Copyright © 1995 - Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc.
The 2nd Tenure of Da'ud Ibn Auda (2nd year)
APPENDIX B - NON-SCA ARMORY The initial implementation list for the Modest Proposal
was adopted in December, 1994 as an addendum to the usual LoAR. In
the months following there were various additional items of non-SCA armory
set forward for similar registration. This appendix contains the
resulting decisions.
In this appendix the usual format is set aside.
The various items are divided into two groups: those which were registered
and those which were not registered. The various proposals were typically
presented in large groups, and the rulings to some extant addressed the
groups as a whole. In order to accomidate this the submissions are
here presented grouped by LoAR, with specific page number citations omitted.
May 1995:
DRACHENWALD LETTER OF INTENT TO PROTECT
Of the items in this Letter of Intent to Protect, the
ones immediately below were generally felt to warrant protection by the
SCA and will be added to the Armorial and Ordinary. [Editor's note: while
many of these persons are unfamiliar to even educated Americans, they are
better known to Europeans in general and Scadanavians in particular.
They were added in order to address Anglo-centric bias in the initial implementation
list.]
Bernadotte. Azure, an eagle displayed facing sinister perched upon a marshal's baton in chief the constellation of Ursa Major Or and a bridge of three arches issuant from a base wavy argent.
Birger Jarl. Azure semy of hearts gules, three bendlets sinister argent overall a lion rampant Or.
Brahe, Tycho. Sable, a pale argent.
Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson. Azure, a sinister and a dexter half of a fleur-de-lys in chevron throughout and in base a dexter half of a fleur-de-lys fesswise Or.
Fugger. Per pale Or and azure, two fleurs-de-lys counterchanged.
The Fugger family were on a par with the de' Medicis
in banking and finance.
Oxenstierna, Axel. Or, a bull's scalp (oxenstjärna)
gules.
A bull's scalp is the cow equivalent to a deer's massacre;
it is the horns with a bit of the scalp attached.
Painters, Swedish Guild of. Azure, three inescutcheons
argent.
This coat appears to have been widely used by painters
and their guilds throughout Europe. As a consequence, it is in all likelihood
more familiar to people than many of the other coats we already protect.
June 1995:
SCRIBE ARMARIUS LETTER OF INTENT TO PROTECT
It was unfortunate that many of the items in this Letter of Intent to Protect were unaccompanied by any justification as to why they should merit protection by the SCA. The very broad range of commentary on the arms of these cities also tended to complicate the decisions here. (They ranged from "enthusiastically support" protecting all of the proposed armory to the position that to be fully consistent, we should "unprotect" the arms of Rome. The most unusual position, at least to Laurel, taken by one of the commenters was that if the arms of a city were familiar to the residents of that city, the SCA should protect them. It is Laurel's belief that adoption of this proposal would lead us to protect the arms of every city in the world which has arms, whether properly matriculated or otherwise assumed; even small towns in Texas place some sort of insignia or armorial display on their official letterhead, municipal buildings, etc., and so the residents of those towns must be assumed as being familiar with them. As a consequence, we cannot imagine a city with arms with which the residents of that city would not be familiar.) We have tried here to strike a tenuous balance between the "arms" school and the "man" school, fully realizing that no such "balance" is going to make everyone happy, and that it cannot help but appear to be somewhat arbitrary. As a general rule, national capitals received more consideration for protection than non-capitals. And in every case, all of the commentary was carefully reviewed and considered in the decision of whether or not to protect (though, of course, those who gave specific reasons for their support or lack of support could be given fuller consideration in the deliberations than those who simply said they supported registration but gave no reasons for their support).
The following civic arms will be protected and added to the SCA Armorial and Ordinary.
AMSTERDAM, City of. Gules, on a pale sable three saltorels couped argent.
BERLIN, City of. Device. Argent, a bear rampant sable.
As canting arms, the device shows up in a number of heraldry
books. As a national capital, the city itself is widely known.
BERN, City of. Device. Gules, on a bend Or a bear passant
sable.
Same basic rationale as for Berlin. (The fact that Laurel
personally has a small stained glass window hanging of these arms did
not influence the decision; in spite of personal knowledge of the armory,
I counseled against adding Bern to the initial implementation list.)
CINQUE PORTS, Cities of the. Per pale gules and azure,
in pale three demi-lions passant guardant Or conjoined to three demi-hulks
argent.
The arms show up in so many heraldic and history books
that they may be said to be nearly as familiar in the SCA as the arms of
England, and thus warrant protection.
FLORENCE, City of. Device. Argent, a fleur-de-lys gules.
The arms appear in a number of heraldic and historical
texts, and so seem through identifiability to warrant our protection.
LONDON, City of. Device. Argent, a cross and in dexter
chief a sword gules.
The capital of England, and the arms themselves seem
reasonably well known to a number of non-heralds. (This arguably may be
the most recognizable civic armory in this letter.)
OXFORD, City of. Argent, an ox statant gules atop a ford
proper.
While arguably these arms are no more important than
many others on the Letter of Intent to Protect which we have chosen not
to protect, they are more familiar to many Americans and English because
the obvious cant has placed them in many heraldry and historical texts.
STOCKHOLM, City of. Azure, a king's head coupled affronty
and crowned Or.
The arms are those of a national capital and have appeared
in a number of historic and heraldry texts, which probably makes them sufficiently
familiar to warrant protection.
VENICE, City of. Azure, a lion of St. mark statant guardant
Or atop a base vert, forepaw raised and maintaining a book argent.
The arms seem to be fairly well known, primarily because
of the lion of St. Mark and its frequent depiction in relationship to the
city.
August 1995:
PALIMPSEST LETTER OF INTENT TO PROTECT
Folkunga, House of (Modern). Azure semy of hearts gules,
three scarpes wavy argent and overall a lion rampant crowned Or. {This
is the House founded by Birger Jarl of Sweden.}
This is the modern form of the coat for this family,
already protected in the MPII List (and modified in the accompanying Errata
Letter).
September 1995:
MAXEN LETTER OF INTENT TO PROTECT
[Editor's note: This letter consists of national flags
omitted or incorrectly blazoned on the initial implementation list.]
Afghanistan. Per fess vert and sable, a fess argent surmounted by an arch within a wreath environed of two scimitars crossed at the hilts tips in base gules.
Benin. Per fess Or and gules, a dexter tierce vert.
Cambodia. Azure, on a fess gules the temple of Angkor Wat argent.
Cape Verde. Azure, on a abased fess argent a bar gules, overall to dexter ten mullets in annulo Or.
Congo. Per bend sinister vert and gules, a bend sinister Or.
Czech Republic. Per fess argent and gules, a dexter tierce
triangular azure.
This is currently blazoned incorrectly as Per pall azure,
gules and argent. It could, however, also be accurately blazoned as Per
pale argent and gules, a chief triangular azure.
Eritrea. Per fess vert and bleu-celeste, on a pile issuant from dexter throughout gules a sprig issuant from and within a laurel wreath Or.
Iraq. Per fess gules and sable, on a fess argent between three mullets in fess the words Allahu akbar in Arabic vert.
Kazakhstan. Azure, in pale a sun and an eagle volant affronty wings displayed voided, in the hoist a pallet of lace Or.
Kyrgyzstan. Gules, on a sun Or three bendlets and three bendlets sinister, all enarched, within and conjoined to an annulet gules.
Lithuania. Per fess Or and gules, a fess vert.
Namibia. Per bend sinister azure and vert, a bend sinister gules fimbriated argent, in dexter chief a sun Or.
Slovenia. Per fess argent and gules, a fess and in dexter
chief on an escutcheon azure fimbriated gules on a mountain of three peaks
argent two bars wavy azure and in chief three mullets two and one Or.
This is currently blazoned Azure in chief three mullets
Or and on a trimount argent two bars wavy azure.
South Africa. Per pall fesswise gules, sable, and azure,
a pall fesswise vert fimbriated to dexter Or and to sinister argent.
This could also be blazoned as Per pall sable, gules
and azure, a pall vert fimbriated to chief Or and to dexter and sinister
argent.
Tajikistan. Per fess gules and vert, on a fess argent a crown and to chief an arc of seven mullets all in annulo Or.
Turkmenistan. Vert, in dexter chief between the horns of a crescent bendwise five mullets two and three in bend argent, to dexter a pale gules marked as a Turkmen carpet Or, argent and azure.
Yemen. Per fess gules and sable, a fess argent.
May 1995:
DRACHENWALD LETTER OF INTENT TO PROTECT
Of the items in this Letter of Intent to Protect, the ones immediately below were generally felt to be insufficiently important to warrant protection by the SCA. Specific reasons are given with each proposal.
Birger Persson. Gules, two wings inverted argent.
Persson is primarily known for being the father of St.
Bridget. The general feeling among the commenters is that this alone is
not sufficient to warrant protection (see, e.g., Harpy's letter of intent
to "un"protect the arms of Owen Tudor).
Bo Jonsson. Argent, a griffin's head erased sable.
There was a fair consensus among the commenters that
this person did not come up to the general standards of importance to warrant
protection.
De Geer, Louis. Argent, on five fusils in fess gules three
fleur-de-lys in pale Or.
There was a fair amount of consensus among the commenters
that money alone (de Geer was a merchant, industrialist, and entrepreneur)
was not a sufficient basis for protecting these arms, and that he did not
seem to be more significant than others we have chosen not to protect.
Erik Magnusson. Azure semy of hearts gules, three bendlets
sinister argent, overall a lion rampant crowned Or.
These arms are protected already, as they are identical
to the arms of Birger Jarl, above.
Hvide. Barry of six azure and argent.
There was a fair consensus among the commenters that
this family did not come up to the general standards of importance to warrant
protection.
Karl Knutsson. Or, a hulk gules.
Better known to Americans as King Charles VIII of Sweden,
these were his family rather than the royal arms; the equivalent of being
the "father of somebody". The general consensus among the commenters was
that these arms need not be protected.
Linné, Carl von. Tierced per pall gules, vert and
sable, on a pall argent between three coronets Or, a torteau charged with
an egg inverted argent.
There was a fair consensus among the commenters that
these arms did not come up to the general standards of importance to warrant
protection. Not even a commenter who collects the arms of great scientists
was familiar with these arms.
Oxenstierna, Jöns Bengtsson. Or, a bull's scalp (oxenstjärna)
gules.
These arms are already protected in the identical arms
of Axel Oxenstierna, above.
Sten Gustavsson Sture. Or, three seeblatter in bend sable.
The feeling among the commenters was somewhat borderline,
with a slight edge to those who felt that the arms were not sufficiently
important to protect.
Sten Svantesson Sture. Per fess Or and azure.
The feeling among the commenters was somewhat borderline,
with a slight edge to those who felt that the arms were not sufficiently
important to protect.
Tott. Quarterly gules and Or. Sometimes, Quarterly Or
and gules.
There was nothing from the description given which led
the commenters to believe that these arms were sufficiently important to
protect.
June 1995:
Simon de Vere Gules, three cinquefoils [sometimes pierced, sometimes sexfoils] argent. [Editor's note: this coat was set forward for protection in response to the submission of Jonas Aquilian, following]
[registering Azure, three roses argent] Versus Simon
de Vere (Papworth, p. 872), Gules, three cinquefoils [sometimes pierced,
sometimes sexfoils] argent {sometimes ermine}, nothing about Simon de Vere
(of Sproatley, Yorkshire; he was the son of Walter de Vere, who was son
of Adam of Goxhill, Lincolnshire, Gundreda, daughter and heir of Guy de
Vere; and in 1267 he was described as the King's enemy, and his lands were
granted to John Comyn) places him in the same category as other historical
persons whose arms we have decided to protect. (Now, John de Vere, 13th
Earl of Oxford (and who bears an entirely different coat), is a different
matter.) Similarly, the Frasers of Clan Fraser (Azure, three roses argent)
do not approach the significance of the people
initially protected (for example, none of the chiefs
has an article in the GL).
HARPY LETTER OF INTENT TO {UN}PROTECT
Owain Tudor. Release of protection of arms. Gules, a chevron
between three helms argent.
[Editor's note: this coat was on the original implementation
list, but was here removed on the grounds that simply being the father
of somebody famous is insufficient to merit inclusion.]
SCRIBE ARMARIUS LETTER OF INTENT TO PROTECT
ANTWERP, City of. Gules, a castle triple-towered
between in chief a pair of hands in chevron inverted argent.
Though the city itself is important in later period,
and its arms relate to the legend of how the city received its name, the
arms do not otherwise appear to be of sufficient importance for us to protect
them.
AVIGNON, City of. Gules, in pale three keys fesswise
wards to dexter Or.
Though the site of the "Babylonian captivity" of the
Papacy, that seems to be pretty much Avignon's sole claim to fame, and
the arms themselves do not appear to be particularly well known.
BASEL, City of. Argent, a crook of Basel sable.
The arms seem important only in the uniqueness of the
primary charge.
BREMEN, City of. Gules, a key bendwise ward to
chief argent.
Though a large port city (one from which a large percentage
of emigrants leaving for America sailed in the last 150 years), nothing
else about the city or its arms seems to place it in the same category
as those considered important enough to protect.
BRUSSELS, City of. Gules, the Archangel Michael
statant affronty Or vanquishing underfoot a demon sable.
Though the capital of Belgium, nothing else about either
the city or its arms seems to warrant protection by the SCA. Moscow is
probably better known for this motif than Brussels is.
COLOGNE, City of. Ermine, on a chief gules three
crowns Or.
Nothing about either the city or the arms seems sufficient
to warrant protection by the SCA.
DUBLIN, City of. Azure, three castles argent, the
battlements enflamed proper.
Though the capital of Eire, nothing else about the city
or its arms seems of sufficient importance to warrant protection.
EDINBURGH, City of. Argent, a castle triple-towered
sable atop a rocky mount proper.
Though arguably more familiar to non-heralds in America
than some of the other civic armory on the Letter of Intent to Protect,
the arms do not otherwise seem sufficiently important to warrant protection.
GDANSK, City of. Gules, in pale two crosses formy
argent, in chief a crown Or.
Nothing in the Letter of Intent to Protect nor in the
commentary suggested anything about the city or its arms that warrant protection.
GENOA, City of. Argent, a cross gules.
This is already protected (as the ensign of England).
Nothing else about either the city or its arms seemed sufficiently important
to otherwise warrant protection.
LONDONDERRY, City of. Sable, a human skeleton seated
and facing dexter Or atop a mount vert, contemplating a tower in dexter
chief, on a chief argent a cross and in dexter chief a sword gules.
The odd charge and chief of London notwithstanding, the
arms do not even appear in most of the heraldic texts familiar to members
of the College. If they do not even appear at all in most of the heraldic
texts we use, it is hard to understand how they can be considered sufficiently
important to protect.
MAINZ, City of. Gules, in bend two wheels yoked
by a cross couped argent.
The charge is an unusual one which occasionally gets
it mention in some heraldic texts. Other than that, nothing about the city
or its arms seems sufficiently important to warrant our protection.
MARSEILLES, City of. Argent, a cross azure.
This is already protected as the flag of Finland. Nothing
else about the city or its arms seems sufficiently important to warrant
our protection.
MUNICH, City of. Argent, a monk statant affronty
arms outspread proper vested sable maintaining in his sinister hand a book
gules.
While some argued that these arms were in the same category
as Bern, that city is a national capital. The arms, while canting, do not
otherwise appear to warrant our protection.
PARIS, City of. Gules, a lymphad under sail atop
waves of the sea issuant from base argent, a chief azure semy-de-lys Or.
The city is important, and a capital, but the arms themselves
appear to be relatively obscure (even Laurel himself never saw them before
their appearance in this Letter of Intent to Protect).
PISA, City of. Gules, a key cross argent.
The only "claim to fame" that the arms have is that they
appear to be the defining instance of a key cross. That alone does not
appear to be sufficient to warrant our protection.
REGENSBURG, City of. Gules, two keys in saltire
wards to chief argent.
Nothing in the Letter of Intent to Protect nor in the
commentary suggested anything about the city or its arms that warrant protection.
STUTTGART, City of. Or, a horse rampant sable.
The fact that Porsche uses the horse from the city's
arms on its automobiles does not make the arms sufficiently important to
warrant our protection.
TRIESTE, City of. Gules, a spearhead stylized as
a fleur-de-lys argent.
While the charge on the arms appears to be unique and
therefore gets it occasional mention in heraldic texts, nothing else about
either the city or its arms seems sufficiently important to warrant protection.
TURIN, City of. Azure, a bull rampant Or.
Nothing in the Letter of Intent to Protect nor in the
commentary suggested anything about the city or its arms that warrant protection.
ULM, City of. Per fess sable and argent.
Nothing in the Letter of Intent to Protect nor in the
commentary suggested anything about the city or its arms that warrant protection.
VIENNA, City of. Sable, a double-headed eagle displayed
and haloed Or, in chief an Imperial crown proper with fibulae Or, as an
augmentation, the eagle's breast charged with an inescutcheon gules, thereon
a cross argent.
The arms, as the LoItP notes, have an interesting story.
Nothing else about them seems sufficiently important to warrant our protection.
And, as noted, the original arms of the city (Gules, a cross argent), are
already on the protected list under the arms of Savoy.
WARSAW, City of. Gules, a mermaid proper tailed
argent brandishing a sword and targe Or.
Nothing in the Letter of Intent to Protect nor in the
commentary suggested anything about the city or its arms that warrant protection.
WÜRZBURG, City of. Sable, a banner quarterly
gules and Or flying from a pole bendwise Or.
Nothing in the Letter of Intent to Protect nor in the
commentary suggested anything about the city or its arms that warrant protection.
YORK, City of. Argent, on a cross gules five lions
passant guardant Or.
Nothing in the Letter of Intent to Protect nor in the
commentary suggested anything about the city or its arms that warrant protection
(aside from one commenter who was familiar with them from having traveled
there, and another who was marginally willing to protect them "on the grounds
of rampant Anglocentrism").
ZÜRICH, City of. Device. Per bend argent and
azure.
Nothing in the Letter of Intent to Protect nor in the
commentary suggested anything about the city or its arms that warrant protection.
August 1995:
BRACHET LETTER OF INTENT TO PROTECT
Gondor. Sable, a tree blossoming argent.
The commentary on this and the other proposals from Tolkien
was somewhat mixed. However popular the Lord of the Rings trilogy is among
older members of the SCA, it appears to have lost much of its status over
the intervening years. Here, the commentary generally favored not protecting
these arms.
Heirs of Elendil. Sable, a tree surmounted by a
crown in the midst of seven estoiles [each of six rays] in annulo, all
argent.
The commentary on this and the other proposals from Tolkien
was somewhat mixed. However popular the Lord of the Rings trilogy is among
older members of the SCA, it appears to have lost much of its status over
the intervening years. Here, although the commentary slightly favored protecting
these arms, the problem here is that the description given in Lord of the
Rings does not lead to an unambiguous blazon. The verbal description given
therein (Professor Tolkien appears never to have drawn this himself) regarding
Aragorn's standard, which has a black field, is: "There flowered a White
Tree, and that was for Gondor; but Seven Stars were about it, and a high
crown above it, the signs of Elendil that no lord had borne for years beyond
count." The depictions which have been made of this standard have the stars
in a variety of arrangements, including strewn, in annulo, and in an arc
above the tree. Given the lack of a standard blazonable depiction and variety
of ways in which the description in the book might be blazoned (each of
which is at least one CD apart from the others), added to which is the
question of whether the "stars" are mullets or estoiles, we are extremely
hesitant to register something which can be depicted in so many widely
varying ways.
Rohan. Vert, a horse courant argent.
The commentary on this and the other proposals from Tolkien
was somewhat mixed. However popular the Lord of the Rings trilogy is among
older members of the SCA, it appears to have lost much of its status over
the intervening years. Here, the commentary generally favored not protecting
these arms.
Hospital of St. Mary Bethlem. Azure, an estoile
of eight rays argent.
While the name of the hospital was reasonably well-known
to many of the commenters (because of its status as the origin of the word
bedlam) the armory itself appears to be entirely obscure. As a consequence,
there was very little support for protection of these arms.
John de Vere. Gules, three cinquefoils argent.
As noted in some of the commentary, the arms of John
de Vere are already on the protected list. However, these arms are not
those, and no one presented any evidence that these arms are of sufficient
import to protect as well. [Editor's note: i.e. these are the arms of an
obscure family coincidentally synonymous with the famous Earls of Oxford.]
Table of Contents of Precedents of Da'ud Ibn Auda, 2nd Tenure