[ANSTHRLD] [Fwd: Heraldry announcement for Commentary]
Jay Rudin
rudin at ev1.net
Thu Jul 10 08:04:12 PDT 2008
Tostig asked:
> Not being a member of the CoA, can anyone provide a summary
> of the argument(s) in favor of eliminating the Laurel Wreath from
> Territorial Arms?
Well, I'm not a member of the College of Arms, either, but the basic
argument is fairly straightforward:
Requiring a Laurel wreath is a non-heraldic, non-historical, non-authentic
bureaucratic requirement that usually forces more complex (and therefore
worse) heraldry. It makes it harder for new groups to design armory, and
harder for people to create banners and other heraldic bearings.
It is, in every relevant way, a violation of the College's charge to
encourage good, authentic armory.
English baronies don't have to use Lions. French shires don't have to use
fleurs-de-lys. Castilian cities don't have to use castles.
It doesn't serve the people, or the branches, or the CoA, or the
corporation, in any relevant way.
Sometimes we allow non-period options, as in the Mundane Name Allowance, to
serve the people of the SCA. Sometimes we require non-period restrictions,
like unique names, for bureaucratic simplicity. But there's no reason to
force a non-period restriction that gets in people's way, makes good
heraldry *harder* to design, and serves no actual purpose.
The only argument in favor of requiring a Laurel wreath is that it marks
our branches as SCA branches. That's true. "Look --bad, overly complex,
non-period heraldry -- it must be the SCA!"
I'm all in favor of striking down this useless holdover rule from the
1960s, when the SCA registered Elvish names and stars as place-names.
Robin of Gilwell / Jay Rudin
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