[ANSTHRLD] Blazon

[Herndon, Darin]

Rodrigo,

The SCA, at least in Ansteorra, has not had issues in my memory with
deliberate presumption of arms.  Obviously, there are those whose
memories go back farther than mine.  There have been unintentional
presumptions on the part of people registering arms (Romanovs with
double-headed eagles, Yorks with white roses, etc.).  But those have all
been caught (so far as I know) in the submissions process.

There have also been cases, for role playing, where someone at a
recreated battle has the arms of the king or noble they are portraying.
That is not really an issue as it is a role and not a deliberate
assumption of someone else's arms, modern or SCA.

What you seem to be asking is whether the Ansteorran College has some
authority and power by which to prosecute someone (in an SCA or legal
context) for the use of arms that they should not be using.

My opinion based on what I have read in corpora, etc. is that there is
power and authority.  It resides with the Laurel King of Arms who has
been given the authority and power to regulate heraldry in the SCA by
the Board of Directors (BoD).  By extension, at least some of that
authority extends to the Principal Heralds in each kingdom as they are
charged to administer and regulate heraldry for their kingdom.  If
someone wanted to charge someone else with improper use of heraldry,
that complaint should (in my mind) go to the Principal Herald.  At that
point, based on the nature of the problem, Star (in Ansteorra) can
directly consult with the offending party, involve the Crown, or involve
the Laurel King of Arms and by extension the BoD.  Crowns can call
courts to resolve disputes (in this case that might be much like the
court of the Earl Marshal in England that you mentioned).  The BoD can
take modern legal action.

By in most cases, such occurances are innocent ("I didn't know that
these were the Pope's arms, I just thought they were cool") or
educational moments ("but I thought I had to pick someone from the
middle ages to be, like William Marshal").

Etienne
Nordsteorra Herald (Northern Regional)

-----Original Message-----
From: BOWERMAN, MATTHEW S. (JSC-DV1) (USA)
[mailto:matthew.s.bowerman1 at jsc.nasa.gov]
Sent: Monday, March 31, 2003 3:54 PM
To: 'heralds at ansteorra.org'
Subject: RE: [ANSTHRLD] Blazon

Lets try this again.  What powers does the Ansteorran College of Arms
have
regarding the use of SCA devices, other than their submissions function?
Does the militant arm of the College address device use, or misuse in
any
case?

Rodrigo
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