[ANSTHRLD] Squires, Achievements, and Ranks (Oh My!)

Diane Rudin serena1570 at yahoo.com
Sat Mar 1 14:17:47 PST 2003


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Gunnora wrote:

>That sort of brings me to another point, that while some might consider it a
>"travesty" to do away with the color-coded student belt system, it's not
>that old in the overall scheme of things in the SCA. Different areas
>adopted the custom over time - green and gold belts are very recent here in
>Ansteorra, for example.

Since Gunnora & I were announced at the same time for elevation to the Laurel, I'd like to chime in & reinforce that acceptance in Ansteorra of the colored-belt thing is pretty recent in the overall scheme of things.  Zinaida & I discussed whether I wanted to wear an apprentice belt, which had been hers.  It was yellow panne' velvet, didn't go with my Elizabethan clothing, and wasn't "us".  Yes, I said "yellow" and "apprentice".  There was no standardization back when she was an apprentice.  (That belt would now be over twenty years old.)  Green belts were just coming into vogue in Ansteorra when Gunnora & I were elevated to the Laurel.  Yellow belts for proteges is an even more recent importation to Ansteorra; it has been only a few years that Pelicans in Ansteorra were willing to take official proteges at all.

When I became Zinaida's apprentice, she pinned ribbons in her livery colors on my shoulder with a gold quill-pen pin.  I still have it in my insignia drawer, as a memento and a reminder.  We wanted to use the main charge from her arms, but that was registered already to someone else as a badge, so, in order to avoid potential confusion, we didn't do that.

I do wonder where the colored-belt system originated (other than "outside of Ansteorra").  Mainly, it is important for newer members to realize that just because this is how it is done now, it doesn't mean that's how it always has been done.  It is also important for us older members to continue to pass on our knowledge of the origins of the SCA & its traditions.  (I'm really looking forward to taking that graduate history class someday in oral history so I can start accosting our older members with a tape recorder and survey questions before we lose our history.)

Serena Lascelles / Diane Rudin



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