RE: heraldry ?

["Thorpe, John" <JThorpe@grnvil.columbiasc.ncr.com>]

Andreah,

%How do I go about designing my arms?  I guess since I've been in the SCA 
over
%5 years now it's about time I do so.  I know that if I go to my local 
herald
%and say I need some help, he'll ask me if I have any ideas.  Well, I don't. 

%Do I just start looking at other people's (historical &SCA) and find what I
%like, or do I pick something meaningful and try to make fit the rules? 
 Help,
%I have no idea what I'm doing here, heraldry has never really interested me
%before, so I never paid any attention to what's ou
%t there.  Any info would be appretiated!

Well, where are you?  Some of us heralds do make house-calls.....

I tend to recommend a structured approach to designing heraldry, but
it may not fit with everyone elses' ideas.  There isn't a "right" and 
"wrong"
way to design your heraldry.  Just beware that the more you know and
learn about heraldry, the more "authentic" you will probably want them to
be.

First I would start with your persona.  Where are you from, and what time
period?  Answering those two questions will help you decide what heraldry
to use as a model for your own.  Next, choose heraldic elements
(tinctures, charges) from that time and place that you like.  Decide on an
arrangement of those charges that appeals to you and is balanced.  If you
can make it look like armory typical of your time and place--all the better!
*Then* check your work against the SCA Rules for Submission and
tweak it from there.  Don't get discouraged if your first few attempts don't
fit the rules--get help from your herald if you want it or need it.  Above 
all,
the rules can be bent if you can provide documentation to prove that what
you want is typical of a region (this is known as the Regional Style
Loophole (tm))

Does this help?

In service,
Eldrydd
Nottinghill Coill Pursuivant Extraordinary
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