[ANSTHRLD] question about augmentation

[Charles O Floinn]

Well said Emma,

The question I must raise for this instance is if the Augmentation was
granted before or after the newest Duke stepped down? (I was not able to
attend)

In the SCA a fee is paid for a device to be submitted to the College of
Heralds who then forwards it to the Laurels to be declared registered and
subsequently protected from anyone else using that design without
permission.  With an Augmentation that process is skipped.  The reigning
crown grants an Augmentation without a fee being paid.  The king may
determine the addition to the device when the augmentation is granted or
leave it open for the recipient to add something to their own device should
they choose to display the award.  Or, as is the case in Meridies, Kingdom
Law will govern an augmentation (Ansteorra has no such provision).
  Meridies Kingdom Law II-106:
A. An Augmentation of Arms may be bestowed by the Crown upon the arms of any
individual or group for the exceptional service to the Kingdom of a nature
not normally recognized through Society Awards; e.g., actions of a
particularly honorable or charitable nature.
B. The augmentation shall be of the form: three mullets argent, one and two
may be placed upon said arms where appropriate.
C. Those Augmentations bestowed prior to AS XXXVI (May 2001) may be formed:
three mullets argent, fesswise. However, all future Augmentations shall
adopt the current form.
Sumptuary Laws:
Supporters:
Paired Supporters, as used in the display of Achievements of Arms, may be
used by Royal Peers, and those groups and individuals having been granted an
Augmentation of Arms.

In period, even to this day, a Grant of Arms is theoretically a grant from
the Crown, issued under the authority of Letters Patent, under the hands and
seals of the Kings of Arms by virtue of the powers expressly and
specifically conferred upon them in the Letters Patent from the Crown.  An
Augmentation of Arms however is granted by Royal Warrant, under the hand and
Privy Seal of the Sovereign with no fees paid to anyone.  The warrant will
also state that the Augmentation is to be recorded in the College of Arms
guaranteeing that the family retains this award of honor.
An Augmentation may commemorate an act of honor or prestigious acts on the
battlefield.  One such Augmentation (Two round buckles with thongs) was
granted by King Edward III to Sir John de Pelham for the capture of the
French King John at the Battle of Poictiers.  Many Augmentations were
attributed to having been granted by William the Conqueror as rewards after
the Battle of Hastings.
An Augmentation need not be to an existing Grant of Arms as was the case for
Colonel Carlos who was granted a Gift of Arms by King Charles ("Or, issuing
from a mount in base vert, an oak tree proper, over all on a fess gules,
three Imperial crowns also proper").  This grant commemorated the time the
two of them spent in an oak tree while escaping after King Charles' defeat
at the Battle of Worcester where Charles was attempting to regain his crown.
Mistress Jane Lane was also important to the escape and was later rewarded
with "the canton of England" (The arms of England as a canton) as an
Augmentation.  They are the only family to which this honor has been given.
Later, when the use of Armorial Bearings was taxed by an Act of Parliament
the Royal Arms were specifically exempted, and on account of this canton,
the Lane family claimed and obtained exemption from the tax.


Charles Flynn