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[Sable, six locusts displayed vs. Gules, semy of bees volant] There's a CD for the field, but not for number or type of insects. (Aethelwine Aethelredson, November, 1992, pg. 17)
[A bumblebee proper] The bee in this submission is tinctured sable and Or, with argent wings. Bees are sometimes blazoned proper in mundane armory (Papworth, p.957), so there must be a defined tincture --- but none of my sources say what that might be. The coloration of this submission, however, is the SCA's most common attempt at "proper"; I shall henceforth adopt it as the Society's definition of a bee proper. (Aideen the Audacious, September, 1993, pg. 1)
The ladybug is a charge difficult enough to identify, even when properly drawn; when drawn without legs, and not in its proper tinctures, it becomes that much more unidentifiable We have reblazoned this a scarab, as found in Egyptian art; the submitter may resubmit with a ladybug with legs, if she wishes. (Lavinia of Catmere, September, 1992, pg. 20)
[Sable, six locusts displayed vs. Gules, semy of bees volant] There's a CD for the field, but not for number or type of insects. (Aethelwine Aethelredson, November, 1992, pg. 17)
The step-cut gem is found in period jewelry, if not armory; see some of Holbein's portraits of Henry VIII, for instance. (Ælfwynn Elswith, March, 1993, pg. 7)
Claddagh rings (also called fede rings or friendship rings) are found in period in a variety of forms. (David Hinton, Medieval Jewellery, plates 13, 14) The motif is quite period. The claddagh ring normally used today shows the heart conjoined to a crown; so even were it a protected design, this submission [In fess a heart supported by a pair of hands issuant from the flanks argent] would be clear of it [badge returned for having hands issue from the edge of a fieldless badge]. (Myles of Falkon Hold, October, 1993, pg. 15)
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The keyhole is an accepted SCA charge. If we'd permit a keyhole charged with a keyhole, we should permit a keyhole voided. (College of Skeldergate, January, 1993, pg. 15)
The [mascle-knot] is unique to Society armory, defined in the device of Leonard the Younger [Gules, within the head of a mjolnir inverted and voided, a mascle-knot argent]. This is a case where an SCA-invented charge is still acceptable: the name does not apply to any other charge in mundane heraldic texts (not even Elvin ), the charge is not readily confused with any other, and it is conceptually similar to period charges (i.e. angular Bowen knots, 1530; v. the Oxford Guide to Heraldry, p.149). (Cynthia Tregeare., August, 1992, pg. 11)
[Leonard the Younger: Gules, within the head of a mjolnir inverted and voided, a mascle-knot argent] This is the defining instance of the SCA charge, the mascle-knot. When the device was registered back in Oct 76, it was blazoned Gules, a Mjollnir-pendant inverted, pierced, and within the head a mascle-knot of six corners argent. It was reblazoned Feb 89 by Mistress Alisoun as Gules, on the head of a Mjollnir inverted gules, fimbriated, a mascle-knot of six corners argent. Both blazons specified the mascle-knot as having six corners; but after a little experimentation, it's hard to see that it could have any other number. A "mascle-knot of four corners" would be blazoned a Bowen cross in SCA armory, or four mascles-fretted by Elvin; a mascle-knot of eight corners would actually be a saltire parted, voided and interlaced; and a mascle-knot of more than eight corners would probably not be permitted.
I am therefore restricting the definition of "mascle-knot" to six corners, no more or less, and reblazoning the orginal registration accordingly. The mascle-knot, so defined, is still acceptable for SCA use. (Leonard the Younger, August, 1992, pg. 16)
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The Stafford knots were blazoned as inverted on the LOI. Having seen mundane examples of Stafford knots in both orientations --- and since we grant no difference for the orientation of most knots --- we've left the exact posture of the knots to the artist's license. (Ingrid the Crafty, May, 1993, pg. 10)
[Knots of four loops and four tassels vs. cotton hanks] After looking at the examples of cotton hanks in Parker and Elvin, I've decided there is a CD between them and [the submitter's] knots of four loops and four tassels: even assuming the hanks were drawn with their loops slightly separate, Rowan's knots could be considered equivalent to "demi-hanks". (Rowan O Curry, August, 1993, pg. 4)
In the case of Seamus O'Donohue (LoAR of Dec 89), the inversion of a triquetra was explicitly ruled to be worth a CD ...(Posture might not be worth a CD for other knots: they might be too complex to permit inversion to be readily identified, or they might have been used in either posture in period. With an explicit ruling for the triquetra, however, the above point count holds.) (Beornheard of Wearmouth, August, 1993, pg. 5)
[A Cavendish knot] The badge conflicts with the badge of the House of Savoy ...A Savoy (or Cavendish) knot. The two knots are identical; as the badge is tinctureless, we can get but a single CD between it and this submission ...Conflict was also cited against other "knotty" badges: e.g. [A Wake knot] and [A Bourchier knot]. In the cases of charges nowed (e.g. serpents nowed, or lions with nowed tails), we've held that "knots is knots" and granted no difference for the exact form of knotwork. In cases where the single primary charge is a recognized heraldic knot, however, we can see granting a CD between certain types of knots. In particular, the Savoy/Cavendish knot is sufficiently different from any other standard knot that I would call this submission clear of the cited conflicts. (Order of the Cavendish Knot (Kingdom of the Middle), August, 1993, pg. 19)
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