What comes to mind when you picture a medieval scene? Silken banners fluttering in the breeze, armored knights wearing helms with elaborate crests and carrying colorful shields, the master of the hall intoning the names of noble lords and ladies, the king pressing his signet ring into the melted wax sealing a royal document….None of these could happen without heraldry. Despite its pragmatic origins as a means of quick-n-easy identification, heraldic display has permeated our vision of the medieval aesthetic.
The SCA encourages new members to choose a medieval name, and encourages heraldic display. You can even register your name and/or coat of arms with the SCA College of Arms, if you so choose. But don’t stop there: Make a banner with your arms on it. Embroider your badge on a pouch to give to your sweetheart. Block print it on a cushion for your campstool. The possibilities are limitless….
Name research (onomastics)
Devices, coats of arms, etc.
Under construction.
Roll of Arms of Østgarðr
- A request from the Seahorse Pursuivant, Feb. 18, 2000
Just for fun…
- A “Top Ten” list of least popular (in the SCA) period names
Other Heraldry Pages We Like
- The Academy of St. Gabriel, a group of SCA members interested in high-accuracy research into actual medieval practice in naming and arms
- Stefan li Rous’s Florilegium, a collection of lots of articles from the Rialto (the Usenet newsgroup rec.org.sca) and various SCA-related email lists, sorted by subject. Many, but not all, are relevant to heraldry. The quality of scholarship varies, and you will frequently find three messages in the same file flatly contradicting one another, so you have to assess the information yourself… sorta like Real Life….
- The Brigantia Herald’s Page, containing heraldry information about the East Kingdom
- The SCA Heraldry Page
- Francois Velde is not in the SCA, but he has an extremely informative Heraldry site