12th Night in the Barony of Caerthe, Agmundr Thorolfsson, until recently Ray de Soleil Pursuivant, was inducted into the Order of the Argent Hart, the Outlands' AoA-level award for arts and sciences, in large part for his considerable skill and artistry in voice heraldry.
Please send information about happenings to major heralds and major happenings to all heralds to Laurel, so that it can be published here.
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.
Items listed below in square brackets have not been scheduled yet. For information about future scheduling, please review the status table located on the Web at https://oscar.sca.org/index.php?action=137.
The November Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Saturday, November 22, 2025 and the Wreath meeting held on Sunday, November 23, 2025. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Trimaris (04 Aug, 2025), Calontir (05 Aug, 2025), Atlantia (06 Aug, 2025), Gleann Abhann (11 Aug, 2025), Palimpsest Rules Letter (18 Aug, 2025), East (26 Aug, 2025), Drachenwald (28 Aug, 2025), An Tir (29 Aug, 2025), Outlands (30 Aug, 2025), An Tir (31 Aug, 2025), Ansteorra (31 Aug, 2025), Artemisia (31 Aug, 2025), Atenveldt (31 Aug, 2025), Avacal (31 Aug, 2025), Ealdormere (31 Aug, 2025), Lochac (31 Aug, 2025), Middle (31 Aug, 2025), Laurel LoPfR (19 Sep, 2025), Laurel LoPfR (13 Oct, 2025). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Friday, October 31, 2025.
The December Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, December 14, 2025 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, December 13, 2025. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Ęthelmearc (25 Aug, 2025) (pushed due to incomplete packet), Meridies (01 Sep, 2025), Calontir (03 Sep, 2025), Gleann Abhann (06 Sep, 2025), Caid (07 Sep, 2025), Atlantia (09 Sep, 2025), Laurel LoPaD (20 Sep, 2025), Palimpsest Rules Letter (23 Sep, 2025), Avacal (24 Sep, 2025), Outlands (25 Sep, 2025), West (26 Sep, 2025), Atenveldt (29 Sep, 2025), Ealdormere (29 Sep, 2025), East (29 Sep, 2025), Northshield (29 Sep, 2025), An Tir (30 Sep, 2025), Drachenwald (30 Sep, 2025), Ealdormere (30 Sep, 2025), Lochac (30 Sep, 2025), Middle (30 Sep, 2025), Northshield (30 Sep, 2025). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Sunday, November 30, 2025.
The January Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, January 11, 2026 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, January 10, 2026. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Northshield (01 Oct, 2025), Calontir (04 Oct, 2025), Gleann Abhann (04 Oct, 2025), Trimaris (04 Oct, 2025), Caid (06 Oct, 2025), Atlantia (08 Oct, 2025), Meridies (10 Oct, 2025), Palimpsest Rules Letter (11 Oct, 2025), Laurel LoPaD (12 Oct, 2025), Artemisia (15 Oct, 2025), Palimpsest Rules Letter (23 Oct, 2025), Outlands (28 Oct, 2025), Ealdormere (30 Oct, 2025), An Tir (31 Oct, 2025), Atenveldt (31 Oct, 2025), Drachenwald (31 Oct, 2025), East (31 Oct, 2025), Lochac (31 Oct, 2025), Middle (31 Oct, 2025), Meridies (01 Nov, 2025), Laurel LoPfR (20 Nov, 2025). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Wednesday, December 31, 2025.
Not all letters of intent may be considered when they are originally scheduled on this cover letter. The date of posting of the LoI, date of receipt of the Laurel packet, or other factors may delay consideration of certain letters of intent. Additionally, some letters of intent received may not have been scheduled because the administrative requirements (receipt of the forms packet, receipt of the necessary fees, et cetera) have not yet been met.
REMINDER: Until all administrative requirements are met, the letter may not be scheduled.
Be assured that I remain
In service
Birgitta Lulli
Laurel Queen of Arms
Created at Thu 29 Jan 2026 05:28:34 PM CST