Heraldic Submission Commentary and Decision
Heraldic submissions for names and armory go through a two-phase decision-making process. Submissions first go to the Kingdom of Atenveldt College of Arms, then to the SCA College of Arms (Laurel). At each phase, the process is is basically the same: commentary from members or delegates from the appropriate College of Arms and a decision based on that commentary and their knowledge of the rules. For this reason, submissions can take up to 9 months to get to a published decision. Here is an example timeline for a typical submission:
| Month | Action |
|---|---|
| Jan | Submission paperwork received by Kingdom (Parhelium Herald) |
| Feb | Submission published for commentary at Kingdom on a Letter of Presentation (LOP) or Kingdom Letter of Intent (KLOI)
Kingdom College of Arms provides commentary on submissions |
| Mar | Kingdom College of Arms decides on submission based on commentary and SCA heraldry rules
Decisions published Accepted submissions forwarded to the SCA College of Arms (Laurel) on a Letter of Intent (LOI) |
| Apr | Submission open for commentary at the SCA College of Arms |
| May | Submission open for commentary at the SCA College of Arms |
| Jun | SCA College of Arms decides on submission based on commentary and SCA heraldry rules
Names decided by Pelican Sovereign of Arms Armory decided by Wreath Sovereign of Arms |
| Jul | Decision letter is drafted and proofread |
| Aug | Decision letter, called Letter of Acceptances and Returns or LoAR, is published |
| Sep | Decision notifications sent from Kingdom to submitter |
Administrative requests such as exchanging a badge and device, releasing a badge or name, heraldic wills, armory transfers, etc, will be sent to Laurel on the next LOI, as Kingdom commentary is unnecessary.
Decision Definitions
Laurel has three possible decisions for each submissions (with one special case of one decision type). The first two should be largely self-explanatory, but sometimes the detail behind these can be unclear. Contact your local herald or Parhelium Herald with any questions.
At Kingdom, these decisions also apply, but for returns at Kingdom the reason should be very clear, such as clear
| Decision | Definition |
|---|---|
| Accepted | The submission has been accepted by the SCA College of Arms and will be registered in the SCA Ordinary and Armorial. The submission is confirmed as being owned by the submitter (and optional secondary owner for badges). |
| Returned | The submission has been returned by the SCA College of Arms and will not be registered. The reason for the return is included with the decision, although sometimes the heraldic reasoning is not clear. |
| Pended | The decision on the submission has been pended for additional commentary or information to allow Laurel to make a decision. This is not a return, but rather an effort to get enough information to accept the submission or to provide sufficient justification to return. |
| Pend for Redraw | A subset of the Pended decision, a redraw of the submitted armory is required to clarify the emblazon (design). This is specific to armory submissions, and it usually means that the arms as presented are accepted, but that the emblazon needs to be redrawn to clarify some part of the armory design. In most cases, the redraw will require approval from the submitter, and Parhelium Herald will work to facilitate this. |
