[Ansteorra] tagging newcomers

[Tim McDaniel]

On Fri, 19 Feb 2010, Coblaith Muimnech <Coblaith at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> If a newcomer is wearing a checky sash or something equally easy to
> identify at a glance, it's much more likely that bystanders will
> volunteer to clarify what's going on than if she's got an
> unobtrusive little length of ribbon hung on her belt.  SCAdians tend
> to deck themselves out with so many tokens, favors, bits of award
> insignia, and random pieces of autobiographical flotsam and jetsam
> that I, for one, almost never pay any attention to any of it.

That's one of the objections I have.

It ties in with another of my objections: SCAers bar-coding their
lives and tastes with their dangling insignia.  In general, I like to
find period solutions to a problem, or at least a period-looking
solution.  I wonder if a pilgrim's badge is a good model -- were any
of them obvious enough?

> It's quite unlikely that I'd inspect anyone I encountered at an
> event closely enough to notice that the scrap of ribbon at her waist
> was the particular shade of blue used to denote newness.

All these suggestions with blue or white or checky ...

The obvious color for someone new is green.  Moreover,

greenhorn:
   a newcomer (as to a country) unacquainted with local manners and customs

Merriam-Webster online dates it to 1682, and "green" for "new" is
older still, which is why I don't mind it as much for being
post-period.


If you prefer a patron saint:
John the Baptist: baptism is intended to be a new life
Nicholas: for children, but this would look Christmassy
Ambrose: for learning

Danihel de Lindicolino
-- 
Tim McDaniel, tmcd at panix.com