Society for Creative Anachronism
College of Arms
For the December 2025 meetings, printed February 17, 2026
To all the College of Arms and all others who may read this missive, from Birgitta Laurel, Sara Pelican, Iago Wreath (outgoing), and Ollivier Wreath (incoming), greetings.
This month marks the first of a three-month transition in Wreath decisions. This month's armory decisions for the kingdoms of Æthelmearc, An Tir, and Atenveldt were made by Ollivier. Decisions for other kingdoms were made by Iago.
For those considering bidding on the 2027 Known World Heraldic and Scribal Symposia, the deadline to have your bid entered into OSCAR is June 1, 2026. This deadline may be extended as needed, but we would prefer to be able to announce the bids' award sooner rather than later. We are asking for bids for both a New Year symposium in January and a Mid-Year symposium around June or July. Given the difficulty of travel, bids for virtual symposia are welcome for both of these, although bids for the Mid-Year symposium may opt for an in-person one if that seems feasible.
Please remember that bids posted to OSCAR are publicly readable. Because of this, any personal information, such as legal names, addresses, phone numbers, and email, should not be included in these bids without signed written permission. Such information as is necessary for the entire College of Arms to see should be posted as a comment after the bid is finalized; any identifying information that the Sovereigns might need should be included as a Sovereign Note.
Please send a copy of the full unredacted bid to Laurel at [email protected].
As a reminder, there is a KWHSS domain and web hosting space available on the SCA's servers. Please do not register a new domain.
There is some information available at https://heraldry.sca.org/kwhss/. You are, of course, welcome to contact Laurel with any questions.
Palimpsest's September 23rd Rules Letter proposed to modify section IV.G of the Administrative Handbook, Heraldic Wills, to clarify that an heir may grant permission to conflict or release armory even if they are not able (or willing) to accept the transfer. This proposal is accepted pending Board approval; the revised text will be available in the online version of the Administrative Handbook about a week after the April 2026 Board of Directors meeting.
On the September 20th Letter of Pends and Discussion, we considered the question of adding protected names to the O&A. After much discussion, and with full awareness of the complexity around the issue for searching for conflicts with protected names that are not listed in the O&A, we are, at this time, opting not to put all protected names into the O&A. The reasons for this are many, including that whether a name is protected or not may change over time. At this time, we are working on pulling together a multi-pronged approach to help submitters and submission heralds find the relevant information. In the meantime, the easiest way to search for whether a name is protected, is to search the LoAR archives, much as when looking for a precedent. To search for a relevant precedent, the LoAR search page, found here https://heraldry.sca.org/searches/loar.html, is a useful start.
This month, we were asked to consider the given name Galeon. However, this was not documented as a given name, but rather as a surname dated to 1507. We currently only allow surnames to be used as given names when documented from the second half of the 16th century and into the 17th century. Commenters including Elisabetta Makejoye and Iago Wreath were able to find instances of what appeared to be surnames being used as given names prior to 1550 including, Weston Beamve (1540), Wilton Warde (1545), Alford Clapp (1546), Jenson Hosegood(1546), Tomlinson Budd (1546), and Tenison Garford (1547). However, further examples and patterns are needed prior to making any rulings. To that end, we are opening a Letter of Pends and Discussion to gather more information to determine when this phenomenon was first documented, and what kind of surnames were used as given names in period.
As proposed on Palimpsest's September 23rd Rules Letter, SENA A3D2c is revised to allow non-identical charges with comparable postures (such as owls and ravens) to be in different postures when those postures are less than a DC apart. These differences include changes in head or leg postures. The revised wording will be available at https://heraldry.sca.org/sena.html#A3D2c within a few days.
With some slight modifications, the proposal in Palimpsest's September 23rd Rules Letter is approved. This clarifies the wording of SENA Appendix I1, Primary Charge Group, that just because a charge crosses the line of division, it is not necessarily the primary charge. The revised wording will be available at https://heraldry.sca.org/sena.html#AppendixI1 within a few days.
As proposed on Palimpsest's September 23rd Rules Letter, SENA NPN1B2, Order and Award Designators, is revised to clarify when the language of an article or preposition must match the designator and when it must match the substantive element. The revised wording will be available at https://heraldry.sca.org/sena.html#NPN1B2 within a few days.
Palimpsest's September 23rd Rules Letter proposed two revisions to SENA NPN1C2g, The Existing Registration Allowance (ERA); both are accepted. The first allows for necessary grammatical changes to place a name phrase in the genitive case, while the second clarifies when a branch must have permission from a member (or their heir) to incorporate a name phrase under the Existing Registration Allowance. The revised wording will be available at https://heraldry.sca.org/sena.html#NPN1C2g within a few days.
On January 11, 2026, at Atlantian 12th Night, Athos and Alianora, King and Queen of Atlantia, awarded Gisela vom Kreuzbach an Augmentation of Arms for her service as Triton Principle Herald.
On February 7, 2026, Rhiannon Morgaine, Triton Principal Herald, with the blessing of Athos and Alienora, King and Queen of Atlantia, created Dame Alexandria Wright a Herald Extraordinary.
Likewise on February 7, at the sign of the Dancing Fox XXVI, Donovan and Meghanta, King and Queen of the East, elevated Lilie Dubh inghean uí Mórdha, Howlat Herald Extraordinary, to the Order of the Pelican for their long service to the heraldic community.
At the same event, the Crown of the East named Thyra Eiriksdottir, Brigantia Principal Herald emerita, a Tyger of the East.
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 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: Æthelmearc (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.
The February Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, February 21, 2026 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, February 7, 2026. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Ansteorra (31 Oct, 2025) (pushed due to incomplete packet), Calontir (03 Nov, 2025), Atlantia (09 Nov, 2025), Gleann Abhann (09 Nov, 2025), An Tir (11 Nov, 2025), Caid (11 Nov, 2025), Laurel LoPaD (19 Nov, 2025), Artemisia (23 Nov, 2025), Avacal (23 Nov, 2025), Palimpsest Rules Letter (24 Nov, 2025), An Tir LoItUP (25 Nov, 2025), Outlands (25 Nov, 2025), Laurel LoPaD (27 Nov, 2025), Ansteorra (30 Nov, 2025), Atenveldt (30 Nov, 2025), Caid (30 Nov, 2025), Drachenwald (30 Nov, 2025), Ealdormere (30 Nov, 2025), East (30 Nov, 2025), Gleann Abhann (30 Nov, 2025), Lochac (30 Nov, 2025), Middle (30 Nov, 2025), West (30 Nov, 2025), Laurel LoPfR (30 Dec, 2025). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Saturday, January 31, 2026.
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 Tue 17 Feb 2026 06:53:47 PM CST