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MINUTES OF THE HERALDS MEETING – March 22, 2026
(11:01 AM to 12:41 PM)
ATTENDEES:
Domamir Vlatko syn, Vesper; Edith of Swanesdale, Matins; Hirsch von Henford, Golem; Elewys Gwynne verch Llewelyn Dedewyth ap Gwenhwyfar Llwyd, Seawolf; Anne FitzRichard, Stellanordica; Victoria of Durham, Green Cloak; Kean de Lacy, Argent Fox Herald; Rayven the Other, Rivenoak Herald; Rhiceneth ferch Rosamund.
COLLEGE OF HERALDS MEETINGS
The March meeting was held online. All future meetings will be held via online conference, with the exception of Twelfth Night which will be held in-person only, until Vesper announces otherwise.
Note that West Kingdom Heralds Meetings can be found on the West Kingdom Calendar under the All Activities option [https://westkingdom.org/all-activities-calendar/].
Herald's Meetings for 2026:
May 17, July 12, September 13, November 22.
Meetings usually begin at 11:00 AM and will be held via online/remote teleconference until
further notice.
The DEADLINES for submission forms and documentation are: The 2026 DEADLINES for submissions forms and documentation are: May 5, July 1, September 2, and October 28.
Submission forms must be complete and received either via EMAIL or hardcopy by the deadline date at midnight to be considered at the next meeting (which is about 11 days later, except December due to holidays and the roadshow meeting prep time needed). If the forms are EMAILED, then payment must arrive by the meeting day. WALK-IN submissions will not be accepted while meetings are held via remote conference.
REPORTS
Vesper (Damir): We had a Crown tournament, we have heirs. Otherwise, his ad for a successor has been published in The Page and he will be accepting submissions through April.
Seawolf (Elewys): Looking forward to Coronet next weekend. Had a lovely time at Crown doing consultations.
Sable Swan (Teagan): Since the 12th Night meeting, there was an investiture in Cynagua. The transition of Royals went well, and the event was a success.
Teagan doesn't recommend being primary Herald and Event Steward for the same event. It was a lot.
Since then, she has assisted with hammering out heraldry submissions for four persons in Rivenoak.
Sable Sawn is still searching for a Successor.
Stellanordica (Anne): Winter Coronet, a little while ago, was successful. Heraldic training continues, they have a couple new heralds they are working on training. For July, Anne will not be at Coronet, Caitríona is going to cover the duties of Stellanordica.
Exchequer (Moira): The College remains solvent. They will need to send a check to the Society College of Arms soon for prepayment of fees.
To date, Moira has only received one check from the PayPal Deputy for submissions paid through PayPal. She will be following up on this, as she was told at Twelfth Night that there had been a delay getting checks signed, but that they would be mailed shortly.
Moira will also be following up with the Kingdom Exchequer on getting a new bank account opened. At the Exchequer's meeting at Twelfth Night she was informed that Society is entering into a new business banking agreement with Chase bank, so she has been waiting until that is established to request a new account. One of the benefits of that agreement is the ability to allow deposits by ATM using a Business Deposit card.
Matins (Edith): Submissions cycle continues to turn. PayPal communication is flowing smoothly between Matins and the PayPal deputies, not impacted by the issues noted by our Exchequer.
Baldric (vacant): This position is recently vacant.
The College of Heralds has been offered a track at Diamond Beltane - Victoria will work with Moira to coordinate classes. They are especially looking for: classes on court and field heraldry, a basic heraldry class – especially one aimed at book heraldry.
Another thought is to talk to work with any newcomers classes and offer a class on “What’s happening in court or why should I attend court?” including some basic precedence and protocol.
Brachet (vacant), Leveret (Ræv).
Green Cloak (Victoria): Thanks to Damir for working several rounds, Seph Mccalpen and Shida new heralds, who all volunteered and helped with the field heraldry. She and her volunteers also worked several of the town crier announcements.
Thanks to all the heralds who helped with Crown: Moira of Kent - trained a new field herald and one round, Sven Gotfriedson - field one round, þorvaldr Fiaksson – trained a new herald; 2 rounds, Merkin - new field herald; trained with þorvaldr Fiaksson, Drogo the Quiet - 3 rounds, Thialvi Ulfsson, Zvezda Darii – rapier, Ivone Ponsleyr, Seth MacAlpine, Hosokawa Shitagau (Shida), Edmond of Surrey, Asta Bjornsdotter - rapier, Rew Paine – rapier; Sunday morning shout.
Green Crown (Moira): Last weekend was Spring Crown Tournament. Courts ran smoothly thanks to the excellent work of Duchess Ivone Pons Leyr and Mistress Leah Raedaelf of Pagham, who heralded Evening Court, and Master Richard Talbot of Blackmere, who served as Consort's side Herald for Morning Court on very short notice. Thanks also to Vesper Principal Herald, Master Domamir Vlatko syn, for heralding Invocation, which allowed Moira to assist Green Cloak with the Field Flags, and to Lady Elewys Gwynne verch Llewelyn Dedewyth ap Gwenhwyfar Llwyd for assisting in preparation of the Heralds' books for Evening Court.
The only 'hiccup' was a clerical error on Green Crown’s part which resulted in the Event Steward not being called up for her final announcements. Moira has apologized to the Event Steward and her Mentor for this oversight and the resulting problems. She has figured out the circumstances that caused the error, and it will not be repeated.
As discussed at 12th Night, Moira pulled the coronation and Crown tournament ceremonies out of the Heralds' ceremony books. We have run it that way for two events now and we are finding what works and doesn't work. Golem has done the first pass at separating the electronic documents, but we haven't reprinted anything yet for the ceremony books.
Green Trumpet (vacant): Vacant.
Green Banner (Aasa), Successor (Ravyn the Other): No report received. It was noted that Aasa and Elewys ran a very popular consultation table at Spring Crown.
Golem (Hirsch): Since 12th Night things have been relatively quiet. Golem has been working with (or trying to) the Morsulus Herald to get a couple of issues with names and armory resolved, one should be on the LoI from the West this month as an appeal. One should be in the January 2026 LoAR’s Errata letter (a confusion with one individual over names, holding name, and so on which Morsulus and Post-Meeting Heralds felt worked better as an Errata option rather than running through an appeal, it’s a simple fix in the OandA database).
The West Kingdom Ceremony book was split into two, well, really three, books based on conversations at the 12th Night meeting. The primary book is the ceremonies minus the Coronation ceremony. The Coronation ceremony is in its own book. The last part, or book, is the appendices, which include both the New Peer Packets, and the Alternate Language fealty oaths. The feeling was that if a peer was being created at an event and wanted to use an alternate language fealty oath, they would have worked with us to get that in advance, and so having them in the back of the ceremony book was unnecessary.
Otherwise, we’re pretty much status quo. Golem is still looking for folk interested in learning and helping with the various parts of what he does.
Ræv and Hirsch finished through names starting with the letter “C” for everyone in the Who’s Who. Reviewing heraldry, updating emblazons, and generating higher resolution armory for use. Much thanks to Ræv for all his work on this endeavor.
Job Openings: If you are interested in any of the job positions mentioned above, where someone notes they are looking for a sucessor, please go to this page on the heralds' website (this one): Job Openings.
ANNOUNCEMENTS / Other Business
GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTSFacebook Page: The West Kingdom Heralds' have their own page on Facebook, announcements, help with consultation, and more are often done there:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/302970543102065/
The West Kingdom web team have added a Discord channel for heraldry, which is used for consultation, look for the #heraldry group.:
ELECTRONIC RESOURCES: Many interesting heraldic links can be found through the SCA Heraldry web page at https://www.sca.org/heraldry, including the Laurel home page, the on-line Armorial and Ordinary (with search capabilities) and The Academy of St. Gabriel (an onomastic and heraldic consultation service). The West Kingdom Heraldry site and the West Kingdom Awards List can be accessed through the West Kingdom site, https://www.westkingdom.org. Heraldic queries may also be addressed to Vesper at herald@westkingdom.org -- answers may take a few days.
Also see above for the Kingdom Heralds' Facebook page and Discord channel.
BRACHET MEETINGS
Contact brachet@heralds.westkingdom.org for external commenting participation. (At this time the office of Brachet Herald is vacant.)
FROM THE LOARS
The cover letters, acceptances and returns for the past can be found at https://heraldry.sca.org/loar/. If you are interested in responding to some of the calls for commentary put out by the Laurel Sovereign of Arms, please be sure to visit the site.
November, 2025 LoAR (printed January 29, 2026) (West - No LoI)
Cover Letter
West Acceptances - November LoAR
West Returns - November LoAR
December, 2025 LoAR (printed March 17, 2026) (West - September, 2025 LoI)
Cover Letter
West Acceptances - December LoAR
West Returns - December LoAR
West Pends - December LoAR
In Service,
Edith of Swanesdale, HE,
Matins Herald
SUBMISSONS – March (2026)
ITEMS SENT TO LAURELCatriona Juliane Bayard (New Name & Device sent to the CoA)
The West College requests assistance documenting the byname within acceptable years.
The submitter cares about the spelling (Prefer to keep "C" vs "K" in first name) and the gender (female) of the name.
Catriona - Catriona and other spellings found in a variety of sources including
[https://medievalscotland.org/kmo/AnnalsIndex/Feminine/Caiterina.shtml]
(justification on spelling change found under name submission for Catriona MacLeod in OSCAR)
[https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JMTL-1XD]
[https://heraldry.sca.org/kwhss/2016/SCA%20Problem%20Names%20Revisited.pdf] (pg4 #9)
Juliane from [Withycombe] p 184. 1196=1225 and 1273 under the header <Julian> on p183.
Bayard - from Dictionary of Tudor London Name by Sara L. Uckelman p.215 under the header Bayard dated 1576 and 1582 [https://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/english/tudorlondon.pdf] (pg 215).
The English name formation <double given + byname> is acceptable per SENA Appendix A.
Device:
Azure, a pug sejant guardant argent, on a base Or a fret azure.
Documentation for pug dog in period, a 14th century alabaster tomb sculpture of a pug couchant from Jonathan Clark Fine Art: [https://jcfa.co.uk/content/viewing-room/40/artworks-5841-medieval-english-alabaster-tomb-sculpture-of-a-pug-14th-century/].
Cernach Hrørecsson (Resub to Kingdom Device sent to CoA)
Device submission was returned by the West College in Jan’2026 due to lack of identifiable orientation of the charges. This resubmission addresses those concerns.
Gules, three stags rampant one and two Or.
Cressida Foster (New Badge sent to CoA)
(Fieldless) A ginkgo leaf vert surmounted by a rapier inverted Or.
Gerold Bright Angel (Other - Registered Device)
The West College requests a correction in the OandA for the registrations of the device and badge of Gerold Bright Angel.
Originally registered in Jan 1974 a device was blazoned: Gules, within two wings conjoined in lure, a double cameo bust, all Or.
Originally registered in Jan 1974 a badge was blazoned: Gules, a cross quadrate by estoile, and in canton a mullet Or.
In the Jan 2011 LoAR, there is an update to the blazon for the device:
Gerold Bright Angel. Reblazon of device. Gules, a cross quadrate and in canton a mullet Or.
Blazoned when registered in January 1974 as Gules, a cross quadrate by estoile, and in canton a mullet Or, the cross is not actually quadrate. The 'corners' are actually acute angles, and the whole somewhat resembles the minor points we sometimes see on a compass star. The cross, however, is functionally and heraldically equivalent to a cross quadrate, and we have changed the blazon so that future heralds are not confused by the old blazon.
This appears to have been an update for the BADGE not the device. The West College requests that both registrations be reviewed and the blazons in the OandA be updated to match the original submissions.
Hanieh Hamedani (NEW Name sent to CoA)
The submitter will NOT accept any changes, and notes that gender (female) of the name is important.
Hanieh - from Arabic given masculine name Hani, formed to the feminine by adding vowels to the end. From Period Arabic Names and Naming Practices by Da'ud ibn Auda.
Hamedani - meaning 'from Hamadan' forming a locative byname (listed under Nicknames as 'place of residence' in the documentation) from Andalusian Names: Arabs in Spain by Juliana de Luna.
The Arabic name formation <given + locative byname> from Andalusian Names: Arabs in Spain by Juliana de Luna.
Hrafn inn tryggvi (New Name sent to CoA)
The submitter will accept the following changes: grammatical changes to make it appropriate for 10th-12th century Old Norse.
The submitter cares about the meaning (Raven the honest) and gender (male) of the name.
Hrafn - [Geirr Bassi] p.11 multiple occurrences of “Hrafn” as a masculine given name.
inn tryggvi - found in “Viking Bynames found in Landnamabok” by Sara L. Uckleman [http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/norse/vikbynames.html] <in tryggvi> listed as a descriptive surname.
The Scandinavian name formation <given + byname> is found in SENA Appendix A.
Lora de Estwode (NEW Name Sent to CoA)
The submitter will accept the following changes: grammatical changes to make it appropriate for 14th century England. And further cares about the meaning (a surname related to nature (Eastwood, Estwode, etc) ) and gender (female) of the name.
Lora - from "Female Given Names from Kent, 1302-1363" by Jodi McMaster lists Lora as a given name in 1349-1350 -
[https://www.s-gabriel.org/names/aelfwyn/kentfemnames.html]
Historical gravesite in Brandesburton, England with birth year of 1345 and death year of 1369 - Lora de St Quintin -
[https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/132015032/lora-de_st_quintin]
Historical gravesite in Coventry, England with death year of 1339 - Lora Hastings Le Latimer -
[https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/139316705/lora-le_latimer].
de Estwode - from "Subsidy Roll (Poll Tax) for 1379 for the Yorkshire parish of Halifax" lists two instances of the surname "de Estwode" and two instances of the surname "Estwode" in Stansfield, England - [https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/WRY/Halifax/HalifaxSubsidyRoll].
The English name formation <given + byname> is acceptable per SENA Appendix A.
Rhiceneth ferch Rosamund Delwyddelyn (Device Resub to Laurel sent to CoA)
Device submission was returned on the Oct’2024 LoAR: Device. Per fess purpure and azure, a wheel of cheese and three square crackers Or.
This device is returned for lack of documentation for square crackers. No evidence was provided, and none could be found, that these are a period charge, or that they fit our requirements for a constructed charge.
This resubmission replaces the square crackers with round crackers, which could also be bezants pellety.
Per fess purpure and azure, in pale a wheel of cheese and three round crackers Or.
Willelmus le Chasseur de Ierusalem (NEW Name Change)
The previously registered Ibrahim ibn Da’ud ibn al-Basir al-Qal’at Fimi is to be retained as an Alternate.
The submitter will accept the following changes: English Norman born in the Crusader Kingdoms Le Chasseur is important
Submitter cares about the language/culture (Norman born in Crusader Kingdoms) and gender (male) of the name and further requests the name be authentic for: 12th-13th Century Norman born in the Crusader kingdoms.
Willelmus is contained in masculine given names section, de from marked locatives section, and a version of the name of the City of Jerusalem in the place names section found in Academy of Saint Gabriel article Latinized names from 12th century Jerusalem. [https://alysprojects.blogspot.com/2014/04/part-1-of-article-latinized-names-from.html?m=] via [https://www.s-gabriel.org/names/french.shtml].
Le Chasseur is from French the hunter according to the Collins English - French Dictionary. [https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/french-english/chasseur#google_vignette].
Naming pattern <given + byname + locative byname> derived from SCA College of Heralds website [https://heraldry.sca.org/sena.html#AppendixA].
William of Red Valley (NEW Device)
Sable, a bull passant, a bordure embattled Or.
Yoshida Nobutatsu (NEW Name Sent to the CoA & Device Returned for Further Work)
The submitter will accept the following changes: a different spelling.
The submitter cares about the meaning, sound, and language and/or culture (Sengoku era Japanese) of the name, and further cares about the gender (male).
The surname Yoshida is a documented Japanese family name used prior to 1600, including the Yoshida lineage active in the Muromachi period, notably Yoshida Kanetomo (1435–1511), a prominent religious figure of the Yoshida house (Breen and Teeuwen, A New History of Shinto, 2010).
The given name Nobutatsu follows documented Japanese naming practices of combining masculine name elements. The element “Nobu” appears widely in period warrior names such as Oda Nobunaga (1534–1582) and Takeda Nobutora (1493–1574) (Turnbull, The Samurai Sourcebook, 1998). The element “-tatsu” is likewise attested in period Japanese names, including Uesugi Noritatsu of the Muromachi period and Date Shigetatsu, a sixteenth-century samurai retainer of Date Masamune (Turnbull, The Samurai Sourcebook, 1998). Compound virtue-based names formed from such elements are characteristic of medieval Japanese naming conventions (Deal, Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan, 2007).
RETURNS – March (2026)
Magnus the Red (Change of Device Returned for Further Work)
The previously registered device: Sable, an arrow inverted Or and overall a stag at gaze argent is to be retained as a badge.
Or, a lemon tree eradicated fructed proper, in base a hand, within a double tressure sable.
Lemon tree is not a documented charge for registration, so documentation would need to be provided. In addition, the double tressure is very small and pushed way to the edge. It was suggested that this be redrawn with the tree smaller, the leaves on the top bushier, and the double tressure and hand all larger.
Or, address the other issues and call this a tree fructed with the fruits Or but not specified as lemons.
Maud Syon Tysse (Resub Name to Laurel Return for Further Work)
This is a resubmission, original submission Mads Syon Test was returned for obtrusive modernity in Oct 2024.
The name Mads Steineiche, submitted as an alternate, was registered as primary when the alternate was returned. Please change this to the alternate when this resubmission is registered.
While technically the submission is not as close to “Mad Scientist” as the original, every herald reviewing this immediately thought this name could be read as “Mad Scientist” even without reading the history of the previous return. Therefore, this submission is also returned.
The submitter cares about the sound (none noted) and does not care about the gender of the name.
Maud - "Northamptonshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1532-1812", Ancestry [https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/9198/records/1188358?tid=&pid=&queryId=aaa6a4d9-d3fa-432f-9678-bd3f5a3cdb79&_phsrc=Ooi873&_phstart=successSource], Maud Miggins, 26 Jul 1557; images of Church of England baptism, marriage, and burial records for the years 1532–1812 from various parishes in Northamptonshire, England.
Syon - "England Marriages, 1538–1973", FamilySearch
[https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N2B2-35X : 13 March 2020],
John Syon, 1618.
Syon - "Westminster, London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1558-1812", Ancestry
[https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/2398779:61865?tid=&pid=&queryId=5e8e4bfd-35fc-4261-ae84-a1185bdb5351&_phsrc=bsV1100&_phstart=successSource],
Isaack Syon, 16 Mar 1598; images of Church of England baptism, marriage, and burial records from the City of
Westminster, England.
Tysse - "Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre; Chippenham, Wiltshire, England; Wiltshire Wills and Probates; Reference Number: P2/5Reg/251D", Ancestry
[https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/52679007?mark=7b22746f6b656e223a22304162536374686a426f78387333654834764d664530756f4679734b58645276654b6c35674a6b383341633d222c22746f6b656e5f76657273696f6e223a225632227d],
Alice Tysse, 1576; images of Church of England wills and probate records from the County of Wiltshire, England.
Tysse - "Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre; Chippenham, Wiltshire, England; Wiltshire Wills and Probates; Reference Number: P2/T/9", Ancestry
[https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61333/records/84527?tid=&pid=&queryId=d4c2a2b8-5200-48fe-8edf-94aff8d72546&_phsrc=Ooi868&_phstart=successSource],
John Tysse, 1561; images of Church of England wills and probate records from the County of Wiltshire, England.
Vladimir Gawainsson (NEW Name & Device Returned for Further Work)
This name is documented as <given Russian + byname English> however Russian and English names are not documented as combinable.
The submitter marked no boxes.
Vladimir - https://heraldry.sca.org/names/paul/vl-y.html.
Gawain - The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, E.G.Withycombe, p. 127.
Gawainsson - "son of Gawain".
Device:
This device is returned for conflict with
Per bend sable and argent, a wolf's head cabossed between in bend sinister a sword bendwise inverted and a
sword bendwise, all counterchanged. There is one DC granted for
the removal of the secondary charge group, however two
DCs are required to clear conflict.
Per bend sable and argent, a wolf’s head counterchanged.
Yoshida Nobutatsu (NEW Name Sent to the CoA & Device Returned for Further Work)
This device submission is returned for administrative reasons: the image for the armory does not use the lines of the form.
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