Registration of Arms
One of the primary activities of The Augustan Society, Inc., is the Registration of Arms. Responsibility for reviewing the petitions submitted has been assigned to the Heraldry Committee, who make recommendations to the Board, which makes final determinations.
Contents
Procedure for Registering the Arms of an Individual
- The petition, payment, and any supporting materials are received at Headquarters. Headquarters Staff will confirm receipt of payment and that there are no obvious defects in the petition. [1] They will confirm the recognition of, or refer for confirmation, any claimed titles or postnominals. [2] They will then forward all to the Justiciar General.
- Petions for the arms of an ancestor are generally restricted to one generation farther back than the eldest living ancestor (including cases where that is the petitioner).
- Petitions for the arms of an ancestor more than one generation removed from his eldest living relative may be considered by the Justiciar General on a case-by-case basis, and will require a lineage approved by the Genealogy Committee.
- Petitions for the arms of an organization must come from a petitioner authorized by the organization. Headquarters Staff will make a preliminary determination if appropriate authorization is present; appleals may be made to the Justiciar General.
- The Justiciar General will examine the documents for completeness and consistency. He will resolve conflicts between multiple blazons and illustrations, and with the assistance of specific Vice-Justiciars, will obtain any needed translations, and creates a definitive English blazon from which an Heraldic Artist might work. [3] [4]
- The Justiciar General will assign the English blazon to an Heraldic Artist to emblazon an illustration that is in full compliance with the blazon and with the needs of The Augustan Society Roll of Arms and Online Armorial. [5] The Heraldic Artist will be in possession of the standards and requirements for artwork for the Roll of Arms and will be in direct consultation with the Rolls Editor, or the Production Editor if there is not Rolls Editor.
- The artwork will be returned to the Justiciar General who will either approve it or return it to the Heraldic Artist for amendment. If the Justiciar General approves, a draft certificate including both artwork and blazon will be created.
- Headquarters Staff or a designated individual on the Heraldry Committee will then create a draft certificate and return it to the Justiciar General. [6]
- The Justiciar General may approve the draft certificate, or remand it to Headquarters Staff or the creator for amendment. The Justiciar General will then cause the draft certificate to be sent to all members of the Heraldry Committee and the Rolls Editor or Production Editor. [7] The Justiciar General will direct those receiving a copy to review the blazon, translation [if any], and illustration. The Rolls Editor or Production Editor will also participate in this review.
- Any discussion among members of the Committee occurs, and a vote for approval or disapproval is taken. Note that a favorable recommendation requires assent from a majority of the members of the Committee, less any who are obliged to recuse themselves. The number, but not the identity, of those assenting must be submitted to Headquarters. [8]
- Upon Board approval, Headquarters Staff will circulate the final certificate for the reviews and signatures of the Justiciar General and the President. This may be done electronically at the discretion of each officer. That done, they will affix the Seal of the Corporation and send the signed certificate to the petitioner.
Note that the Justiciar General may, at his discretion, waive the fee for registration when the petition is submitted by a Director or a member of the Heraldry Committee. In such cases, no certificate fee will be collected and no certificate issued without separate payment.
Notes:
- One such defect would be if the petitioner resides in a country with a legitimate national heraldic authority, and who has not previously obtained a grant (by whatever name) from said agency.
- If the petition contains chivalric postnominals or titles, or if additaments are requested which are contingent on a noble title, these must first be approved by either the Chivalry Committee or Royalty & Nobility Committee as appropriate before the heraldic matters are considered. Headquarters Staff will evaluate requests for academic, learned society, and military postnominals. If the petition contains a claim for inherited arms, the genealogical evidence for such a right must first be evaluated by the Genealogy Committee. Additional fees may apply to these evaluations. If the petitioner elects not to have such titles, postnominals, or other honors mentioned on his Certificate of Arms Registration, these approvals are not required.
- English-language blazons received from recognized governmental heraldic jurisdictions (England, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, South Africa, etc.) will be given priority in cases of any conflict between various written blazons or between written blazons and submitted illustrations. In other cases of a conflict between blazons or between blazons and submitted illustrations, or as needed, the Justiciar General or one of his Vice-Justiciars will contact the petitioner to resolve such conflicts. This procedure does not extend to official or governmental registrations which are not in English because of the issues created by the need for translation.
- The Heraldry Committee as a whole is not informed of or assigned work on the petition until the emblazonment and translation have been obtained.
- The Heraldic Artist should be assigned the English blazon and should not be assigned work until the blazon and translation are complete and approved.
- Minor technical or typographical revisions to the blazon, the illustration, or the certificate may be approved by the Justiciar General alone without formal Committee reconsideration or Board approval.
- Although it need not be done on a routine basis, at any point in the process, the Justiciar General may correspond with the petitioner regarding the blazon or illustration submitted. This is more likely to be required if discrepancies or problem are encountered.
- Heraldic Artists who are members of the Heraldry Committee will normally recuse themselves from voting on artwork they created.
Policy on Artwork
Adopted 27 May 2023
In order to meet the needs of various different committees and programs, emblazonments need to meet the following requirements:
1. Emblazonments must be in a lossless digital format (GIF preferred, PNG, TIF, & BMP acceptable), with a minimum size of 1000 pixels in both horizontal and vertical directions. This to be measured over the active image only, not counting any white space surrounding it. Such white space should be minimized to the extent practicable.
2. The image must be completely opaque, with no transparency of any sort. One exception: if desired, the background (including all areas of background enclosed by the image) may be set transparent if the image format is GIF.
This is a new standards, and will be subject to change with experience.
Policy on Registration of Arms
Adopted 21 April 2012
Purpose
The purpose of the policy is to provide the armiger with the criteria The Augustan Society uses in accepting their registration of arms in a clear and definitive manner as to minimize misunderstandings that may develop in the applicaiton process. The Society maintains a highly respected status within the international heraldic community and this policy is designed to sustain not just the Society's reputation but to assure the armiger that by the registration of their arms with the Society that they have been reviewed by highly qualified heraldic experts and can be gratified that their arms meet those high heraldic standards
Conceptual
The Augustan Society will register the armornial achievements of individual and corporate petitioners (including arms for their ancestors) that recognize tghe arms in use by the petitioner in their home country. In doing so, due deference will be given to prior grants and registrations from legitimate and recognized heraldic institutions, and to the laws and traditions of heraldry in the petitioner's home country.
Definitive
The Augustan Society will register on ly one set of persona arms for each armiger. For petitions with more than one valid coat of arms, perhaps originiating from different jurisdictions, the Society will register the one requested by the petitioner. However, for petitioners living in countries with official granting bodies, it is expected tha the armiger will avail himself of such institution, and the Society will not register arms not approved by that instutution. Where the situation exists, the Society will register the arms of petitioners which have previously been registered within the armiger's home country. The armiger is restricted to use what they have registered with the Society for use within the Society's publications, should they have multiple arms.
It is understood that personal arms can “grow” during the armiger's lifetime. As examples, but not limited to, such changes may be due to recognized chivalric or nobiliary achievements; or that through genealogical research the armiger may become entitled to change their personal arms to reflect those heraldic entitlements. If it becomes necessary and appropriate to amend a registration, such an amended registration will be in lieu of the original registration. Changes or additions in orders of chivalry will not be considered sufficient reason for changes in the armiger's registration, but re-registration will be needed before the Socieyt will amend the depiction of their arms in their Certificates or The Augustan Society Roll of Arms.
When an armiger has documented an entitled cause for changes in the armeger's arms, it is the armiger's responsibility to re-register their arms, reflecting those approved and entitled changes, paying current registration and artwork fees. When an amended registration is published in The Augustan Society Roll of Arms, a statement will be included indicating that it supersedes a prior regisration (with appropriate citation).
It is to be noted that the Justiciar General and those individuals or bodies, such as the Heraldry Committee, that come under his purview, an the Society's Heraldic Authority. All heraldic registrations will be revieweed for approval by the Justiciar General or his designee, that all applications for registration by The Augustan Society meet proper heraldic standards. Disputes over rulings of the Justiciar General may be appealed to the Board of Directors.
