CALONTIR SAKER HERALD

Welcome to the office of the Saker Herald of Calontir.

The Saker Herald is in charge of submissions process; publishes letters of intent; collects and disburses funds associated with heraldic registration; maintains kingdom archives of submitted and registered names, devices, and badges.

The Saker Herald is part of the Calontir College of Heralds. The Saker Herald is a deputy of the Calontir Principal Herald, the Gold Falcon Herald. The Saker Herald is also a member of the SCA College of Arms and is entitled to submit comments at the Laurel level on heraldry available for comment by the College of Arms.
 

Announcement

Unto the good gentles of the Calontir College of Heralds, greetings.

For several months now a disturbing trend appears to have become established practice, and I fear that past practice of this office (both my own and my predecessors) have encouraged this trend. In a number of recent submissions I have received any of the following:
- Incomplete or missing submission forms
- An insufficient number of submission forms (especially in the case of armory submissions)
- Improperly colored armory submission forms (using colored pencils and/or non-heraldic colored markers)

In the past the Saker office has "filled the gap" by making copies in our office and completing them properly, either by re-entering information or coloring forms using proper heraldic colors and media. In many cases an e-mail was also sent to the submitting herald reminding them of the appropriate rules for submission from our Administrative Handbook. However, since we permit submissions directly from the client to the Saker office it is not always possible for a submitting herald at the group level to catch and correct these mistakes. Thus the Saker and his staff (my very patient wife) have been covering for these errors.

Unfortunately the number of errors is increasing, and are demanding more and more of this office's time and resources, both of which are in short supply. Therefore, it is with some regret that I must insist on the following policy statement.

*****Effective January 1, 2010 any submissions that are not found to be properly prepared will be returned immediately to the submitter for correction. This includes, but is not limited to the following instances:

1. Improperly colored emblazons on armory submission forms. The proper medium for coloring is a colored marker (Crayola Classic or equivalent) using the following tincture equivalents:
- Argent = White (not grey, silver, or lightly colored pencil) HINT: If it is argent, just don't color in that spot!
- Azure = Blue (not blue-grey)
- Vert = Green (not lime green, light green, or blue/yellow colored pencils marked over each other)
- Gules = Red (not pink, lavender, or rust)
- Sable = Black (not dark grey or dark colored pencil)
- Purpure = Purple (not red/blue colored pencil marked over each other, or lavender)
- Or = Yellow (not gold, harvest gold, yellow-gold, metallic gold, or light brown)
(In case you are wondering, yes...each of the above examples has been seen during my tenure.)

2. Improperly drawn black-and-white outline emblazons on armory submission forms. The reason for this should be obvious from the above discussion. If there is a problem with the colored submission forms we can, IN AN EMERGENCY, make a copy of the outline form and color it to salvage the submission. If the black-and-white form is merely a photocopy of the color form it cannot be used for this (multiple grey-scale charges do not color well). In the past this has not been an issue, but for the past year or so Laurel has required that the black-and-white image be uploaded on OSCAR along with the color image so details in the charges can be better noted. Thus, the black-and-white image MUST be an outline and not merely a photocopy of the color image.

3. Incomplete name submission forms or missing submission forms. Simply sending documentation with a letter is NOT, repeat NOT a complete submission. A proper submission form MUST accompany a name submission, whether it is a new submission or an appeal/resubmission. That submission form MUST include a summary of the documentation, either in the space provided or on the back of the form. The summary MUST list the source for the documentation and a brief encapsulation of the documentation. URLs MUST be included in the summary if the source resides online.

4. An insufficient number of submission forms. A name submission must include 2 (TWO) copies of the completed submission form with 2 (TWO) copies of the documentation. An armory submission must include 3 (THREE) color copies and 1 (ONE) black-and-white outline copy of the submission form as well as 3 (THREE) copies of any documentation. This is printed very clearly at the bottom of the submission forms for all to see.

I will continue to do my best to not unnecessarily delay submissions. Forms do get damaged in the mail. Water has been known to get spilled on forms in the past. And sometimes pets have been known to express their opinions on the quality of the submissions. These are situations that cannot be avoided, and the Saker office will do whatever can be done to remedy these problems in as pain-free a manner as possible. However, the above mentioned problems can be avoided by following accepted policies and, in many cases, simply reading the forms.

This is also an opportunity for group heralds to educate their group members on submission rules, and I strongly encourage you to take advantage of this time to help potential clients avoid returns. Regional heralds, for those groups that do not have a herald you may need to provide the training and support necessary to avoid these problems. I will be happy to work with you to help educate the populace, and I am certain that Gold Falcon and Habicht also stand ready to assist in any way possible with this education process.

There is a month before this policy is implemented. If you have questions or comments on it please either post here on the Calontir Heralds' List or send it to me privately at my e-mail address listed below. Thank you for your assistance in this.

In service
Einarr Grimsson
Saker Herald

Mission

Our goal is to provide a central resource for information concerning the heraldic submissions from the populace of the Kingdom of Calontir.

Saker Profile

The current Saker Herald is Lord Einarr Grímsson. He comes to Saker Herald straight from Calontir's external commenting office of Red Hawk Herald. He also has served as group herald for the Shire of Flinthyll, and has worked with the NE Commentary Group for the past few years.  He was welcomed into the Order of the Torse for his hard work

Background Image

It is the official seal of the Gold Falcon Principal Herald office. The heraldic websites of the kingdom heralds use it with the express permission of the current Gold Falcon, and each tenure we ask for permission again to use it. If you want to use this image, please get in touch with Gold Falcon for permission.