[ANSTHRLD] question about augmentation

[Jennifer Smith]

Star really should be piping up soon. (Right? Right?)

But in lieu of Star, I give you Bordure's opinion: 

Brian wrote:
> Yes, Modius understands his augmentation is of the Kingdom Arms.

Tostig wrote:
> > Someone might want to tell Master Modius this.  TRM awarded 
> him a specific
> > augmentation at Coronation.

Bearing in mind that I haven't seen or heard a definitive account (ie,
direct from the Crown or from Star), IF this is in fact true, I give you the
following precedent from the term of François la Flamme I:

	[Vert, a bull's head caboshed Or, for augmentation, in chief a lance
fesswise argent dependent therefrom a pennant bearing Argent, a pale gules,
overall a dragon passant vert, in chief a laurel wreath proper] The armory
on the pennant isn't the Midrealm arms, as stated on the LoI, because it
does not include the crown. It does include a laurel wreath, which may not
be used in personal armory, even in an augmentation (see Jan w Orzeldom,
Ansteorra returns, April 1992 LoAR). The arms of a branch without either
laurel wreath or crown may be used as an augmentation on personal arms (see
Jonathan DeLaufyson Macebearer, Ansteorra returns, August 1988 LoAR). [Anna
z Pernštejna, 09/01, R-Middle]

...So as you can see, the actual full kingdom arms can't be used as an
augmentation, because it includes a crown and a laurel wreath.

Also from François we have:

	[Sable, a torteau fimbriated and conjoined in fess with an
increscent and a decrescent Or, and as an augmentation on the torteau, a
rose sable charged with a rose Or, thereon a mullet of five greater and five
lesser points sable]  Because this submission uses a sable rose on a gules
roundel, it violates the rules of contrast in RfS VIII.2.a. [...stuff about
the return that's irrelevant to my point...]
The submitter has been given permission for the augmentation to match a
registered badge of the Kingdom of Ansteorra, (Fieldless) A rose sable
charged with a rose Or, thereon a mullet of five greater and five lesser
points sable. The SCA has registered numerous augmentations in which a
kingdom badge is used as an augmentation for an individual. In all such
cases, in order for the augmentation to be registered, the kingdom must give
permission for the badge to be used as the augmentation, and the badge must
be stylistically acceptable as an augmentation in the context of the armory
which it augments. [Tivar Moondragon, 09/02, R-Ansteorra]

...but a badge from the kingdom can be used, and has in fact been done in
the past. Some kingdoms have even gone so far as to register a "designated
augmentation", that anyone granted an augmentation in that kingdom can use
without having to track down a letter of permission.

(Where did I find this stuff? I went to the "Precedents of the SCA College
of Arms" page at http://sca.org/heraldry/laurel/precedents.html, and visited
the subpages in order, newest to oldest. I didn't find anything particularly
relevant in Shauna's tenure, but struck gold as it were in François' term.)

What's actually very very useful is this nice informative article from
Wreath on the October 2003 cover letter of the LoAR:


>From Wreath: Augmentations

This was a busy month for augmentations. An augmentation is one of the
highest honors bestowed by the SCA: it behooves us to make policies for
augmentations as clear as possible, so that the excellent people receiving
the honor have as little difficulty with registering augmentations as
possible. Therefore, while the ensuing discussion mostly addresses issues
raised by the augmentations this month, it also addresses some other general
issues and policies that arise frequently when considering augmentations.

We particularly direct kingdom heralds to the sections on "Kingdom Badges
that are Designated as an Augmentation" and "Augmentations and Appropriate
Content", as they set forth some previously unstated policies and
interpretations.

Who Specifies the Form of an Augmentation

We remind the College that the form of an augmentation is determined
according to the normal registration process: the submitter proposes the
form of the augmentation and it is either accepted (or not) based on the
Rules for Submission. The form of the augmentation cannot be mandated by the
crown bestowing it. RfS VIII.7 states "While the right to an augmentation is
bestowed by the crown, its form is subject to the normal registration
process." The Board of Directors has upheld this policy:
[Concerning an augmentation whose form was specified by the granting Crown]
At the time of the August [1987 Laurel] meeting this submission was pended,
despite the strong conviction of most of the College that it infringed on
the proper usage of [a reserved charge]. Since it involved a "constitutional
issue", i.e., in the event of conflict between the will of the Crown and the
decision of the College, which takes priority. As the Board of Directors at
its January meeting has now decided that the College may not be compelled to
register that which is in violation of its existing rules, this submission
is now formally returned. (LoAR February 1988)
Augmentations and General Paperwork

If a person's device changes at the same time that an augmentation is added,
the armorial changes need to be performed in two separate submissions
actions, each with its own set of submission forms: one for the change of
the device (without the augmentation) and one depicting the changed device
and adding the augmentation: "... as we protect both the augmented arms and
the unaugmented arms, a device change and an augmentation must be submitted
as two separate actions" (LoAR October 2000).

Augmentations and General Conflict Issues

RfS VIII.7 states, "If [the augmentation] has the appearance of being
independent armory, for example a charged escutcheon or canton, then it is
independently subject to the normal rules of armorial conflict." This means
that the augmentation must be checked for conflict as if it were a separate
piece of armory.

Note that the converse is not true: it is not necessary to check new devices
or badges for conflict against previously existing augmentations that have
the appearance of being independent armory. This is because the
augmentations do not have an existence separate from the arms that they
augment, and therefore are not independently protectable entities. Per the
LoAR of October 1985: "Arms may be borne with or without an augmentation,
but the augmentation should not be used separately from the arms."

Some commenters have theorized that if a person registers an augmentation
that appears to be independent armory, the independent armory is somehow
grandfathered to the kingdom that originally bestowed the augmentation, and
thus (the theory continues) the independent armory could be registered by
any new recipient of an augmentation from that kingdom. But this cannot be
the case, because the augmentation does not have an independent existence,
and because the kingdom has no ownership of, or even control of, the form
taken by an individual's augmentation.

Note also that, per RfS VIII.7, it is not necessary to check augmentations
for conflict when they do not have the appearance of an independent display
of armory. If someone's augmentation takes the form ... and for
augmentation, in chief a rose argent, the rose in chief does not have the
appearance of an independent display of armory, and one does not have to
check it for conflict as if it were (Fieldless) A rose argent.

We also remind the College that augmented arms are to be checked for
conflict both with and without the augmentation: "Augmentations in Society
armory should always be blazoned as such; the bearer has the option of
displaying the armory with or without the augmentation, and conflict should
be checked against both versions" (LoAR September 1992, pg. 26).

Augmentations and Letters of Permission

The SCA has previously registered augmentations that appeared to be
independent armory and were in conflict with - or identical to - a badge
owned by a kingdom or some other entity. In these cases, it has been
necessary for the person with the augmentation to have a letter of
permission from the owner of the badge in order to register that
augmentation. As noted in the LoAR of September 1995 regarding an
augmentation (which was in conflict with armory belonging to a kingdom):
For the ... conflict, we need to receive a letter of permission to conflict
signed by the Crown or the kingdom Seneschal. It has always been the policy
of the College not to assume that permission is given even if explicitly
stated in a LoI (which was not the case here), but to require a copy of a
written letter of permission to conflict.
Such permission was explicitly stated to be present in the first of a
(relatively) long line of augmentations from the crown of Caid where the
recipient elected to use the Caidan War Banner on a charged canton or
escutcheon, per the LoAR of October 1995: "A letter of permission from the
Crown of Caid for the use of the War Banner of Caid as an augmentation has
been received by the Laurel office." These letters of permission to conflict
have not always been mentioned in the LoAR, but are present with the
paperwork.

Kingdom Badges That Are Designated as an Augmentation

In the case where a kingdom has a badge designated as an augmentation, it
seems appropriate to rule that a person or entity with an augmentation from
that kingdom may be assumed to have permission for his/her/its augmentation
to conflict with the specifically-designated augmentation badge. Kingdoms
that already have badges that are serving as an augmentation should strongly
consider adding the "augmentation" designation to those badges, to cut down
on subsequent paperwork with letters of permission to conflict.

A kingdom badge that is designated as an augmentation may not imply any
particular rank or status for the bearer. It is appropriate for a kingdom to
consider adding an "augmentation" designation to a populace badge, ensign,
war banner, or a previously undesignated badge without reserved charges. It
is not appropriate to add an "augmentation" designation to an order, award,
or office badge, or to an undesignated badge with a reserved charge.

The augmentation of the Kingdom of Meridies, (Fieldless) Three mullets one
and two argent, was registered in the LoAR of March 1996 with the following
comments: "This is an augmentation of arms which the Crown of Meridies may
grant to individuals it deems worthy. It's [sic] purpose is not the same as
a fieldless badge; as an augmentation, it should always be displayed on a
field by the recipients." These LoAR comments referred to the fact that the
armory contained charges that were not conjoined. Then, as now, such armory
was illegal style on a fieldless badge per RfS VIII.5. But, because an
augmentation will always be displayed on a field, a designated augmentation
may break these fieldless style rules. The other constraints in RfS VIII.5
could also be broken for an augmentation, so a kingdom could register an
augmentation of (Fieldless) a bordure embattled ... or (Fieldless) a bend
charged with ..., even though these would not be registerable designs for
any other type of fieldless armory.

It also seems appropriate to allow a kingdom's designated augmentations to
incorporate armorial motifs that are grandfathered to that kingdom, thereby
allowing users of a designated augmentation to receive the same
grandfathering that the kingdom would have. As an example, hypothesize that
the Kingdom of Atlantia chose to designate its badge, (Fieldless) A
unicornate natural seahorse erect azure, finned argent, as an augmentation.
The SCA's current policies do not allow new registrations of unicornate
natural seahorses without the use of the grandfather clause. A hypothetical
Atlantian recipient of an augmentation could place the designated
augmentation on any suitable place on his device. If he already had an
uncharged canton Or on his device, he could create the augmentation for
augmentation, on the canton a unicornate natural seahorse erect azure,
finned argent. However, a hypothetical Atlantian recipient of an
augmentation could not use the designated badge to create the augmentation
for augmentation, on a canton Or a unicornate natural seahorse erect azure
finned argent. This augmentation would not be identical to the designated
augmentation, and thus, the kingdom's grandfathering would not extend to
this augmentation.

Augmentations and Appropriate Content

The September 1995 LoAR ruled in general that no piece of armory could be
exactly duplicated as an augmentation: "We have not previously allowed
armory, even as an augmentation, to be an identical version of the armory of
a group or office, whether or not a letter of permission to conflict
existed." However, this portion of ruling has been overruled by the October
1995 acceptance of the Caidan War Banner as an augmentation, and by
successive similar registrations. At this point, in some cases augmentations
may be identical to armory belonging to a group (or an individual). However,
the point that an augmentation must not appear to be a claim to "status or
powers the submitter does not possess" (RfS XI) is one that must be
considered whenever an augmentation is registered.

Precedent notes that, in at least some cases, the use of a badge of office
as part of an augmentation may give an incorrect implication that the holder
of the augmentation is the holder of the office. Since that statement will
not always be true, the augmentation is not allowed in that circumstance.
The LoAR of September 1995 dealt with an augmentation where the owner of the
augmentation quartered her original coat with a quartering that was a
tinctured version of a kingdom herald's seal. That ruling read, in the
immediately pertinent part:
The exact conflict with the seal of the office of the ... Principal Herald
is more troublesome for a couple of reasons... [one reason that] it is
troublesome is that it was a period practice for the holders of an office to
marshal the arms of the office with their personal arms. This does not
appear to apply to former holders of the office, but only to incumbents. As
a consequence, this augmentation appears to be a claim to be the current ...
Principal Herald, which does then fall afoul of our rules against the claim
to 'status or powers the submitter does not possess' (RfS XI).
We also believe that any augmentation that incorporates the badge of an
office in a fashion that resembles an independent display of arms is likely
to give a very strong implication that the submitter holds that office, even
outside of the context of marshalling. We note that there is no pattern of
use of badges of office used in the SCA as augmentations. Only one such
augmentation has been registered (a sinister canton of the arms of the
Exchequer of the West registered in 1979). Therefore, we rule that it is not
permissible for an augmentation to exactly duplicate a badge of office, even
with a letter of permission.

Precedent holds that individuals may not register an augmentation that uses
an inappropriate reserved charge, as it would be such a claim to "status or
powers the submitter does not possess". Per the LoAR of April 1992: "Laurel
wreaths have always been reserved in the Society to branches of the Society,
and may not be registered to an individual. (see, e.g., Baldwin of Erebor,
LoAR of 10 March 1985, p.4) It is Laurel's belief, and that of many of the
commenting heralds, that this restriction applies to augmentations as well
as to devices, the same way that coronets and loops of chain, even as
augmentations, have been restricted to those who may rightfully bear them."

It also seems appropriate to consider whether an augmentation may ever
duplicate the badge of an order or award. Such an augmentation gives a
strong implication that the owner of the augmentation is a member of that
order, or a holder of that award. We at this time rule that such an
augmentation cannot be registered if the owner of the augmentation is not a
member of that order or does not hold that award, even if he has a letter of
permission from the branch that owns the badge. We leave open the question
of whether it is ever appropriate to register an augmentation that is
identical to an award or order badge. [10/03, CL]



So there you have it. Any further questions? :)

-Emma, Bordure