[Steppes] heraldry question

[John B]

Greetings,
I am the new herald to the Steppes, and while I may not be able to answer all of your questions right away, I do have a wealth of material to draw upon.  Feel free to email specific questions to me at steppesherald at gmail.com.
For general blazoning I have a few tips:
1.  Make it meaningful to you, you can always change it later, but the process of submissions takes up to a year for final approval.
2.  Keep it relatively simple, espcially if you wish to sew/draw your device on clothing, banners, etc.  Remember, the purpose of the device was to identify individuals on the field of battle.
3.  The more charges, the fewer colors and vice versa.  This also applies to layers on the shield.
4.  Obey the tincture rules (generally, no metal on metal or color on color) to provide the greatest visual contrast possible.  2 color fields are generally fine, as long as they are very different (e.g., per fess azure and gules...this would be the shield divided horizontally in the middle with blue on top and red on the bottom...this is a good example of a two color field with good contrast, bad contrasts might be blue and purple side by side or green and red side by side).
5. Don't worry about the language.  When you find something you like, show me (or another herald) and get their advice for the blazon when you fill out the form.
6. Don't worry about conflict checking right away.  Again, a herald can help you with this later.

Remember these are general rules and may not fit every case.  It is also worth noting that while the SCA tries to maintain a certain discipline in our heraldry, there are historical exceptions to almost every rule.  Finally, the most important rule of all: Have fun with it!

Other heralds: If I have anything wrong here, please correct me (don't beat me), I'm new :-)
Regards,
Giovanni

 




________________________________
From: Miss M Brow <starstruck503 at hotmail.com>
To: steppes at lists.ansteorra.org
Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2009 10:40:28 AM
Subject: Re: [Steppes] heraldry question


Thank you for these interesting bits of information.  As someone who is currently looking for a good device but who is terribly intimidated by all the possibilities coupled by the "strange" language, I was intrigued.  Please, tell us some more?  This might be very helpful for those who are new, also, to help them figure out what they might like to have as their device.  I know I *could* research it on my own or take a class, but I learn better from tidbits that cross in conversation as the immense scope doesn't boggle my mind as much this way.  Perhaps someone could occasionally throw out onto the list a "quickie" blazoning lesson?

Thanks again for the tidbits :D    Rua> From: rudin at ev1.net> To: Steppes at lists.ansteorra.org> Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2009 10:20:48 -0600> Subject: Re: [Steppes] heraldry question> > Katya asked:> > > For the heralds in our world:> >> > Ermine is white with black spots, what is black with white spots called?> > In real-world heraldry, black with white ermine spots is ermines or > counter-ermine, but the SCA calls it counter-ermine.> > Gold with black ermine spots is erminois, black with gold ermine spots is > pean.> > Any other combination is treated like a field treatment, rather than a fur. > Serena has a white field with blue ermine spots, and it's blazoned "Argent, > ermined azure".> > Robin of Gilwell / Jay Rudin > > _______________________________________________> Steppes mailing list> Steppes at lists.ansteorra.org> http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/steppes-ansteorra.org
_________________________________________________________________
Windows Live™: E-mail. Chat. Share. Get more ways to connect. 
http://windowslive.com/online/hotmail?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_HM_AE_Faster_022009
_______________________________________________
Steppes mailing list
Steppes at lists.ansteorra.org
http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/steppes-ansteorra.org