PRECEDENTS OF THE S.C.A. COLLEGE OF ARMS

The Tenure of Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme


T'AI CHI


The charge ...was blazoned a yin-yang on the LOI, at the submitter's insistence. The term does not appear to be correct. Yin-yang is the Chinese philosophy of opposing cosmic forces; the motif in this submission is a yin-yang symbol, according to the OED Supplement. (The submitter's own documentation refers to the motif as a "yang-yin disc".) The OED Supplement also gives t'ai chi as the name for this fusion of forces, the Supreme Ultimate --- but also as the name for the symbol of that concept. (The martial art characterized as "low- impact aerobics" on the LOI is properly called t'ai chi ch'uan.) The term t'ai-chi is correct for the motif; it's been used in previous SCA blazons; so long as we register the symbol, we will continue to so blazon it. (Randwulf the Hermit, June, 1993, pg. 2)


TOMOE (Japanese Whirlpool)


Tomoe are comma-shaped figures, used in Japanese Mon to represent a whirlpool. Mon designs may have one, two, or (most usually) three tomoe in annulo. They have no equivalent in European armory. (Hawley & Chappelear, Mon: the Japanese Family Crest, p.76) In general, Mon-like designs are acceptable in Society armory only if they can be blazoned in European heraldic terms --- as though a period Japanese, visiting Europe, were attempting to register his Mon with one of the kings of arms. Tomoe cannot be blazoned in European terms, and so cannot be considered compatible with European heraldry. This submission, though a splendid Japanese design, may not be registered in the Society. (Takeo Niro, November, 1992, pg. 15)


TOOL -- Angle


[A pair of angles fesswise interlaced in pale vs. a chevronel interlaced with another inverted] [There is a CD] for ...type of "chevronel" --- just as there's a CD between a cross (throughout) and a cross annuletted. (September, 1992, pg. 33)


TOOL -- Astrolabe


[A mariner's astrolabe] Lord Green Anchor has provided ample documentation for this form of astrolabe, dating it to c.1480. Visually, it differs from an astronomer's astrolabe in the large cutout areas (so the wind won't keep blowing it aside and make readings more difficult). Where the astronomer's astrolabe is visually a roundel with diapering, the mariner's astrolabe is visually a wheel with diapering (Vincent McThomas, October, 1992, pg. 5)


TOOL -- Embroider's Broach


The primary charge was submitted as a broach. The broach (more fully blazoned an embroiderer's broach) is a period charge, dating to 1558, in the arms of the Worshipful Company of Broderers; but it should be drawn with a pointed tip, not with the U-shaped tip drawn here. The charge drawn on the emblazon is also found in period armory in the arms of Waldstromer von Reichelsdorf (Siebmacher, plate 108); but I don't know what it's called. Rietstap blazons it simply as forche (fork), which in French can refer to almost any bifurcated artifact. Society blazonry calls the charge a handgun rest and we have so blazoned it here. (Alina Mika Kobyakovna, September, 1993, pg. 15)


TOOL -- Spindle


While the standard heraldic spindle has its weight to base by default, this submission uses a drop spindle with its weighted disk in chief. Evidently, this is a valid variety of drop spindle: usually called a "high whorl spindle", it dates from ancient Egyptian times. ( The Spinner's Encyclopedia, Enid Anderson) The term inverted drop spindle can apply either to this variety, or to an heraldic spindle inverted --- the results are equivalent, technically and visually. (Maryam al-Baghdadi, January, 1993, pg. 2)


A "rolag" is the tuft of fibres waiting to be spun into yarn. While the term is found in the Supplement to the OED , I decided it was sufficiently obscure that, barring cants or other compelling reasons, it should not be used in blazon. We've simply called the tuft a tuft. (Maryam al-Baghdadi, January, 1993, pg. 2)


TOOL -- Winch


[A winch] Since this seems to be the defining instance of a winch in SCA armory, we need some documentation of this form as a period charge or artifact. [returned for this and for being drawn in trian aspect] (Sylvia Schirenhoferin, September, 1992, pg. 42)


TREE


There is a CD between an oak tree and a pine tree. (Duncan Alaric MacDonald, July, 1992, pg. 6)


[A tree eradicated and in chief a <charge>] This is clear of [A tree blasted and eradicated]. There's a CD for the charge in chief, and a CD for the blasting of the tree. (Sileas ni Chinaid, May, 1993, pg. 4)


TRIANGLE


If a charge can be considered a medium for heraldic display, it may not bear a tertiary in a fieldless badge: such a design is interpretable as a display of arms, with the tertiary as a primary. For instance, we don't permit (fieldless) On a lozenge argent a fleur-de-lys gules: since the lozenge is a medium for heraldic display, this looks like a display of Argent, a fleur-de-lys gules. Such arms-badge confusion is reason enough for return, even if the display in question doesn't conflict. In this case, the triangle inverted must be considered such a medium, comparable to the escutcheon, lozenge, or roundel. It may be considered either an early-style shield (Neubecker's Heraldry: Sources, Symbols and Meanings, p.76), or a lance-pennon [returned for this reason and also because the armory obtained by considering the badge displayed on a triangular shield was in conflict]. (Barony of Dragonsspine, March, 1993, pg. 25)


TRISKELION


[A triskelion of scythes within an annulet] According to Lord Pale (now Lord Dragon), this motif --- essentially a triskelion gammadion within an annulet --- is the logo of the Afrikaaner Weerstandsbeweging, a pro-apartheid white supremacist group in South Africa. The triskelion gammadion has been used by white supremacists before this: it was the ensign of the Nazi SS's "volunteer" division in Belgium, during WWII. ("Hateful Heraldry", Vuong Manh, in the Caerthan Symposium Proceedings) While the Nazis' use of the symbol doesn't necessarily poison it for our use, the fact that modern racists still use it as their logo suggests it has acquired a permanent symbolism, one that's offensive to many people. The triskelion gammadion, and its variants (such as the triskelion gammadion in annulo, or the current submission's triskelion of scythes) must therefore be disallowed, per Rule IX.4. [See also Nov. 92 LoAR, pg. 14] (Geeraert av Kobenhavn, September, 1992, pg. 39)


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