SENA, Armory Part 3, Style

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A.3. Armory Style

http://heraldry.sca.org/sena.html#A3

#A3AA.3.A. Types of Designs:

There are three types of designs (one with sub-types) that have slightly different style rules.

A.3.A.1. Fielded Designs:

We categorize these as devices and badges. The introduction in http://heraldry.sca.org/laurel/sena.html#A2B. Armory above discusses the differences between these two categories. The field creates a background for charges and creates a unified design. There are no limitations to the types of charges which may appear in these designs, beyond those in http://heraldry.sca.org/laurel/sena.html#A2B above. They may have any combination of charge groups that may be legally combined or may have no charges at all.

A.3.A.2.Fieldless Designs:

We categorize these as badges; devices must have a field. All the charges in these designs must touch one another to create a single self-contained design. Fieldless designs must follow all other style rules. They must include a primary charge, and may also include secondary, overall, or tertiary charge groups. Additionally, no charges may be used that are defined in terms of the field or its outline, such as a bordure, chief, or an ordinary that isn't couped.

A special subset of fieldless designs is tinctureless designs. These designs are those which do not specify a tincture for the charge or background, such as the English badge, (Tinctureless) A pheon. These designs may only be registered as seals for the use of principal heralds of kingdoms, although some earlier registrations to individuals exist.

A.3.A.3. Augmentations of Honor:

An augmentation is a mark of honor bestowed by the Crown that is added to an existing device. An augmentation may not be added to a badge. An augmentation may take many forms, including but not limited to a charged canton, a charged chief, charges in canton or chief, a charge associated with the Crown, or a charge associated with the individual receiving the honor.

While the right to an augmentation is bestowed by the Crown, its specific form must be determined through the normal registration process. Both the augmentation itself and the augmented device must follow the style rules and restrictions on charges. Because an augmentation adds complexity, augmented devices are often allowed to violate certain style rules, such as allowing charges on tertiary charges or a complexity count of greater than eight, as long as the identifiability of the design is maintained...

A.3.B. Armorial Contrast:

Contrast refers to the patterns of the use of tinctures in armory. All armorial submissions must meet the standards for contrast as set out here and in period practice.

A.3.B.1. Tinctures and their Classifications:

Tinctures are primarily divided into colors and metals. Colors and metals are said to have good contrast with one another. Each tincture may be depicted in a variety of shades; contrast is determined not by their shade, but by their categorization into color and metal. Shades that are overly pastel may be considered too light to be registered; baby blue is not an acceptable shade of azure.

• The colors are azure (blue), gules (red), sable (black), vert (green), and purpure (purple).
• The metals are argent (white or silver) and Or (yellow or gold). We capitalize Or for clarity, but do not capitalize other tinctures.

Furs are a group of named patterns used as tinctures. For the purposes of tincture, ermined furs are grouped in the same way as their background color. Ermine (a white background with black tails) and erminois (a yellow background with black tails) are metals. Counter-ermine (a black background with white tails) and pean (a black background with yellow tails) are colors. Furs such as vair and potent are two different patterns of multiple pieces in blue and white by default. As they are made up of multiple pieces, divided evenly between a color and a metal, they are treated as neutral and are considered to have good contrast with both colors and metals, as long as they do not share a tincture with the color or metal.

Proper is a term used for a charge in its "natural" or "standard" tincture. Items that were used inproper tinctures in period armory may be used. A list of proper tinctures is found in the Glossary of Terms. Any animal (not including monsters) that can be brown in nature can be blazoned as a brown X proper. Such an animal would be expected to be completely brown, as opposed to drawn naturalistically. Similarly, tools that can reasonably be wooden can be described as a wooden X proper, and are brown. Brown is considered to be a color, not a metal, and it is not identical to black or sable. While a few monsters have a defined proper, most of them do not because they do not exist in nature. Thus, monsters constructed from animals which can otherwise be proper may not be proper. Animate and inanimate charges proper may have wings of a heraldic tincture (or tinctures) added to them. Underlined portion updated per 1/2022 Cover Letter.

> For example, a rose proper is defined to be gules barbed vert seeded Or. Some proper animals include: a brown bear proper, a brown falcon proper, and a brown rabbit proper. Tools and other wooden objects include: a wooden staff proper, a wooden barrel proper. A heraldic dolphin proper is green with red fins while a natural dolphin proper is light grey (effectively argent).

> For example, a barrel proper winged argent, a sword proper winged gules, and a fox proper wings argent are all registerable as they are charges proper with wings added. However, a bear-headed fox proper, a monster with the forequarters of a fox and the hindquarters of a bear proper, and a monster with the forequarters of a bear proper and the hindquarters and wings of dragon vert may not be registered as monsters cannot be created by combining animals proper. Similarly, a fox with brown wings proper may not be registered as brown is not a heraldic tincture. Underlined portion updated per 1/2022 Cover Letter.

> In general, charges that do not have a heraldically defined proper may be described as proper when a normal person would be able to color them appropriately from knowing only the sort of item with no further color description. So, a tree, a thistle, and an elephant can be proper. On the other hand, a female American kestrel, an Arctic fox in winter phase, or a bay horse cannot be proper.

> Proper charges are classified as a color, a metal, or neutral depending on their dominant tincture. Grey and light skin tones are treated as a metal (equivalent to argent); brown and other darker skin tones are treated as a color.

	Metal	Color	Neutral
Plain tinctures	Argent, Or	sable, gules, azure, vert, purpure
Fur	Ermine, erminois	counter-ermine, pean	vair, potent
Proper	light grey, light skin tones	Dark grey, dark skin tones, brown wood, dark pink

Divided fields and charges are considered metals or colors based on the tincture class that dominates across the entire field or charge. If fields or charges are evenly divided into color and metal, they are treated as neutral and have good contrast with both colors and metals. If they are over half color, they are treated as colors and have good contrast with metals. If they are over half metal, they are treated as metals and have good contrast with color. This is not dependent on how much of the charge is made up of any particular tincture or fur. A charge may only share a tincture with the field when both the charge and the field maintain identifiability. A charge which has minor details of the same color of the field is registerable, as long as identifiability is maintained.

For example, Lozengy vert and Or, a chief Or may be registered, but the vert portions of the field must touch the chief to maintain identifiability. Vair, a griffin argent cannot be registered, because the complex outline of the griffin will be obscured by the portions of white vair bells that touch the griffin. Argent, a fox proper may be registerable, even though the identifying characteristic of the white-tipped tail is against a white field, but the depiction must retain identifiability.

A.3.B. 2. Definition of Good Contrast:

Good contrast between two tinctures means that they are not from the same classification. Pairings such as a color and a color or a metal and a metal are said to have poor contrast or to be low contrast. Pairings of the same tincture are said to have no contrast, and are allowed only as artistic details. The following pairings are said to have good contrast:

• a color and a metal
• a color and a neutral tincture
• a metal and a neutral tincture

In some cases, two neutral tinctures may have good contrast with each other, but identifiability must be maintained. This occurs most often when a charge is counterchanged over a line of division. In such a case, both the field and the charge are, as a whole, classified as neutral, but all edges that touch have good contrast with each other. [Updated 7 July 2013]

A.3.B. 3. Contrast Requirements for Divided Fields and Charges:

Divisions are categorized in terms of how many parts they create (two, three, four, and many) and whether those parts are equal or not. Equality is not based on literal size, but on the ways in which they were conceptualized in period heraldry.

A3B3a. Elements Divided in Two Parts:

Elements evenly divided into two parts (per pale, per fess, per bend, per bend sinister, per chevron, per chevron inverted) may use any two tinctures or furs, as long as the two sections do not have the same base tincture. Elements that further divide one of those two parts must have good contrast between its sections. Effectively, that means that either they must be made up of a color and metal or one half must be evenly split between color and metal, and identifiability must be maintained...

While we find fields or charges divided into two parts with poor contrast, we do not generally find complex lines of division separating regions with poor contrast. Thus, any pairing of low-contrast tinctures with a complex line of division must meet the standards in Appendix H.

A3B3b. Elements Divided in Three Parts:

Elements divided per pall or per pall inverted must have one part that has good contrast with the other two parts. No two parts may share a background tincture, but a part may share a tincture with another part which is multiply divided as long as identifiability is maintained.

A3B3c. Elements Divided Quarterly or Per Saltire:

Elements divided quarterly or per saltire may use any two tinctures or furs, as long as they do not share a base tincture. A section of such a field may generally not be further divided except in a pattern of multiple divisions. Effectively, that means that either they must be made up of a color and metal or one half must be evenly split between color and metal, and identifiability must be maintained...

While we find fields and charges divided into four parts with poor contrast, we do not generally find complex lines of division separating regions with poor contrast. Thus, any pairing of low-contrast tinctures with a complex line of division must meet the standards in Appendix H.

A3B3d. Elements Otherwise Divided:

Elements not already mentioned must have good contrast between their parts. These include fields or charges evenly divided into four parts other than quarterly or per saltire, fields or charges evenly divided into more than four parts of two different tinctures, and fields or charges unevenly divided into multiple parts of two different tinctures must have good contrast between adjacent parts of the field...

#A3B4A.3.B. 4. Contrast Requirements for the Placement of Charges:

The contrast requirements for the placement of charges follow the requirements for good contrast in http://heraldry.sca.org/laurel/sena.html#A3B2 above.

• A3B4a. Placement of Charges: Charges must have good contrast with the background on which they are placed. Primary, secondary, and overall charge groups are considered to be placed on the field and must have good contrast with it. Tertiary charge groups are considered to be placed on the underlying charge group and must have good contrast with that charge group.

Charges that are touching, either sustained or maintained, do not have to have good contrast with each other, though they must retain identifiability, as described below. This is also true of overall charges and the charge or charges they overlie.

• A3B4b. Identifiability: Charges and fields must retain identifiability. A field that is neutral may have good contrast with a charge that shares a tincture with it, but it may only be registered if both the charge and the field remain identifiable. Thus, the field and charges on it may share a tincture only if (1) the charges appear only on a section of the field with a different tincture or (2) only one of the two is multiply divided and the charge(s) is an ordinary or simple geometric shape arranged in a way that both the type of field division and charge are clearly identifiable...

Even if it meets these requirements, a particular depiction may still be unclear as to the identity of the field and the charge that lies on it, including whether the charge has a complex line of division. Such a depiction will not be registered. In general, any depiction that creates a situation in which predominantly low contrast sections of a multiply divided field and charge(s) are adjacent is likely to have identifiability issues.

For example, if the design Vair, a chief argent were drawn so that the vair bells against the chief were nearly completely argent, it would be difficult to identify the charge as a chief, and whether or not it hade a complex line. Therefore, it would not be registerable.

Similarly, when a primary charge and an overall charge that overlies it share a tincture or have poor contrast (which will generally be true), the identity of the primary charge and the overall charge must remain clear.

A.3.C. Voiding and Fimbriation:

Voiding and fimbriation are terms that describe the situation in which the interior of the charge is a different color than a strip around the outside of the charge. The term voiding is used for the case in which the interior part of the charge is the same color as the field. The term fimbriation is used for the case in which the interior part of the charge is of a different color than the field.

Voiding and fimbriation may only be used with ordinaries or simple geometric charges when they are part of a primary charge group. Peripheral ordinaries may not be voided or fimbriated, nor may other secondary, tertiary, or overall charges. All central ordinaries may be fimbriated, even those with complex lines, as long as there are no breaks in the outline of the ordinary. All central ordinaries with more than two ends, such as palls, crosses, and saltires, may be voided, even those with complex lines, as long as there are no breaks in the outline of the ordinary. As central ordinaries with two ends which are voided would give the unmistakable appearance of being multiple ordinaries, they may not be voided.

For example, both a cross and a cross engrailed may be either voided or fimbriated. However, a fess may only be fimbriated; a design that appears to be a fess voided must be blazoned as two bars. For example, a pale rayonny and a fess dancetty may be fimbriated, while a chevron rompu or a bend bevilled may not be fimbriated, as the latter are broken in their outlines.

A simple geometric charge is a charge that, when drawn at a smaller scale, will continue to match the outline of the larger charge closely. Simple geometric charges include lozenges, roundels, delfs, and mullets. However, as counter examples, estoiles and suns are not simple.

Voiding and fimbriation is generally used with a single central charge. For this reason, using voiding or fimbriation with charge groups that contain more than three charges will only be registered with documentation of such a pattern. Additionally, voided charges may not be registered in fieldless designs, as they do not have a field that can show through the voided portion of the charge...

Charges which are voided as part of their type, such as mascles, rustres, or mullets of five points or six points voided and interlaced, are not affected by these restrictions. They may even be tertiary charges or maintained charges, and may be used in fieldless designs. per November 2013 Cover Letter

Armorial designs with voided or fimbriated charges must be considered for purposes of conflict as equivalent to multiple designs. See http://heraldry.sca.org/laurel/sena.html#A5C3 for further details.

A.3.D. Clarity and Simplicity of Charge Groups:

The style and conflict rules are built around the idea of a charge group. A charge group is a group of charges of approximately the same size and visual weight that act as a single visual unit. This idea is not a period heraldic idea, but a modern SCA invention. It is our attempt to codify what we see happening artistically, stylistically, and for cadencing in medieval armory. The types of charge groups are discussed in Appendix I.

A.3.D.1. Clarity of Charge Groups:

Charges in an armorial design must be clearly organized into charge groups. Depictions of charges that blur the distinction between charge groups will not be allowed. Depictions of charges that that are ambiguous as to what sort of charge group they belong to will not be allowed. Documented armorial depictions will only be allowed if a method for describing them in blazon can be devised.

For example, the design a water bouget between in cross four estoiles must be clearly drawn to be either as a large primary water bouget and four smaller secondary estoiles or blazoned as in cross a water bouget and four estoiles and drawn as five charges of approximately equal visual weight. If the estoiles are drawn just a little smaller than the water bouget, it is not clear if the estoiles are intended to be part of the primary charge group or a secondary charge group. Such a design will not be registered.

Having identical types of charges in multiple charge groups on the field blurs the distinction between charge groups. Thus, it is not allowed, except for cotises and endorses around an ordinary. Charge types with identical blazons are allowed to be both on the field and in a tertiary charge group or in two separate tertiary charge groups...

Having two close variants of a charge in a design is confusing and makes the charge groups difficult to identify. Thus, two charges or depictions of charges that are artistic variants of one another or that otherwise are considered to have less than a distinct change (DC) between them in are not allowed in a single armorial design. A.5.C.3. defines distinct changes in more detail. This is true even if one charge is on the field and the other charge is on another charge. In precedent, this is sometimes referred to as 'sword and dagger'...

A.3.D.2. Simplicity of Charge Groups:

A charge group is most frequently a group of a single type of charges of a unified tincture in a single posture/orientation. However, more complex examples are found in period armory. The rules below discuss which complex designs are allowed and which are not allowed.

• A3D2a. Slot Machine: There are some period examples in which a single charge group contains charges of more than one type. Therefore, we allow two types of charges in a single charge group. Common patterns change the centermost of charges in a row or the bottommost of charges arranged two and one. However, a charge group with more than two types of charges is not allowed.
• A3D2b. Mixing Ordinaries and Other Charges: While charge groups may have different types of charges, charge groups consist of either identical ordinaries or complex charges. Thus, a single charge group may not mix ordinaries with non-ordinaries or mix two types of ordinaries.

For example, a design like Or, in pale an acorn proper and a bar gules// or //Sable, in pale a fess and a chevron// would not be registered. However, such mixtures of charges can be found in entire designs and can be registerable. For example, //Azure, a chevron argent between three sea-horses and a chief Or// is registerable, consisting of a primary chevron and two secondary charge groups. Similarly, //Gules, a fess between two chevrons argent is registerable; the fess is primary and the chevrons secondary.

• A3D2c. Unity of Posture and Orientation: The charges within a charge group should be in either identical postures/orientations or an arrangement that includes posture/orientation (in cross//, //combatant//, or //in pall points outward, for example). A charge group in which postures for different charges must be blazoned individually will not be allowed without period examples of that combination of postures. Arrangements of charges which cannot be blazoned will not be allowed. Some standard arrangements for period charge groups are discussed in Appendix K.

>> For example, a design such as Argent, two lions passant respectant and a lion statant erect affronty vert would not be allowed. Likewise, a design such as Azure, two pheons bendwise, and a pheon inverted Or would not be allowed. However, crescents, increscents, decrescents, and crescents pendant were used occasionally in the same armory, so armory which includes more than one of these is allowed.

• A3D2d. Allowable Differences within Charge Groups: Some differences are found in period amongst charges within a charge group. Thus, we allow some differences within a charge group, as long as they remain blazonable. This includes the changes to the tincture of charges (including partitions) within a charge group, and a tertiary charge group that is only found on part of a group of charges. Other changes not discussed here are generally assumed to be allowable.

A.3.E. Armorial Simplicity:

Period armory was mostly simple in nature, having only a few charge groups on the field and a few tinctures.

A.3.E.1. Arrangement of Charge Groups:

Charge groups must be arranged upon the field in a period fashion.

Appendix J gives lists of those arrangements of charge groups which do not need further documentation. All arrangements of two or fewer charge groups on the field are considered compatible with period style, except for those listed as not documented in Appendix J. Only a limited number of arrangements of three or more charge groups on the field are documented; those are listed in Appendix J. Other arrangements of charge groups must be documented.

A.3.E.2. Complexity Count:

We require that any submission not exceed a certain "complexity count," measured by adding the number of types of charges to the number of tinctures. Items with a complexity count of eight or less receive no penalty for complexity from this rule. Furs, such as ermine and vair, count as a single tincture rather than their component tinctures. Charges that have different names in different tinctures or orientations (roundels, crescents, gouttes) are considered one type regardless of the term used for them. All charges, including maintained charges, are counted, though objects worn by an animal or person do not. All tinctures are counted except those used only for normally unblazoned artistic details like teeth, claws, and eyes. Proper is not a tincture, but a description of a group of tinctures, each of which is counted separately...

An item with a complexity count of nine or higher that follows a period pattern of charges and tinctures may be registered, but may need to be documented as an Individually Attested Pattern.

A.3.E.3. Excessively Simple Designs:

Designs that consist only of a single tincture will not be registered. Designs must consist at least of a divided field or a plain field with at least one charge. Likewise, designs that consist only of letters or other abstract symbols, such as astrological signs, will not be registered. This is because their registration might limit someone from using their initials or a written version of their name or motto. Designs like these may be used by anyone. They simply cannot be registered.

A.3.F. Designs that Are Not Allowed:

Some designs that meet the other style rules are too far from period armorial design to be registered.

• A3F1. Excessively Pictorial: Designs may not be excessively pictorial, defined as a relatively naturalistic depiction of a scene. Tincture alone does not create an excessively pictorial impression. Any design which can be found in period armory is not excessively pictorial for the purposes of this rule.

For example, we do not consider the use of per fess azure and vert to be an unmistakable representation of the sky and ground, so that field division does not by itself cause a design to be excessively pictorial. For example, Azure, a wolf passant argent atop a trimount vert is a design found in Hungarian armory, and thus is not considered excessively pictorial. However, Per fess wavy argent and azure semy of natural dolphins argent, issuant from the line of division a wooden ship proper, sails set gules and in canton a roundel Or enflamed proper, depicting a ship sailing on the ocean under a clear sunny sky and a sea full of dolphins, is likely to be excessively pictorial.

• A3F2. Excessively Naturalistic: Heraldic beasts and plants are generally depicted in stylized heraldic depictions, postures, and tinctures. While we allow real-world forms of some charges whose period heraldic forms were quite unlike their real-world forms, such as the dolphin, they must still be drawn in the same art style as heraldic depictions. While we allow charges to be tinctured and blazoned as proper, as described in [A.4.B.1], designs that use multiple types of proper charges may be allowed only if the overall design and the sorts of proper charges used are compatible with period style. Any design which is attested in period armory is not overly naturalistic.

For example, we allow both a sea-horse// as the attested heraldic charge made of the front half of a horse and the back half of a fish and //a natural seahorse// as the type found in oceans, but both must be drawn in the stylized artistic style and in a standard heraldic posture. For example, //Argent, a brown bear and in canton a rose proper// would be allowed, as both of these charges are attested in these tinctures. However, //Or, an orca and in chief a loon between two penguins proper would not, even though we would allow armory in which any one of these charges was tinctured and blazoned as proper.

• A3F3. Obtrusively Modern: A design that makes an overt reference to modern insignia or designs may be considered obtrusively modern. References that require explanation to be seen as modern or are close to core style period armory will generally not be returned under this rule.

For example, a bend within a bordure gules to parody the international "No Entry" sign, especially when the bend lies over a primary charge, would not be registerable. Also, variations on the geometric Peace sign, despite being close to core style armory, would not be registerable.

• A3F4. Excessive Counterchanging: While counterchanging was common in period armory, it was used mainly with two or four part divisions of the field. Counterchanging of charges over more complex field divisions (barry, gyronny, etc.) is allowed with a semy or similar group of charges; in that design each charge should be drawn so that it is entirely on a single portion of the field. The counterchanging of a single charge over a field division with more than four sections must be attested to be allowed. Central ordinaries may be counterchanged over other simple ordinaries, as there are a few examples of patterns like Argent, a pile sable, overall a chevron counterchanged in late period England. Any other counterchanging of charges over other charges must similarly be attested to be registered.
• A3F5. Depictions Which Cannot Be Reproduced Reliably: Depictions that require the careful description of the relative positions of charges, tinctures, etc. in order to produce a visual effect cannot be registered. Designs must be able to be described in standard heraldic terms to be registerable.

For example, we do not use terms like the Victorian honor point to describe locations on the field. We do not have terms to describe the tinctures of a jester's hat in which each point is a different color.

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