Society for Creative Anachronism
College of Arms
For the March 2026 meetings, printed May 10, 2026
To all the College of Arms and all others who may read this missive, from Birgitta Laurel, Sara Pelican, and Ollivier Wreath, greetings.
While my tenure reaches unil this end of this year, one of the duties of an officer is to find a successor.
Laurel is the chief heraldic officer of the Society and the head of the College of Arms, and is responsible for fostering the study and practice of heraldry, supervising the processing of submissions, and overseeing the heraldic activities of the Known World.
Laurel is an unpaid position, currently requiring approximately 20 hours a week. Key qualifications of the position are:
Clear understanding of the functions of the College of Arms
Understanding of armory and onomastics, especially in SCA context
Supervisory skills
Ability to work within tight deadlines and coordinate closely with Wreath, Pelican, and other staff
Considerable tact and patience
Computer literacy and reliable net access
Interested applicants should send a letter of interest, together with modern and SCA qualifications, via email to [email protected] with a copy to [email protected].
Applications are being accepted through July 31, 2026.
Several items on this letter were submitted using the blazon term moose which we have consistently reblazoned as elk by precedent established on the September 2015 cover letter. The most recent confirmation of this precedent, in February 2021, read:
The submitter requested the term moose be used instead of the period term elk. We are unable to fulfill that request. Noting the September 2015 Cover Letter:
The Oxford English Dictionary gives a first occurrence of the word moose in 1568 as meaning "Pottage; stewed vegetables; a dish of this." Clearly, this has no relation with the creature. The use of moose for the elk is an Americanism and, again according to the OED, the earliest use of the close spelling "mooses" for the elk is dated to 1707. A quote from 1637 "The Elke, which the Salvages call a Mose" makes it exquisitely clear that the creature was known by the English speakers as elk. Therefore, we chose to use the English period term for the creature, which is elk.
This should not come as a surprise as this is not the first example of charge where we have decided to use a more period word for a charge. For example, the creatures modernly known as turtles are regularly reblazoned as tortoise, even though the use of the word turtle for the sea tortoise is dated to 1657. Similarly, on the March 2012 cover letter we declined to use the word "squid", dated to 1613 and opted to use the word "calamarie" (dated to 1567 under calamary, n.) to replace the modern term "kraken".
Adding to this, Nicholas Schwarzdrachen noted references of the term dating as early as 1614, where from S. Purchas Pilgrimage (ed. 2), viii. v. 755, we read that "Captaine Thomas Hanham sayled to the Riuer of Sagadahoc 1606. He relateth of their beasts..redde Deare, and a beast bigger, called the Mus." This merely reinforces the existing precedent, based on the preference of period terms from European blazon: The River of Sagadahoc, known today as the Kennebec River, is in the present-day state of Maine. A short-lived colony by that name was chartered by James I in 1606 and established the following year by the Plymouth Company. Its southern counterpart was Jamestown. [Hirwisalo, Hamlet of, 02/2021, A-Drachenwald]
With the expanded scope of the Society beyond Europe and the support of grey period quotations establishing the likely use of the name in North America in period, we hereby overturn this precedent and will accept the blazon term moose for this creature when requested by submitters. Those who would like their registered elk reblazoned as a moose may make a request to do so as an administrative action.
As noted on the January 2025 Cover Letter, when filling out name forms, submitters are reminded that our assumption is that the content of the Name Being Registered/Society Name line is what the submitter would like registered. As we do not register non-Latin characters, placing non-Latin characters on that line is a barrier to registration, and may cause the submission to be returned administratively. Please include non-Latin characters that are being transliterated into Latin characters in the name documentation section, not on the registration line.
This month we returned a household name, House of the Saracens, under SENA NPN5B3, Derogatory Stereotypes, and NPN5B4, Offensive Political Terminology.
Saracen and the word Moor are period words that were both used to refer to Muslims in our period.
The Latin term Saraceni is of unknown origin. There is strong evidence that it derives from a Semitic language trilateral root - which depending on how the original term was transmitted can either mean "eastern tribe" or "thief". Regardless of its origin, by the early 5th century CE, Saracen was used in Western Europe to refer to any person from the Arabian peninsula who was not Jewish or Christian. Western European writings in the 8th century CE claimed that Saracens followed a false prophet or god. By the 12th century CE, Saracen was used in Western Europe as a term to describe a Middle Eastern opponent of Christianity. This term was often used in a derogatory manner, primarily used as a way to "other" Muslims, and dehumanize them -- essentially to play to xenophobic or religious prejudices.
Likewise, the word Moor was used as an exonym to refer to Arabs and Amazigh from the northwest coast of Africa, and after the 8th century CE Muslim conquest of al-Andalus, to refer to all Muslims in that region. The term was used in medieval Western European literature to refer to Muslims in a derogatory manner. While Renaissance Europe used the word Moor in a less derogatory manner, it was still associated with stereotypes that emphasized the "otherness" of the people it was applied to.
Today, both of these terms are relatively outdated and not in common use. However, they do arise occasionally in a heraldic context, usually in terms of a description of a heraldic charge, or in the case this month, as part of a household name based on inn-sign patterns. Charges that would previously have used these terms may continue to be registerable using our standard skin-color terms or alternate terms as appropriate, with offensiveness judged on a case-by-case basis.
In the August 2012 Cover Letter, we stated that:
In Scandinavia, matronymic bynames (always using a form of son or daughter) are rare, but found. The Viking Answer Lady says that 34 men in Old Norse Iceland were known as their mother's sons. Matronymics are found in medieval Scandinavia as well. Examples are found in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, though they become less common by the 16th century ([see] Betrothal and Bedding: Marriage Formation in Sweden 1200-1600 by Mia Korpiola, and Kingship and State Formation in Sweden, 1130-1290 by Philip Line).
As this pattern has not been added to Appendix A, despite long-standing precedent, we are directing Palimpsest to add that matronymic bynames in Scandinavian languages do not need further documentation to the appropriate tables.
On March 7, 2026, at the Kingdom Arts & Sciences fair of Atlantia, Their Majesties Athos and Allianore of Atlantia recognized the Staff of the University of Atlantia with an award of the Golden Elephant, and further recognized all of the instructors and teaching assistants from Atlantia's portion of the Tri-Kingdom University (online) with an award of the Golden Lamp. Each of these awards gives every individual in each recognized group an Augmentation of Arms. Identified heralds in these groups include Beatrice Domenici della Campana, Green Staff Herald, and Genevieve d'Aquitaine, Green Shark Herald, for the Golden Elephant, and Gabrell Fairclaugh, Genevieve d'Aquitaine, Girard le Bourguignon, Boreas Herald, Lochlainn hua Rigbarddain, and Seraphina Delphino, Ibis Herald, for the Golden Lamp. We apologise to any heralds not identified prior to this publication.
On April 11, 2026, Wu Yun, Clarion Herald and former Beacon Principal Herald, successfully completed her reign as Queen of Northshield and was recognized as a Countess and a Companion of the Rose.
Also on April 11, 2026, Their Majesties Culan and Ro Honig, King and Queen of the East, created Donovan Shinnock, Golden Rapier Herald, a Count after his successful reign over the East Kingdom.
On April 18, 2026, Khalil and Emma, King and Queen of Atenveldt, elevated Nyilas Tiborch, Parhelium Herald, to the Order of the Pelican.
On April 25 2026, at Malt War, Tuomas and Gilbert, Kings of Drachenwald, elevated Maria Lorenza da Poppi, Pursuivant at Large, to the Order of the Pelican.
In sadder news, on April 13, 2026, Master Erik Loren Elcara, Companion of the Order of the Pelican and a long-time herald passed away. Over several decades, he served in many heraldic offices over three Kingdoms (An Tir, Caid and Trimaris), including having been Triskele Principal Herald for Trimaris. May his memory be a blessing to all who knew and loved him.
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 March Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, March 29, 2026 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, March 7, 2026. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Calontir (04 Dec, 2025), Atlantia (09 Dec, 2025), Avacal (15 Dec, 2025), Northshield (17 Dec, 2025), An Tir (23 Dec, 2025), Lochac (26 Dec, 2025), Outlands (27 Dec, 2025), Meridies (28 Dec, 2025), An Tir (29 Dec, 2025), Artemisia (30 Dec, 2025), Ealdormere (30 Dec, 2025), East (30 Dec, 2025), Atenveldt (31 Dec, 2025), Drachenwald (31 Dec, 2025), Middle (31 Dec, 2025), Northshield (31 Dec, 2025), Middle Other Letter (18 Feb, 2026). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Saturday, February 28, 2026.
The April Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, April 12, 2026 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, April 11, 2026. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Caid (02 Jan, 2026), Palimpsest Rules Letter (02 Jan, 2026), Trimaris (03 Jan, 2026), Calontir (04 Jan, 2026), Atlantia (09 Jan, 2026), Meridies (22 Jan, 2026), Avacal (23 Jan, 2026), Ęthelmearc (26 Jan, 2026), Drachenwald (29 Jan, 2026), Outlands (30 Jan, 2026), West (30 Jan, 2026), Atenveldt (31 Jan, 2026), Ealdormere (31 Jan, 2026), East (31 Jan, 2026), Laurel LoPaD (31 Jan, 2026), Lochac (31 Jan, 2026), Middle (31 Jan, 2026), Meridies (01 Feb, 2026), Laurel LoPfR (12 Feb, 2026) (pushed for extra time for redraws), Laurel LoPfR (23 Feb, 2026). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Tuesday, March 31, 2026.
The May Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican meeting held on Saturday, May 16, 2026 and the Wreath meeting held on Friday, May 15, 2026. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: Gleann Abhann (08 Jan, 2026) (pushed due to lack of documents), Ęthelmearc (25 Jan, 2026) (pushed due to too many items on month), Ęthelmearc (27 Jan, 2026) (pushed due to too many items in the month), Ansteorra (31 Jan, 2026) (pushed due to missing documents), Northshield (01 Feb, 2026), Calontir (04 Feb, 2026), Atlantia (09 Feb, 2026), Gleann Abhann (11 Feb, 2026), Laurel LoPaD (22 Feb, 2026), Palimpsest Rules Letter (22 Feb, 2026), Artemisia (23 Feb, 2026), Caid (26 Feb, 2026), Avacal (27 Feb, 2026), An Tir (28 Feb, 2026), Ansteorra (28 Feb, 2026), Atenveldt (28 Feb, 2026), Drachenwald (28 Feb, 2026), Ealdormere (28 Feb, 2026), East (28 Feb, 2026), Lochac (28 Feb, 2026), Middle (28 Feb, 2026), Outlands (28 Feb, 2026). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Thursday, April 30, 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 Sun 10 May 2026 01:38:48 PM CDT