Basic Heraldry 101

The Herald

What is a Herald anyway?

Dating back to at least the 12th century, the herald started as a messenger, tournament announcer or score keeper, and battle advisor (identifying armory on the field). These roles gradually evolved to include genealogists, record keepers, ceremonial masters, arbiters of precedence, moral mentors, and eventually ambassadors and the “Voice” of the Crown.

While heralds started out as a pay-for-hire role, much like minstrels and performers, as their roles increased in importance, so did their pay and status – leading to permanent positions in the courts of the Royalty and landed Nobility.

A herald in the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) emulates most of these functions – they are the messengers, the record keepers of registered names and armory, the announcers of the lysts fields, the organizers and masters of ceremony for court proceedings, and the record keepers of honors and ceremonial traditions. Like the real world counterparts, the on-duty herald is also the only individual outside of the Crown to be able to wear the Kingdom’s arms.

The College of Heralds

Seeing their importance, King Richard III chartered the College of Arms (CoA) in 1484. This was the first incorporated Heraldic authority in Europe, and remains one of the only still in existence to this day. Their function was, and remains, to keep records of all things, and in later days to issue “letters of patent” on behalf of the Crown.

The College of Heralds (CoH) is a bureaucratic entity within the Society for Creative Anachronism that was created to emulate the structure and function of the CoA in England. Both have similar structures – a head leader with support staff who oversees a regional leader with support staff – but there are some differences.

Below is a run down of the structure of the College of Heralds in the SCA.

Sovereign of Arms

The Laurel Sovereign of Arms is the head bureaucratic leader of all heraldic activities in the Known World. They are responsible to the Board of Directors (BoD) and are charged with “fostering the study and practice of heraldry, and for establishing rules and making determinations regarding names and armory, royal and noble titles, and geographical designations to be approved for use in the Society.” To achieve this, Laurel has an extensive staff of deputies who act on a global scale.

The primary deputies of this office are responsible for making determinations on registration submissions:

  • Pelican – Deputy position focused on onomastic (name) submissions and rules;
  • Wreath – Deputy position focused on armorial (device) submissions and rules.

In order to achieve the remaining responsibilities of the office, Laurel has a Support Staff with varying foci:

  • Ragged Staff – Staff position that ensures all paperwork is complete, accurate, and to required standards;
  • Clarion – Staff position focused on Educational materials and sources, arranging teachers and articles for wider spread publication;
  • Codex – Staff position that handles all website updates and maintenance;
  • Morsulus – Staff position responsible for maintaining and updating the Society Ordinary and Armorial (OANDA);
  • Palimpsest – Staff position responsible for facilitating discussions on changes to the rules, Administrative Handbook, and Glossary of Terms;
  • Quarterstaff – Staff position responsible to handling all submissions pended for redraw;
  • Sign Herald – Staff position the coordinates communication among all signing herald positions across the Known World;
  • Precedents Editor(s) – Staff position in charge of proof reading the Letters of Acceptances and Returns and compiling a Precedent Listing for all determinations of a Laurel’s tenure;
  • Chancellor of the Exchequer – Staff position that handles all monetary transactions and reports; and
  • Other volunteers.

Principal Herald

Each Kingdom has a regional College of Heralds with a similar staffing structure. The bureaucratic leader of the Kingdom College of Heralds is called the Principal Herald, and in each Kingdom this position has a uniquely registered staff title. This position reports directly to the Laurel Sovereign of Arms.

In Caid, the leader of the College of Heralds is the Crescent Principal Herald. Like Laurel, Crescent has their own collection of deputies to handle different aspects or responsibilities.

The deputies to Crescent are outlined in Kingdom law, and are:

  • Dolphin – deputy position that focuses on all registration submissions;
  • Bellows – deputy position that covers Field Heralds, and manages Crown Tournament and Consort’s Champion field heraldry activities;
  • Courtesy – deputy position that covers Court and Protocol issues; also trains and maintains a roster of eligible Golden Rose heralds;
  • Decrescent – predecessor and deputy in case of Crescent’s absence or disability;
  • Golden Rose – deputy position that acts as the “Voice of the Crown”. This position changes for each reign;
  • Scribe Armarius – deputy position in charge of all Scribal activities in the Kingdom; and
  • Chancellor of the Exchequer – deputy position, who also reports to the Kingdom Exchequer, that handles all financial transactions within the College of Heralds.

Territorial Herald

Also reporting directly to the Principal Herald are the Territorial, or Regional, heralds. Each of these is the head bureaucratic leader for all heraldic activities in their specific land area.

  • Beau Coeur – Barony of Nordwache
  • Blue Mountain – Barony of Dreiburgen
  • Blue Raven – Barony of Dun Or
  • Coral – Barony of Lyondemere
  • Flame – Barony of Starkhafn
  • Gold Forest – Barony of Gyldenholt
  • Green Water – Barony of the Western Seas
  • Hæmatite – Canton of Gallavalley
  • Moucheture – Barony of Naevehjem
  • Oak Leaf – Shire of Darach
  • Red Tower – Shire of the Isles
  • Sable Fret – Barony of Altavia
  • Seraph – Barony of the Angels
  • Silver Mace – Barony of Wintermist
  • Trident – Barony of Calafia
  • Shire of Carreg Wen – (not titled)
  • Shire of al-Sahid – (not titled)

Staff Herald

The Staff herald is one who works for the College, helping in whatever tasks need to be done. Some staff positions have specific functions, while others are more omni-functional. Each of these also reports directly to Crescent.

  • Aurum;
  • Battlement – Staff position Heraldic activities at War events;
  • Canter;
  • Chanson;
  • Duellist;
  • Garb – Worn Regalia, including tabards and baldrics;
  • Gauntlet;
  • Increscent – designated successor to Crescent Principal Herald;
  • Punner;
  • Quatrefoil;
  • Recorder – Keeper of the Order of Precedence;
  • Sable Argent;
  • Silver Abacus;
  • Silver Trumpet; and
  • Other volunteers.

HERALDIC DISCIPLINES

There are three areas of heraldry in which a herald usually practices – book, field, and court. No two heralds specialize in the same areas of expertise, nor do they need to focus on all areas to be a herald.

FIELD

Field heraldry – sometimes called List heraldry – includes making announcements, providing round introductions during tournaments, and general List Coordination. Some of the tasks require of a field herald include: holding a field and running successive rounds from memory, pronouncing the fighters’ names with some degree of skill, being heard from across the field, marking the list cards correctly, working with the Lists officer to arrange for the Order of Combat, and recruiting and assigning other field heralds, etc.

BOOK

Book heraldry includes research and aiding in submissions for either armorial or onomastics, as well as heraldic display and vexillology. Some of the tasks required of a book herald include: functioning as an effective member of a heraldic consultation table, including understanding of armorial rules and period style, navigating the rules for Submissions (SENA), researching a name with sources listed in Appendix H of the College of Arms’ Administrative Handbook, conflict-checking, judging the reliability of sources not listed in Appendix H of the College of Arms’ Administrative Handbook, and writing an appeal, a request for reconsideration, and a request for a regional style exception.

COURT

Court heraldry includes planning and performing court, and the study of protocol and Order of Precedence. Some of the tasks required of a Court herald include: successfully running a court, including an understanding of the pace and flow of a court: collecting and organizing court business, communicating with the titular heads of the court, maintaining poise and confidence in representing the Heads of State, improvising when faced with unscheduled or unexpected changes to business smoothly and effectively, reporting court business to the Keeper of the Order of Precedence in a timely fashion, understanding the rules of etiquette and protocol to place multiple Royals and Representatives on a dais, working with local heralds to hand off from Royal to Baronial courts, and seamlessly integrating unscheduled business into court.

Getting Involved

If you are interested in volunteering for any of these activities, please reach out to your local territorial or Kingdom herald. If you need help finding the email addresses for any of the heralds, the Caid COH email lists can be found here. If you’d like to know more about heraldic ranks

Happy Heralding!

For further reading:

Dom Pedro de Alcazar, The Mediaeval Herald

UK College of Arms, History

Caid College of Heralds, Caidan Policy on Heraldic Rank and Recognition

© 2025 Stephanie Rendt-Scott. All rights reserved. Limited publication rights may be granted upon written request to the author.