Drachenwald customs: some inter-kingdom anthropology
Welcome to Drachenwald! We’re glad you’re here.
This article covers some of the aspects of protocol and traditions of Drachenwald. It is especially intended for Society folk coming from other kingdoms.
The way we cheer
At court, to mark a piece of Crown business , we cheer “Vivat!” 3 times, for a single person, or “Vivant!” 3 times for a few people.
Other cheers are available in some regions.
Toasts
In Drachenwald, typically the highest ranking peers make the toasts to their Majesties the king and queen, to their Highnesses the crown prince and princess, and to the kingdom. They include toasts to the principalities and baronies, if the event is in that region.
Typically the attending peers work out who toasts what for themselves.
Coronets, circlets and titles
In Drachenwald you can wear whatever regalia, and use whatever title, that you are allowed in your first homeland.
Drachenwald is a ‘light-touch’ kingdom on sumptuary laws.
We do not define the widths of circlets, or the style or colour of viscounty, territorial or court barony coronets. As a result, coronets worn by Drachenwalders vary according to taste and budget. To find out what a coronet represents, feel free to ask.
We recognize the regalia protected by Corpora, and registered with the College of Arms. These include:
- the white belt and unbroken chain
- the laurel wreath
- the pelican in its piety, and the cap of maintenance
- the badge of the Masters of Defense
- county and ducal coronets
Clothing customs
The customs about what marks someone as a peer’s dependent can wear vary. You will see some coloured belts and some braids, but the conventions are not as hard and fast here as in some other kingdoms.
If you want to know if a person is in fealty to a peer, you can ask them (graciously, of course).
Drachenwald did not form an order of the White Scarf, but did found the Order of the Dragon’s Steel, a Grant-level award for excellence in the art of defense.
Its members typically wore a braid of the three kingdom colours on their left sleeves. This order closed in AS 50 when the Society introduced the Mastery of Defense. Its members still wear their regalia, and rightly so, with pride.
Awards and Orders of Precedence
See Drachenwald Awards and Orders
See Before the Internet…there were heralds, for a link to our OP.
Please contact the Posthorn herald, posthorn@drachenwald.sca.org, to add your honours to the kingdom order of precedence. We can only add you, if you tell us you’re here!
Finding arms submitted from another kingdom
Submissions in process are grouped by kingdom. If you submitted your names and arms in another kingdom, your submission will continue in the process. Noone will pull it out just because your address has changed.
Contact the herald in charge of submissions (or external submissions) in your previous home kingdom, and let them know you have moved.
Provide your new contact details, so they can get in touch with you when your submission appears in the Letter of Acceptances and Returns (LoAR). If you have an idea of when the decision was due, you can also check the LoAR archive yourself on http://heraldry.sca.org/loar.
If you submitted arms here in Drachenwald, but now are moving out of kingdom, contact the Albion Herald (e-mail address is on the heraldry section of the kingdom website).
Make sure Albion has your new contact details, so when your submission comes through, you’ll still get the news.
If your first submission in another kingdom was returned, Drachenwald will allow you to resubmit for free.
First, contact your home kingdom and try to find out why your submission was returned. Then come to us and we can work out how to remedy the problem, or submit something entirely different.
Joining the Drachenwald College of Heralds
You’re already a herald? Fantastic, welcome!
If you’ve moved to Drachenwald and want to keep doing heraldry: contact the Schwarzdrachen Herald (e-mail address is on the heraldry section of the kingdom website) to introduce yourself and get an OSCAR login, or square away a change to your commenting-kingdom details.
Contact Edelweiss herald (internal submissions) to request internal letters.
You request a warrant by providing your Society and legal names and your contact information. Both branch heralds and heralds-at-large report quarterly to remain warranted.
Join the Drachenwald heralds FB group for announcements and discussion. We also use a Drachenwald Slack channel for everyday chat.
The Drachenwald college doesn’t conduct tests for pursuivants. Your enthusiasm, interest and expertise at whatever level are qualification enough. Don’t worry - there’s lots of heraldry to go round.