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| Making the Odds Ever Be in Your Favour: surviving the heraldic submissions process |
| – Konstantia Kaloethina |
Please contact a herald to assist you in the submissions process. They will have valuable experience that can help you avoid potential problems with your submission. If you can’t find a herald locally, contact Blue Tyger Herald for a referral.
Your submission must obey the Standards for Evaluation of Names and Armory (SENA), Administrative Handbook, and other applicable Laurel and Brigantia policies in order to be accepted; failure to do so can cause your submission to be returned. This means that, among other requirements:
- the official forms must be completed, including at least one contact method;
- the contact information must be legible;
- all necessary documentation must be included; and
- the correct number of copies of both the form and the documentation must be made.
Submissions that do not meet requirements may be administratively returned for revision.
NOTE:
- The only sources for documentation that do not require photocopies are listed in Appendix H of the Administrative Handbook. This also applies to documentation to support armory submissions.
- Sources to avoid are found in Appendix F of the Administrative Handbook.
- Branch names and devices require petitions – see the Admin Handbook for more information. This does not include order/award names or badges.
- Resubmissions are free if we can track down the earlier submissions, so please try to give us as much information on the prior attempt(s) as you can.
Digitally-filled Forms
Digitally-filled forms, and those printed from a color printer, are acceptable for submission with the following caveats. If you are not an experienced graphic artist, you should consider using the tried-and-true method of traced artwork colored in with markers.
- Alteration of the form is grounds for administrative return. Examples include, but are not exclusive to:
- Do not paste over or obscure the shield or badge outlines.
- Do not paste over sections of the contact information area.
- Ensure that all areas of the form print, including the lines in the contact information area.
- Ensure that the form is printed at full size – some graphics programs will clip the edges or resize the form.
- Armory submissions that are printed on a color printer should use “primary colors”, which will scan as being the representative color. Inexpensive inkjet printers often have difficulty printing a strong enough color to scan correctly – browns appear red, reds appear purple, purples appear pink or brown, etc. If the submission colors do not scan correctly the armory may be administratively returned.
- Armory submissions that are to be sent via email must be 300dpi, 8.5×11 in size, and in .jpg format.
- There is no requirement that forms be filled out digitally. Hand drawn and hand colored submissions are by far the majority of submissions received.
- There is no standardized color palette to use in armory designs. Web-safe colors are recommended.
Tips and Reminders
Names
- Your submission must include a summary of the name documentation. This article will help you format your summary properly.
- You must include photocopies or printouts of all non-photocopy resources used in your name documentation. If you are printing a website, you must include the URL. If you are photocopying book pages, you must include the title page. See the Admin Handbook for more information.
- Do not use tape, glue, or staples.
- Multiple submitters in the same household can consolidate their payment and paperwork into one packet.
Armory
- Please use Crayola Classic Markers or an equivalent (e.g., Rose Art) in heraldic tinctures.
- Do not use highlighters, as most scanners won’t pick them up.
- Do NOT use crayons, paints, or wax-based colored pencils – they were banned as of December 2010.
- Do not color the black portions of the black-and-white copy – leave it as an outline drawing, like in a coloring book, with enough internal detailing that we can tell what it is. Black-and-white copies that are just grey-scale versions of the color copy may be administratively returned.
- Medium-nib pens are preferred for the outline art, as the slightly wider lines scan better. All elements of the line art on the black-and-white copy should be of similar line weight.
- Do not attach printouts of armory images to the form with glue or tape – ensure that the art is directly on the form.
- Avoid heavily shaded or pixelated art. Clean outline drawings are easier to identify and less likely to be returned for lack of identifiability.
- Can’t draw? Try the Book of Traceable Heraldic Art or the Pictorial Dictionary of Heraldry.
- Important caveat: Inclusion in these collections does not make a given graphic automatically registerable.
- Do not use tape, glue, or staples.