|
Greetings,
Here's the information we can offer on your arms.
The design of your arms is basically correct, although we can offer a few suggestions for changes.
We considered primarily the design on the shield itself. That design can be described as "Gules semy-de-lys and on a fess Or, four modern rosebuds gules slipped vert." The design you've come up with isn't quite consistent with medieval heraldry, but it's close enough that we've only suggested some minor modifications.
Roses are found in medieval heraldry, but the medieval rose didn't look anything like a modern rose. In heraldry, it was usually depicted as a five-petaled flower viewed from the top. There are other variations, but none of them look like the kind of flower you've depicted.
If you can find a book on heraldry (such as "The Complete Guide to Heraldry" by Arthur Fox-Davies), you will probably be able to find a picture of a heraldic rose. It was most common to display three items across a fess--heraldic roses are circular, and three of them fit better on a shield than four.
The only other change we can suggest is making the fleur-de-lys much larger. In a medieval heraldic device, you could expect to see four or five fleur-de-lys on either side of the fess. This will make them much easier to identify from a distance as well as more historically accurate.
The plaid and swords behind the shield doesn't resemble any medieval method of displaying arms that we've seen. Clan tartans weren't adopted until the modern era, and we have no evidence that medieval Scots associated clans with tartans in the way modern Scots do. The SCA doesn't regulate any aspect of heraldic display other than the shield, but if you let us know more about the period and culture you're attempting to re-create we can attempt to suggest some appropriate ideas.
Elsbeth Anne Roth, Arval D'Espas Nord, Alexandr, Walraven van Nijmege, and Effric neyn Kenyeoch vc Ralte all contributed to this letter.
We hope this has been helpful. If we can be of further assistance, please let us know.
In service,
Alan Fairfax
Academy of S. Gabriel