The College of Arms prides ourselves on the high success rate of the submissions we process. In the past decade, ~90% of all submissions that appear on a kingdom letter of intent are ultimately approved by Laurel. The vast, vast majority of submitters sail through without any sort of hassle at all.
But you, dear reader, are here because you’re one of the unlucky few who’ve run into a roadblock in your submissions process, and you’re ready to tell anyone and everyone about how The Heralds™ have ruined the SCA for you.
As a submitter with a history of names and armory returned by Laurel, I understand better than most about what you’re going through right now. And as a Herald with more than two decades of submissions experience, I’m here to tell you that all is not lost! Every decision can be appealed to a higher heraldic authority, and depending on your particular submission, there’s a high likelihood of success on the appeal!
Who Blocked You?
The first step in strategizing your appeal is to figure out at which level your submission was returned. Each step in the heraldic process has different criteria for return, and different ways to appeal.
Here are the people that may block your path to registration:
- The Local Herald – This is the herald you come across casually. They may be your own branch herald, or a herald you’ve chatted with online. You may have talked with them about ideas you’ve had, and been told that they’re not likely to pass, so you’ve not bothered to put together any paperwork.
- The Consulting Herald – This is the herald you worked with directly to put your submission together. At some point in doing the documentation or checking for conflicts, you were told that there was a problem and the submission can’t move forward.
- The Submissions Herald – This is the herald at the kingdom level who’s processing your completed submission. If they’re returning your name or armory for further work, they’ll cite specific rules for why your submission can’t proceed.
- The Commenting Herald – This is a herald in the Online System for Commentary and Response. While your submission is in commentary, they may raise concerns about registerability and advise the Sovereign of Arms to return it.
- The Sovereign of Arms – This is the herald at the Society level who makes the ultimate decision on whether a name or piece of armory will be registered. There are two: Pelican decides names, while Wreath decides armory. If they return your submission, there should be a lengthy write-up explaining why.
Strategy Guide
In the sections below, I’ll go into more detail about each herald, and how you might be able to bypass them.
The Local Herald
This first level of interaction with the heraldic community is the most varied. There are hundreds of people in the SCA who identify themselves as heralds, and they run the full spectrum of skills, knowledge, and experience. When you’re casually discussing what you might want your name or armory to be, you might be talking to a newer herald who’s still learning the rules. You could just as easily be talking to a senior herald who’s intimately familiar with the rules, perhaps even a former Sovereign of Arms like me.
Or you might be talking to Steve1.
Steve fancies himself a herald, though he hasn’t held office since the early 1980s. The laws of heraldry he cites to you are half-remembered versions of rules that were replaced decades ago. He doesn’t keep up with the latest rulings from Society, and he’s likely to express his own personal opinions as if they were SCA policy.
But here’s the thing about Steve. Steve is just one person, and has no influence over the College of Arms or the decision-making process. Appealing his decision is easy, because it has no authority behind it. If you don’t like how Steve is treating you, or if you disagree with what he’s said, you can and should find another herald to talk to.
And if Steve was particularly rude to you, you should let your kingdom’s Principal Herald know; none of the heralds in charge want submitters talking to Steve.
The Consulting Herald
Once you’ve decided what you want to submit, you’ll sit down with a herald to put together the paperwork. This might be at a consultation table, or one-on-one. During this discussion, the consulting herald may find issues with your submission. Perhaps they find a potential conflict, or can’t find documentation to justify part of your name or armory. To avoid the issue, they may advise you to change your submission in some way.
Odds are, your consulting herald is advising you in good faith, and offering you options that are more likely to pass than what you’ve brought to the table. However, it is ultimately your choice to push the submission forward. If you want to take your chances, you can ask the consulting herald to take the submission as-is. If they refuse, you can send your submission directly to the submissions herald.
The Submissions Herald
Each kingdom has a submissions herald, who is tasked with reviewing all submissions from their kingdom for compliance with the Standards for Evaluation of Names and Armory (SENA), which are the official rules of the College of Arms. After a month of commentary from the heralds within your kingdom (and several from without), the submissions herald determines which items will move forward, and which will be returned for further work.
If your submission is returned at this level, the submissions herald will provide the reasons for return in writing, citing the relevant rules. They may also provide advice on how to modify your submission to be in compliance with the rules. It may be wise for you to heed this advice…but you’re reading this article because you know exactly what you want.
At this point, a rule in the College of Arms’ Administrative Handbook kicks in. Section IV.E, “Right of Appeal,” states:
A submitter shall have the right to appeal any return to Laurel; to be treated as an appeal, the submission must be identical to the returned submission. All appeals should be supported by new documentation, other proof that the original submission was returned in error or compelling evidence that the submission was not properly considered at the time of return. Appeals must be submitted through the appropriate heraldic officers specified for such actions by the submitter’s kingdom of residence. Such officers must forward the appeal in a timely manner, with or without recommendation, to Laurel. Neither local nor kingdom heraldic officers may return appeals.
In short, you can appeal the decision of the submissions herald, provided you don’t change the submission itself and you address the reasons for the return.
The arguments for your appeal will be specific to your submission, so I can’t offer a lot of advice in this article. However, you can reach out to other heralds for help in making your argument. Once you submit your appeal, the submissions herald is required by the Administrative Handbook to forward it to Laurel Sovereign of Arms. However, they are allowed to provide their own observations on your documentation and arguments.
The Commenting Herald
As previously mentioned, a submission goes through a one-month commentary period at the kingdom level. During this time, several heralds review your submission and its supporting evidence, check it against existing registrations and SENA, and provide their feedback. Once your submission passes the kingdom level, another two-month round of commentary occurs, open to heralds throughout the Society.
Commentary is confidential, and the advice of commenting heralds carries no official weight. If a commenting herald says that your submission conflicts with an existing registration, lacks documentation, or violates the rules, that advice is sent to the Sovereign of Arms to consider along with all of the other provided commentary. Comments are frequently disputed and often set aside by the submission heralds and the Sovereigns of Arms if their arguments aren’t compelling.
As the comments are advisory, there’s nothing to appeal at this level. If you’re not a commenting herald yourself, you’re unlikely to come across the comments on your submission.
The Sovereign of Arms
According to the Administrative Handbook, Laurel Sovereign of Arms has two deputies to process submissions at the Society Level. Pelican Sovereign of Arms makes the decisions on what names are accepted or returned for further work, while Wreath Sovereign of Arms has the same duties for armory. If either Sovereign of Arms returns a submission, their rationale will be published in a Letter of Acceptances and Returns.
Like at the kingdom submissions herald level, you have the right to appeal the decision made by the Sovereign of Arms, per Section IV.E of the Administrative Handbook. And like the previous level, you must submit the name or armory unchanged, along with “new documentation, other proof that the original submission was returned in error or compelling evidence that the submission was not properly considered at the time of return.” You would submit this appeal through your kingdom submissions herald, who is required to forward it.
If you appeal a decision made by one of the Sovereigns of Arms, the other deputy Sovereign makes the call and writes the decision text.
If your submission, returned initially by one Sovereign, is returned again on appeal by the other Sovereign, you do have one last recourse. The same rule in the Administrative Handbook that allowed your previous appeals includes the following phrase: “If the Laurel Office rules against the appeal, a second appeal may be made directly to the Board of Directors.” To my knowledge, such a step has never been taken, and it would be interesting to see how the Board processes such an appeal. But it is your right to do so.
Conclusion
I hope that this overview of the submissions process, and your right to appeal the decisions of heralds at every level, encourages you to engage more fully with the College of Arms in order to get the name and armory that you truly want. The College of Arms wants submitters to be happy with their registrations, and we FIXME.
Footnotes: