The look of SCA arms
For a long time now I have noticed arms of members of the SCA, but in an oblique way. I have never been deeply involved with their heraldry except for a short spell on a heraldry forum of the SCA. So when I decided to put my expertise available to members I had a new, good look at the arms of the populace of many of the kingdoms. It became immedeately clear that the anachronism part of the society could also be found in their heraldry. For a medieval society their arms did not look particularly medieval. I wondered why that was.
In other words: why do SCA arms look the way they do? I must stress that this is no incidental thing: the armorials of most kingdoms look about the same. Some clearly have home drawn achievements in their databanks, but most look as if they stem from one source. I almost recognised them, but I could not directly put my finger on it. After some browsing in my library I got it though: Fox-Davies’ A complete guide to heraldry!
It seems that almost all animals, fish, plants, flowers and inanimate objects have been scanned from the illustrations of this book and have been dispersed over the SCAdian world. Why is this not good practice?
Fox-Davies’ book was first published in 1909. It went through numerous reprints and from 1969 onwards it was republished in a new format, edited by John Brook-Little, later Norroy and Ulster Herald at the London College of Arms. The illustrations stayed the same though. They must have been made around 1900 by the accomplished Scottish heraldic artist Graham Johnston (1869-1927, herald painter of the Court of the Lord Lyon since 1898). Heraldic artists until far into the 1970’s were usually not mentioned in books on heraldry and only professionals in this area recognised their several styles, but he is on the title page of Fox-Davies’ book. Of course being a child of his time his style is typically late 19th century. It is therefore an interpretation of what used to be medieval in a Victorian manner. When you compare, for instance, lions of the 13th to the 15th centuries there is hardly any similarity at all with Johnston’s interpretation, except that the beast has a head, four legs and a tail. You see the difference in the illustration.
At the same time when I noticed the use of 19th century charges by the SCA I saw that the colours used in the several kingdom armorials often vary a lot. Many hues of blue and green are shown, usually too light or too dark. But also reds and purples are often too light in the former or blueish in the latter case. Yellow is often too lemony, which makes for very cool looking arms. Heraldic colours are bright and deep, often warm and not too dark (except black). Of course monitors and the way your screen is set up, may cause slight variations, but it is often very clear that the wrong colours have been used. Together with the Victorian charges this makes for completely own look for SCA armory. This does not have to be the case. Below I show you the difference between some traditional SCA arms and more medieval versions of them. It is my opinion that a more medieval stylisation and brighter colours can strengthen the members’ arms no end. I hope readers of this page agree.
