[ANSTHRLD] Suggestions needed

[Alasdair MacEogan]

Donnchadh Beag mac Griogair <donnchadh at cornelius.norman.ok.us> did ask:
>  What exactly is the ensign of a group?  Is it the group arms without the
>  laurel wreath, or does it have to be a specifically registered badge?  
>  Namron's arms are very simple, and in our case the ensign is the arms
>  minus the laurel wreath, but I didn't know if that held true for everyone.

Ensign, or Insignia, (fr. enseigne): the more correct term for the armorial bearings of a Kingdom, of an Office, or of a Community.

http://books.google.com/books?id=luMMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA229&vq=ensign&dq=heraldic+ensign

In this instance Robin is referring to basically the populace badge for the steppes.  A badged registered by th group for the purpose of its members to display to show their affiliation.  Specifially for Steppes, this one:

"The following badge associated with this name was registered in July of 1989 (via Ansteorra):
Per bend vert and sable, a bend indented to chief Or."

For Ansteorra you have:
# The following badge associated with this name was registered in May of 1980 (via Ansteorra):
Or, a mullet of five greater and five lesser points within a bordure sable.

As you can see both of these have an obvious derivation from the arms of the group.  Steppes removed the oak tree and laurel wreath.  Ansteorra went even simpler.  In my opinion an ensign should have common elements with the arms of the group (such that it is easy to identify the bearer as a mermber of that group)  but should be fairly simple to reproduce.

I am not sure what other groups have registered for their ensigns.

Alasdair