RfS Part X, Conflicting Armory

#10PART X - CONFLICTING ARMORY A piece of armory may not be too similar to other pieces of armory, as is required by General Principle 3a of these rules. Period armory frequently distinguished between immediate relatives, like a father and his son, by making a single change to the arms in a process called "cadency". The changes made in such circumstances can be considered the smallest change that period heralds would recognize. This section defines ways in which submitted armory must be changed to be sufficiently different from protected armory. #10.11. Addition of Primary Charges. - Armory does not conflict with any protected armory that adds or removes the primary charge group. Most cadency systems did not involve addition or deletion of the primary charge group, so this automatically creates an independent design. For example, Argent, two mullets gules// does not conflict with //Argent, a pale between two mullets gules//, and //Vert, a lion rampant Or and a chief indented argent// does not conflict with //Vert, a chief indented argent. #10.22. Substantially Different Charges - Simple armory does not conflict with other simple armory if the type of every primary charge is substantially changed. These types of changes were normally seen between complete strangers in blood, and were not usually used to indicate any form of cadency. For purposes of this rule, simple armory is defined as armory that has no more than two types of charge directly on the field and has no overall charges. The following examples are simple, with at most two types of charge on the field: Argent, a fess sable. Sable, three lions Or. Vert, two eagles and a maunch argent. Vair, a bordure gules. Per pale gules and argent, a fess between three lozenges counterchanged. Or, on a chevron between three clarions gules, three garbs argent. Purpure, on a pale dancetty within a bordure semy-de-lys argent, a millrind sable between two roses gules. The following examples are all non-simple, with more than two types of charges on the field, or with one or more overall charges: Argent, a fess between two lions and a lozenge azure. Vert, a chevron between three swords, a bordure Or. Gules, a bend between two roundels argent, overall a lion Or. Per bend argent and sable, a bend gules between a tree and a cross crosslet counterchanged. Argent, a dragon sable, overall a bend gules. Argent, a fess sable// does not conflict with //Argent, a lion sable. Vert, two eagles and a maunch argent// does not conflict with //Vert, three lozenges argent. Azure, a fess between three cups Or// does not conflict with //Azure, a chevron between three cups Or. In each case the designs are simple and the type of every primary charge has been substantially changed. Per chevron gules and argent, three oak trees counterchanged// does conflict with //Per chevron gules and argent, three fir trees counterchanged//, because the type of charge has not been substantially changed; they both conflict with //Per chevron gules and argent, two mullets and a fir tree counterchanged// because not all of the primary charges have been substantially changed. //Vert, two mullets and a clarion argent within a bordure Or// conflicts with //Vert, three gauntlets argent within a bordure Or because the first design is not simple, with three different types of charge on the field. #10.33. Required Charges Transparent. - Two pieces of official Society armory that share required charges may consider their Difference of Primary Charges as if the required charges were not there. This is to avoid penalizing the slight increase in complexity caused when official armory includes required charges like the laurel wreath or crown. As an example, Gules, a hammer within a laurel wreath and on a chief Or three fleurs-de-lys gules// would not conflict with //Gules, a mullet within a laurel wreath and on a chief Or three fleurs-de-lys gules. Required charges always count normally for difference themselves, this rule only ignores the complexity they add to a design. This provision may not be applied when comparing official Society armory with any other armory. #10.44. Significant Armorial Differences. - Two pieces of armory will not be considered to conflict if two clear visual differences exist between them. a. Field Difference - Significantly changing the tinctures, direction of partition lines, style of partition lines, or number of pieces in a partition of the field is one clear difference. In general, if the tincture of at least half the field is changed, the fields will be considered different. Per chevron azure and gules// has one clear difference from //Per chevron azure and sable//. //Per pale azure and Or// has one clear difference from //Per bend azure and Or// and from //Per pale embattled azure and Or//. //Bendy argent and sable// has one clear difference from //Per bend argent and sable//. //Barry gules and argent// has one clear difference from //Barry and per pale gules and argent//. There is a clear difference for reversing the tinctures of a field evenly divided into two parts, //per saltire//, or //quarterly//, but not for reversing the tinctures of a field divided in any other way; //Per pale nebuly ermine and gules// has one clear difference from //Per pale nebuly gules and ermine//, but //Paly ermine and gules// has no clear difference from //Paly gules and ermine//. Field treatments are considered an aspect of tincture, so //Per fess gules and argent// has one clear difference from //Per fess gules and argent masoned sable//. //Per fess dovetailed gules and argent// has no clear difference from //Per fess embattled gules and argent// because the difference between dovetailed and embattled lines is not significant. It suffices to change significantly the style of at least half of the partition lines, so //Quarterly per fess wavy argent and sable// has one clear difference from //Quarterly argent and sable//; //Paly and per fess argent and sable// has no clear difference from //Paly and per fess indented argent and sable//, however. //Gyronny Or and sable// has no clear difference from //Gyronny of twelve Or and sable because the difference between eight and twelve pieces is not significant. i. Charged Fields - If charges other than an uncharged peripheral ordinary are present, at most one clear difference may be counted for changes to the field. For the purposes of this rule the peripheral ordinaries are the chief, the bordure, the base (including the point pointed), the quarter, the canton, the gyron, the orle, the double tressure, and flaunches. There is just one clear difference between Per chevron ermine and azure, a pale gules// and //Per bend wavy Or and vert, a pale gules. ii. Field-Primary Armory - If neither of two pieces of armory being compared has charges, or if each has the same uncharged peripheral ordinary, they may derive greater difference from changes to the field. Such armory will be called field-primary armory. For the purposes of this rule the peripheral ordinaries are the chief, the bordure, the base (including the point pointed), the quarter, the canton, the gyron, the orle, the double tressure, and flaunches. >>>> (a) Substantial Change of Partition - If two pieces of field-primary armory have substantially different partitions, they are considered sufficiently different and do not conflict, irrespective of any other similarities between them. >>>> Any divided field is substantially different from any plain field: Per pale azure and vert// is substantially different from//Azure//. Any two of the following partitions are substantially different from each other except__ the pairs //per fess// and //barry//, //per bend// and //bendy//, //per pale// and //paly//, //per bend sinister// and //bendy sinister//, and//per chevron// and //chevronelly//: //per fess//, //per bend//, //per pale//, //per bend sinister//, //per saltire//, //per chevron//, //quarterly//, //checky//, //lozengy//, //gyronny//(of any number of pieces), //barry//, //bendy//, //paly//, //bendy sinister//, and //chevronelly//. //Checky// is substantially different from all other grid-like partitions (//i. e.//, those formed by two sets of parallel lines, like //lozengy// and //barry-bendy// ); these other grid-like partitions are __not substantially different from one another. //Barry and per pale argent and vert// is substantially different from //Checky argent and vert//, but it has only a clear difference from //Bendy and per pale argent and vert//. //Per chevron Or and gules// is not substantially different from //Chevronelly Or and gules//, nor is //Per pale wavy purpure and argent// substantially different from //Paly wavy argent and purpure, though in each case there is a clear difference between the fields. >>>> (b) Complete Change of Tincture - If the fields of two pieces of field-primary armory have no tinctures in common, they are considered completely different and do not conflict, irrespective of any other similarities between them. >>>> The ermine furs and their variants are considered to be different tinctures, so Per bend ermine and azure// is completely different from//Per bend erminois and gules// and from //Per bend argent ermined gules and sable//. The addition of a field treatment is also a change of tincture, so //Per fess argent and gules// is completely different from //Per fess argent masoned gules and sable. >>>> (c) Other Field-Primary Armory - In any case, independent changes to the tincture, direction of partition lines, style of partition lines, or number of pieces in the partition may be counted separately when comparing two pieces of field-primary armory. >>>> There are two clear differences between Per chevron argent and azure// and //Per pale nebuly argent and azure. iii. Fieldless Difference - A piece of fieldless armory automatically has one clear difference from any other armory, fielded or fieldless. Tinctureless armory and Japanese mon are considered to be fieldless for this purpose. b. Addition of Charges on the Field - Adding or removing any group of charges placed directly on the field, including strewn charges, is one clear difference. Each charge group may be counted separately, so Argent, a pale gules// has two clear changes from //Argent, a pale between two owls all within a bordure gules. c. Addition of Charges Overall - Adding or removing a group of charges placed overall is one clear difference. Or, a lion rampant purpure// would have one clear difference from //Or, a lion rampant purpure and overall a fess sable. d. Tincture Changes - Changing the tinctures or division of any group of charges placed directly on the field, including strewn charges or charges overall, is one clear difference. Changing the tincture of at least half of the charges in a group is one clear difference. Or, in pale three bulls heads gules// differs from //Or, in pale a bulls head gules between two more sable// , but not from //Or, in pale a bulls head sable between two more gules//. Separate differences may be counted for changing the tincture of different groups of charges, so //Vert, a pale between four mullets Or, all within a bordure argent// would have three clear differences from //Vert, a pale ermine between four mullets argent, all within a bordure checky argent and gules. As with the field, only one change can be counted for all tincture changes to the same group of charges. Tinctureless armory may not count difference for tincture of charges; the Fieldless Difference will count for one change and the second change must come from a category that does not involve tincture. e. Type Changes - Significantly changing the type of any group of charges placed directly on the field, including strewn charges or charges overall, is one clear difference. Changing the type of at least half of the charges in a group is one clear difference. Types of charges considered to be separate in period, for example a lion and an heraldic tyger, will be considered different. A charge not used in period armory will be considered different in type if its shape in normal depiction is significantly different. This means a lion would not be clearly different from a puma. Separate differences may be obtained from changing the types of charges in different charge groups. Changing Vert, a pale between two lions argent and a chief Or// to //Vert, a fess between two horses argent and a chief Or// produces two separate differences. Since the edge partition line of a charge is part of its type, the change from //a pale wavy// to //a pale embattled// is one clear difference. Changing from //a pale wavy// to //a fess embattled is also one change of type, not a change of type plus a change of edge partition. f. Number Changes - Significantly changing the number of charges in any group placed directly on the field or overall is one clear difference. One, two, and three are significantly different from any number, four is significantly different from six or more, and five is significantly different from eight or more. Six and higher numbers, including sem of charges, are not significantly different from each other. g. Arrangement Changes - Changing the relative positions of charges in any group placed directly on the field or overall is one clear difference, provided that change is not caused by other changes to the design. Changes to other parts of the design frequently cause changes to the arrangement of charge groups, so changing fromArgent, a fess between two unicorns within an orle purpure// to //Argent, a pale between two unicorns within an orle purpure// requires that the unicorns move from //in pale// to //in fess//. Changing from //Argent, three unicorns purpure// to//Argent, four unicorns purpure//will also cause some change in arrangement. These changes do not provide independent difference. Changes that are made on their own, like changing from//three mullets in fess// to //three mullets in pale// , or from //six mullets// on an uncharged field to //five mullets in cross, are clear differences. h. Posture Changes - Significantly changing the posture or individual orientation of charges in any group placed directly on the field, including strewn charges or charges overall, is one clear difference. Changing the posture of at least half of the charges in a group is one clear difference. Changing a sword fesswise// to //a sword palewise//, or from //a lion rampant// to //a lion passant//, is one clear difference. Multiple changes to the posture or orientation of the same charges may not be counted separately, so //a lion passant bendwise// is one clear difference from //a lion couchant to sinister. Changes of posture or orientation of separate charge groups may each be counted. A change of posture must affect the orientation of the charge, or significantly change its appearance. Changes in the position of the head, for instance, are not significant, nor is the change from statant to passant, which essentially moves only one leg. Changing from passant to couchant, however, visually removes the legs from the bottom of the charge and is considered significant. i. Addition of Charges on Charges - Adding or removing any group of charges placed entirely on other charges is one clear difference. For example, charging a pale with three martlets, or charging a bordure with eight martlets, provides one clear difference. j. Changes to Charges on Charges - Changes to a group of charges placed entirely on other charges may create one clear difference. No more than one clear difference can be obtained from changes to the same group of charges on other charges. >>> i. Making two or more visually significant changes to the same group of charges placed entirely on other charges is one clear difference. >>> Changes of type, number, tincture, posture, or independent changes of arrangement may each count as one of the two changes. Generally such changes must affect the whole group of charges to be considered visually significant, since the size of these elements and their visual impact are considerably diminished. For example, Sable, two mullets and a fleam argent and on a chief Or three mullets gules// would not have a clear difference from //Sable, two mullets and a fleam argent and on a chief Or a mullet between two lozenges vert. >>> ii. For armory that has no more than two types of charge directly on the field and has no overall charges, substantially changing the type of all of a group of charges placed entirely on an ordinary or other suitable charge is one clear difference. Only the new submission is required to meet these conditions in order to benefit from this clause. A charge is suitable for the purposes of this rule if (a) it is simple enough in outline to be voided, and (b) it is correctly drawn with an interior substantial enough to display easily recognizable charges. >>> Sable, on a pale argent three lozenges sable// has one clear difference from //Sable, on a pale argent three ravens sable//. //Or, on a heart vert a pheon argent// has one clear difference from //Or, on a heart vert a cross moline argent//. //Argent, on a fess azure between two pine trees vert a spear argent// has one clear difference from //Argent, on a fess azure between two pine trees vert a rose argent//. //Or, on a chevron between two millrinds and a lion passant gardant sable three escallops argent// does not have a clear difference from //Or, on a chevron between two millrinds and a lion passant gardant sable three crosses crosslet argent// because there are more than two types of charges directly on the field. //Gules, a lion rampant, overall a bend argent semy-de-lis sable// does not have a clear difference from //Gules, a lion rampant, overall a bend argent billetty sable// because there is an overall charge. //Gules, on a pale Or a crescent between two fleurs-de-lis gules// has a clear difference from //Gules, on a pale Or three mullets gules//. However, it does not have a clear difference from //Gules, on a pale Or three crescents gules, because the type of all of the tertiary charges has not been changed. >>> Argent, a lion rampant gules charged with a cross crosslet Or// does not have a clear difference from //Argent, a lion rampant gules charged with a heart Or// because the lion is too complex in outline to be voided. //Gules, on a mullet of six points Or a cross crosslet sable// does not have a clear difference from //Gules, on a mullet of six points Or a pellet//because the interior of a correctly drawn mullet of six points is too small. As a new submission, //Argent, a lion rampant and on a chief gules three fleurs-de-lis argent// does not conflict with //Argent, a lion rampant between three mullets and on a chief gules three crosses crosslet argent, even though the latter does not meet the conditions of this rule. The new armory has only two types of charges directly on the field, so there is one clear difference for substantially changing the type of the tertiary charges; the second is for removing the mullets (see RfS X.4.b). If, however, the second armory were new and the first already registered, the second armory would conflict with the first; as there are more than two types of charges directly on the field, there would be just one clear difference for adding the mullets. #10.55. Visual Test. - If the tinctures, shapes, or arrangement of the charges in a submission create an overwhelming visual resemblance to a piece of protected armory, the submission may be held to conflict even if sufficient theoretical difference can be counted between them. A piece of armory is registered and protected, not the verbal description used to record that armory. The use of different terminology to describe two designs that are visually similar does not affect any potential for conflict that may exist. Thus, Or, a fess vert// is not different from //Vert, a chief and a base Or// even though one could theoretically count sufficient difference between them from these blazons. Unusual cases may occur where contrast is weak and unusual arrangements of charges are employed, and in such circumstances the cumulative similarities between two pieces of armory may outweigh any specific differences. As an example, the cumulative effect of the similarities between //Vert, ermined Or, on a mullet argent a lion rampant azure within a bordure embattled ermine// and //Vert, ermined Or, on an estoile argent a lion rampant azure within a bordure embattled erminois creates a strong possibility of confusion.