Heraldry - The Barony of Dragon's Laire

The Golden Dragon Pursuivant:
Owain ap Gwyllim Pengryth

Heraldry in the SCA

The herald is the officer responsible for everything from field heraldry, such as announcing the next bout in the tourney, to designing unique arms for a new branch and heralding Baronial courts. The duties of a herald include:

Assisting members of the populace who want to research, design and register names and devices. This may be called “book heraldry.”
Keeping records of awards.
Training new heralds.
Providing “voice heraldry” for events. This category includes:
- Court heraldry: the announcement of names, reading of awards, etc., in court
- Site/event heraldry: “town crier” activities, official announcements
- Field/list heraldry: announcing fighters, etc., for a tournament

Heraldry serves many purposes in the SCA. The visual display of heraldry– on banners, clothing and other objects– creates pageantry. Maintaining the Order of Precedence reinforces the Medieval social structure. Heraldic research aids in persona development by providing appropriate names and personal devices.

Heraldry in the Barony of Dragon’s Laire

The principal Herald in Dragons Laire is the Golden Dragon Pursuivant, Owain ap Gwyllim Pengryth .

The Golden Dragon acts as the primary herald, visible at court functions, and keeps the official records for the office. The primary herald may appoint deputies to help — for example, with organizing voice heralds or with book heraldry.

Resources for Heraldry

Name Resources

Countess Elisabeth de Rossignol, a very important mucky-mucky, shall we say, a LION, of the herald community, has offered the following list of her favorite name resources.

Register your Name, Arms, or Badge

The registration process is fully described on this page: http://antirheralds.org/registration/

The short version:

Design your arms or badge, or choose your name. Check here for some help: http://legacy.antirheralds.org/other/other.html.
Fill out the appropriate form found on this page: http://antirheralds.org/registration/forms/
- Note that devices require ONE black and white line drawing and ONE colored copy.
- Names require ONE submission form and only ONE set of whatever additional documentation you send.
Send the form as described on this page: http://antirheralds.org/registration/#submission
Make sure to check the “Decision” and “Notification” sections to understand what happens next:
- http://antirheralds.org/registration/#decision
- http://antirheralds.org/registration/#notification

The Armigers of Dragon’s Laire

We used to have a listing of all the registered devices of the Members of Dragon’s Laire. However, the Antir College of Heralds has taken over this monumental task (of upkeep and design) and has a brilliant website featuring the devices, not only of the armigers of Dragon’s Laire, but of those of the whole kingdom.

Here’s a direct link to the Dragon’s Laire section of the Roll of Arms.

Devices and Badges for Shared Use

The following designs can be used to create items for personal (in the case of the populace badges) or official Baronial (in the case of the Baronial device) use. Note that if you right click on the image and ‘view image’ you will see generally see a bigger version of the image.

Populace Badges for An Tir

A “populace badge” is one way of showing that you are a member of a Kingdom or Barony. Everyone who lives there can use this badge! The crown may additionally use the Kingdom badge to mark the stuff (tents, thrones, etc.) that belongs to the Crown.

An Tir Populace Badge (original version)

The Dragon’s Laire Populace Badge

The Dragon’s Laire “populace badge” is one way of showing that you are a member of our Barony. Everyone who lives here can use this badge — perhaps you would display it on your clothing, your fighting tabard or surcoat, or your banners, flags, and pennons. This badge is also used to mark the location of the Baronial encampment (or other gathering point) at a big event, so keep your eyes peeled!

Colorized by Máenach na Cailled

The Dragon’s Laire Device

The official arms of the Barony are used only to represent the Barony or our Baron/Baroness. When these arms are on display, you know that the Barony/Baron/Baroness is physically present at that location!