[Scriptoris] Need description of the Sable Talon badge

[Diane Rudin]

Emma wrote:

> Some clarification.
> 
> The image of the badge, to which regalia should be made, is this:
> http://heraldicclipart.com/catalog/eagle%20leg%20erased.html
>
> The award name and official badge registration is still in the works.
> Regardless, the award's insignia/regalia (whichever word you like) doesn't
> necessarily have anything to do with it's badge. After all, the registered
> bage of the Iris of Merit isn't the rainbow ribbon that is worn as the
> award's regalia.

Some *more* clarifications:

The name and badge for the Sable Talon were fast-tracked in May 2005, so they
must have been considered by Laurel/Pelican/Wreath Sovereigns of Arms by now. 
Star, I recommend calling them to find out if these were registered or not. 
Not having been informed of their decision in a timely manner is starting to
cause problems such as this.  This is why Sara and I couldn't include it in the
most recent revision of the charter texts.

The insignia for all Ansteorran Grant-level orders differs from, but in some
way relates to, the badge of the order.  Historical precedent for this practice
includes the English Order of the Garter.  However, the insignia of all
Ansteorran AoA-level awards, excepting KGA/QGA and baronial orders, is "the
badge of the award worn as a medallion or pin".  Therefore, the insignia of the
Sable Talon will be "the badge of the award worn as a medallion or pin".  That
we do not yet know the fate at Laurel of the proposed badge of the Award of the
Sable Talon does not change that fact in the least.  As soon as some badge is
registered, that will be the insignia for the award, as with all other similar
awards of that rank in Ansteorra.

If there are people wishing to create insignia for the Sable Talon in advance
of there being a registered badge, they should be made aware that their efforts
may be rendered useless, should the badge fail to be registered, however remote
that possibility may seem.

As to the terms "regalia" and "insignia":  they are not interchangeable. 
Regalia is a subset of insignia, being that insignia worn by royals (rex=king,
regina=queen, regnum=kingdom).  As noted in the Oxford English Dictionary,
regalia is (definition 2), "The emblems or insignia of royalty; the crown,
sceptre, and other distinctive ornaments of a king or queen which are used at
coronations."  I note with a certain amusement that the earliest citation of
the term in this meaning is from 1626.  While it does note as a third main
meaning, "the decorations or insignia of an order" (first cited 1678), it also
states, "Noted as an improper use in Edmondson's *Complete Body of Heraldry*
(1784)".  Small consolation that we're making the same mistake that others have
made for three hundred years.  

Meanwhile, "insignia", meaning what we think it means, dates from 1648,
although it is a direct rip from Latin, so it really dates back to the Romans. 
"Ensigns" meaning badges or symbols of office dates to 1513.  Spellings include
"insignes".  I expect that the relatively recent use of the term is due to the
fact that it is only relatively recently that there's been a need for a
collective term; in other words, when you've got only one or two pieces of
insignia or regalia, saying "get my Garter" or "get my crown" is just as
effective as "get my insignia" or "get my regalia".

--Serena, Blanc Gryffon Herald


		
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