Sea Creatures

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Illustrations:

Period:

Sea-nettle:

Libri

Libri de piscibus marinis: in quibus verae piscium,page 533, by Gulielmi Rondeletii in 1554, sea-nettle or jellyfish

Modern:

Pictorial Dictionary, 3rd edition:

* Fish]

* Mermaid; Melusine]

* Sea-horse]

* Sea-lion]

* Sea-monsters]

* Sea-nettle]

* Sea-serpent]

Vector Graphics:

• Viking Answer Lady - http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/Stars/Heraldry_SVG_Images/index.htm

Sea-horse naiant:

• Sea-horse

SENA

ppendix L:

A Partial List of Postures and Orientations This is a list of postures and orientations that can be used to determine whether two charges or groups of charges conflict or whether there is a distinct change for posture/orientation. Animate Charges D. Fish: The postures listed within each group generally conflict, though a distinct change may be given for facing to dexter or to sinister.

• haurient, urinant
• naiant

F. Sea creatures and other Erect-Default Creatures: This category is for sea creatures and other creatures whose default is erect. The postures listed within each group generally conflict.

• erect

A Heraldic Primer:

Sea Creatures and their postures - http://heraldry.sca.org/primer/fish.html (defunct, originally by Stephen Gold)

As we have discussed the birds of the air and the beasts of the field, the denizens of the ocean are also seen in armory. They range from the dolphin (a fish very different from Flipper) and the whale through various different fish used primarily for canting. Rounding out the aquatic cavalcade are lobsters, crabs, escallops, octopi [now to be blazoned as polypus/polypi as of March 2012 LoAR in order to use a more period term] and squid [to be blazoned as calamarie or cuttle-fish per the March 2012 LoAR].

A dolphin	A lucy (medieval name for pike)	A whale	A lobster

Just as beasts and birds have certain names for postures, most fish have specific names for postures, as outlined below.

Posture	Defining traits	stylised drawing	Example
Embowed	Curved body bending 'inward'
Embowed-counterembowed	'S' shaped curve to the body, Seen most often with dolphins. [Some treatises refer to this at torqued, torquend, torgant, or targant]
Haurient	Body in pale, head to chief [haurient for dolphins looks like embowed-counterembowed ?]
Naiant	Body in fess, head to dexter
Urinant	Body in pale, head to base

Precedents:

Precedents of the SCA College of Arms - http://heraldry.sca.org/laurel/precedents.html
Morsulus Heralds Website - http://www.morsulus.org/ (to search the LoARs and Precedents)

Use the above links to be sure any precedents listed below haven't been superseded by newer precedents.

Definition:

September 2010 - sea nettle:

#46Luciana Pesce. Name and badge. (Fieldless) A sea-nettle gules. This is the defining instance of a sea-nettle// in Society armory. The sea-nettle is the creature usually termed a "jellyfish" in modern English. It has a round body with dangling, frond-like tentacles. Documentation was supplied from Gulielmi Rondeletii's Libri de piscibus marinis: in quibus verae piscium, published in 1554, and matches the submitted charge. http://heraldry.sca.org/loar/2010/09/10-09lar.html

Registerability:

(Restricted, Reserved, SFPP, OOP)

Conflict:

March 2020 - From Wreath: Heraldic Whales and Natural Dolphins

The Letter of Pends and Discussion included a submission that raised the question between a heraldic whale and a natural dolphin, which existing precedent does not address. A heraldic whale is a monstrous beast-headed fish-like creature not unlike a heraldic dolphin. As used in the SCA, heraldic whales have distinctive though inconsistent features such as tusks and a spout, based upon various cartographic depictions. The whale is a period heraldic charge, found in period heraldic treatises such as de Bara's Blason des Armoiries (1581), though they do not include spouts or tusks. Without the distinctive features, the whale visually similar to a heraldic dolphin and thus no difference is granted between them. Additionally, we have a long tradition of not granting difference between natural and heraldic versions of the same charge. This is true of both dolphins and whales. However, it has also often been ruled that conflict is not necessarily transitive. The tusks, spout, and body proportions, if they were used consistently with no period heraldic example, would have made the charge visually distinct from a natural dolphin. However, due to both the lack of consistency in depicting heraldic whales in SCA heraldry and a period heraldic example which show none of these features, there is no compelling reason to provide a DC between a heraldic whale and a natural dolphin.

In summary:

• A heraldic whale conflicts with a natural whale
• A heraldic whale conflicts with a heraldic dolphin
• A heraldic dolphin conflicts with a natural dolphin
• A heraldic whale conflicts with a heraldic dolphin

http://heraldry.sca.org/loar/2020/03/20-03cl.html#3

May 2005 - tincture of mermaid tails:

[#45] Elise l'Éstrange. Name and device. Azure, a mermaid proper crined Or maintaining in her dexter hand a shamshir proper and in her sinister hand a gemstone gules, on a chief argent three crescents gules. This device does not conflict with Camilla de la Reynarde la Droitière, Azure, a blonde mermaid proper, tailed argent, maintaining in each hand a garden rose gules, on a chief argent, three foxes passant gules. There is a CD for changing the tincture of half the mermaid and another for substantially changing the type of the tertiaries under RfS X.4.j.ii. Our practice has been to ignore maintained charges when defining a device as simple armory for the purposes of this rule and RfS X.2. http://heraldry.sca.org/loar/2005/05/05-05lar.html

September 1992 - melusine vs mermaid:

Simona Zon d'Asolo. ...The device is also too close to Ellis (Papworth 983): Argent, a mermaid proper. There's no difference granted for melusine vs. mermaid.

• September 1992 LoAR

Identifiability:

September 1992 - "proper" on argent:

Simona Zon d'Asolo. The arms have insufficient contrast on the argent field. Human flesh "proper" was sometimes emblazoned as argent in period tomes; and in any case, carnation (pink) cannot be seen against white. (Technically, a melusine proper is considered neutral, and acceptable on argent; in practice, its contrast with an argent field is borderline. But the arms definitely violate Rule VIII.2.b.i.)... September 1992 LoAR

Collected Precedents:'

Tenure of Elisabeth de Rossignol (May 2005 - July 2008) - see fish The 2nd Tenure of François la Flamme (October 2004 - May 2005) - see fish