This is the eighth in a series of educational articles about heraldry for Calontir. (See bottom of page for list of previous articles in this series)
Hopefully at this point, you have developed some ideas for your name and/or your heraldry. But before you fall in love with one of them, it’s a good idea to make sure you don’t conflict with (are too similar to) someone else.
Names conflict if they look or sound too much alike. It would be awkward if a herald called your name in court and someone else answered the call. Most of the time, no other name is even close, but sometimes it’s tricky to decide if your name is different enough from name that has already been registered.
Items of armory conflict if they look too much alike. There are actual period guidelines for this, called marks of cadency. A mark of cadency would be a small change that a son would make to the family coat of arms to show he was related to the head of the family, in SCA-speak that’s a “distinct change”. So your device needs to be enough different from someone else’s, that you’re not implying that you’re their heir.
Over the years, heralds have come up with a system of what counts as a major change (significant change or SC, just need one), minor change (distinct changes or DC, need two) and what doesn’t count at all for difference – based as much as possible on period research.
Go here to see what names have already been registered (check multiple different spellings of each of the parts of your name): https://oanda.sca.org//oanda_np.cgi
Here are the official rules about names conflict: SENA PN.3. Personal Names Conflict – http://heraldry.sca.org/sena.html#PN3
Go here to look up what other coats of arms have been registered with your charges: https://oanda.sca.org/ordinary/
Here are the official rules about armory conflict: SENA A.5. Armory Conflict – http://heraldry.sca.org/sena.html#A5
Articles to explain the rules: http://scaheraldry.info/index.php?title=Conflict_Checking
Admittedly, “conflict” is one of the most challenging parts of researching names and heraldry. Even experienced heralds get confused, argue, and miss things (a lot), but you can at least start the process and get ideas for what other people have done.
As always, there are lots of “Heraldic Helpers” to guide you through all this (see article below).
At your service,
Sofya la Rus, Habicht Herald
Calontir Heraldic Education Deputy
habicht@calontir.org
Previous articles in this series:
How do I create a coat of arms? Part one: inspiration.
How do I create a coat of arms? Part two, design principles.