Registering a Name

To register a name, you need to give your local herald three copies of the name form and all documentation, including the title page of each book referenced. These are distributed as follows:

• one copy to your local herald;
• one to Rocket Herald in Lochac; and
• one to the Laurel Sovereign of Arms.

Registering a Device or Badge

To register a device or badge, you need to give your local herald five copies of the device or badge form with your device coloured in, and one copy with the device in black and white outline. These are distributed as follows:

• one colour copy to your local herald;
• one colour copy to Rocket;
• the black and white outline to Rocket;
• one colour copy to the Scribes of Lochac for their records; and
• two colour copies to Laurel.

What To Do And Not Do

Some important notes:

You must not use pencils, crayons or colour printers, whether inkjet or laser, to produce your colour copies.

Colour photocopiers are also right out: when I was baronial herald, they were still allowed on a case-by-case basis, but the colour reproduction was utterly random and I’m not surprised that the policy is now to avoid that source of pain. 

You should use textas (”markers” if you’re American), and the absolute best are the Crayola Classic markers you can find at most good stationery stores.

NEW! Read this summary of Lady Teceangl Bach's masterful study explaining why the above rules exist.  You'll believe a herald can do science!

Do your black and white outline copy first, using solid but not excessively thick lines.

Don’t do the hatching you sometimes see in mundane heraldry books; this defeats the whole purpose of the outline copy.

Don’t fill in any of the colours, even the black parts, although colouring in the individual ermine spots is OK.

Once you’ve got the outline copy done, fill out the rest of the details on the device or badge form, then photocopy it on a good quality black and white photocopier, and colour in the five colour copies.

Don’t use staples, because they just need to be removed, and tetanus is no fun even for heralds. 

Don’t use glue, because it melts and re-sets and turns entire packages of heraldic artwork into oversized hockey pucks.  The same is true of gold and silver pens: don’t use them, because they’re not colour fast and they make a mess.  Crayons are bad too.

You can ask your local herald for a copy of the name, device and badge forms, or you can go to Crux’s submission forms page.

Remember, it’s always a good idea to make an extra copy of everything and keep them yourself. That way, if the herald’s house burns down or he or she goes mad, you don’t have to start from scratch to resubmit.

Where To Send It

Rocket Herald, in charge of receiving and processing heraldic submissions in Lochac, is Lady Eleyne de Comnocke.  Her postal address:

Clare Baldock
11B Muriel Pl
Ranui
Auckland 0612
New Zealand.

Postage from the eastern states of Australia is generally on the order of a dollar fifty for a standard A4 envelope with the usual number of bits of paper in it.