SCA flags

...making decorations! Because, of course, the best thing about heraldry is putting it all over everything.

The first bit of heraldic crafting I ever did was to make a cross-stitch version of my first attempt at an SCA device (as seen in this post). Everyone on the internet warns you not to make any actual artifacts of your heraldry until it's registered, just in case something goes wrong, but I figured I wanted to learn how to cross-stitch, and so I might as well learn it on something I liked. I regret nothing! The next thing I made was within the first 48 hours after our first devices passed, because I had a baby and an event to go to and I wanted to cover up the label on my modern carrier. I made an appliqued panel, cheating with modern iron-together adhesives, which quarters the middle two ideas for my husband's and my coats of arms. (Quartering suggests that the person bearing it is the child of two armigers and is inheriting from both of them.) Of course, I can't really use either of these two things anymore, since they aren't the devices we actually went with, but I'm still glad I made them. They were good practice.

 

Also pretty pleased how that guy turned out.

Now, PLEASE NOTE: I have never been an accomplished seamster, rarely even a willing one. But because of the SCA, I figured out that this was because I'd never wanted to have any of things that are easy to learn to sew. (Cross-stitched teddy bear for the wall? Nnnnnno thanks.) But once I found heraldry--which is all about marking objects to show your presence and identity--there were all kinds of crafts I suddenly needed to learn. (I also made a 13th century dress somewhere in here, with moderate success, but that's another topic.) Once we'd finalized our heraldic designs, I decided I wanted a painted flag, and threw together this gonfalon:

And this one we use all the time! Woo!

...which is fortunately only designed to be seen from the front, because it's kind of a hot mess on the back! This type of combined display, in case you're curious, is called "impalement." Most of the time, with some exceptions, it represents a married woman, showing a combination of her husband's arms and her father's. (In the middle ages, when heraldry was developed, that was about as close as you could get to describing such a woman, since she was not an independent legal entity.) In the context of the SCA, since everyone gets to be armigerous regardless of gender, that usage is a lot less meaningful, so this has come to be regarded as more of a marital display, representing the union rather than just one of the people.

ANYWAY, the wonderful, wonderful day soon came when people I had helped started getting their names and devices registered, and the fact filled me with crafty delight. I decided to make my friend a gonfalon of her own in congratulations. I was also becoming the brand new baronial herald at that time, and so in my enthusiasm I presented her gift in a business meeting and announced to the whole populace that way too many of them had been showing me awesome designs for heraldry that they'd never gotten registered. I then made a vow that, for each person whose arms were passed during my time as herald, I would make a flag. Even at the time I knew this was quixotic to the point of being bonkers, but it's been a little over a year now, and I stand by it. I've been having so much fun, and I've been getting so much better and faster at sewing, and people have totally been sending in their paperwork who wouldn't otherwise have done so. Win, win, all the wins.

Here are all the flags I've made so far, plus one I'll be giving tomorrow night. These are all approximately the size of a fat quarter, give or take seam allowances, and are painted with acrylic pens. (And with all this practice, even the backs are starting to look pretty nice.) If there's any interest at all in the future, I could probably make a tutorial.

Yay yay. I love heraldry so much. <3 It looks like there'll be a couple months' break before the next registrations, but I'll make another post when I've got a few more of these under my belt. ^_^

[All paintings and photos by Rachel Spitler. These images may be used without permission only in direct connection with the bearers of these arms; otherwise, please contact me.
Original source for the wolf and scorpion: Christie L. Ward and her SVG gallery for heralds.
Lions: Based on a drawing by Azizah bint Rustam of the society, made for the armiger.
Butterflies and cat: Based on drawings by the armiger.
Mirrors and cap: Original.
Hawk: I have lost track of where this artwork originally came from. I will update this when I find it, or remove the image at the copyright holder's request.]