Heraldry

[Aodhan Ite an Fhithich]

Dia duit!

 [Replying to a message of "Sheilagh Marie Blaise O'Hare"  to All]

 >>> "pizza" and "M-16's" and "Ford Mustangs" and...well, you might get my

 "MBO> Would the running Mustang emblem (monochrome) on a solid background
 "MBO> really
 "MBO> be a bad choice?  We don't live in Europe, there are perfectly noble
 "MBO> symbols
 "MBO> from this hemisphere that would seem right.

Not the logo (which is doubtless a registered trademark of Ford Motor Company)
but the *car*.

 >> So lets change the rules, change submission guidlines to accept a MUCH
 >> greater degree of freedom, still encourage period heraldry but do not
 >> REQUIRE it.

 "MBO> One very good reason for this would be to encourage more people to
 "MBO> detail
 "MBO> their trappings, displaying more color & banners, which *would* be
 "MBO> an
 "MBO> improvement to the look & feel of events.

It most certainly would, as would period style tents, period style armor,
period style chairs, etc., etc.  The SCA is very lax (far too lax, in my
opinion) about what it allows at its events, especially when compared to other
similar organizations.  My parents are Buckskinners and were not allowed to
camp in the main encampment at their rendezvous until they had acquired a
period style tent; non-period items are not allowed outside of your tent.

 "MBO> nother question:  are the heraldic guidelines meant to be European? 
 "MBO> I don't
 "MBO> want to just assume that, but it doesn't seem like much
 "MBO> non-Continental stuff
 "MBO> gets displayed;  would Japanese or Native American designs be put
 "MBO> down, even if
 "MBO> they were possible in Period?  It might bring a heterogenousness to
 "MBO> events
 "MBO> that displeases some aesthetic tastes, but big merchant cities have
 "MBO> always
 "MBO> had colorful alien visitors.  And no, I don't mean Xfiles aliens.  A
 "MBO> pierced
 "MBO> & tattoed Maori king would certainly clash with an Italian event,
 "MBO> but....

European?  Last I checked, the SCA was about studying the European Middle Ages
and Rennaissance.

Unfortunately, the CoA does register Japanese Mon.  Frankly, I think there are
already more Japanese in the SCA than were ever seen in Europe during our
period. The first European did not arrive in Japan until 1542 (New York Public
Library Desk Reference, 2nd. ed., p. 880).

American Indian tribes did not, to my knowledge, practice anything approaching
heraldry.  Their symbols were strictly totemic in nature and were either
associated with the tribe or with the individual.  In the later case, they
were related to the individual's spirit guides and would not necessarily have
been passed on to one's children.  Recall, these tribes were still (for the
most part) living at a Stone Age level of technology when the first European
arrived.

As for a Maori king, they were unknown to Europeans during our period.  The
following is excerpted from The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia (CD-ROM edition
(c) 1992) entry on New Zealand:

  History. The Maori are thought to have migrated to the islands prior to AD
1400. Abel TASMAN 
  was the first European to visit (1642) the islands, which were named for the
Dutch province 
  of Zeeland, but they attracted little interest until described in detail by
Capt. James COOK, 
  who visited them four times between 1769 and 1777.

Feicfidh me' ari's thu',

Aodhan (who thought the SCA had something to do with *studying* history)
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Baron Aodhan Ite an Fhithich    aodhan at dobharchu.org
Master of the Laurel            Lough na Dobharchu' BBS  1-713-338-2570
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mka David H. Brummel            1:106/22  180:11/22  762:2200/2
SCA Member 02245                Barony of Loch Soilleir, Ansteorra
http://www.phoenix.net/~dbrummel
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