Sign Heraldry

Silent Heraldry

by

Baroness Marie le Mains

In the SCA there are several types of heralds. Some use their heads, such as book heralds; some use their voices, such as cry heralds; some use their hands, such as sign/silent heralds. The term Sign Herald and Silent Herald are used interchangeably and mean the same thing. In Trimaris, the term “Silent Herald” is used.  The various heraldic positions allow a variety of people to serve in a variety of ways, picking one or more of the heraldic disciplines in which to work.

Sign heralds are closest in nature to vocal heralds, although their duties sometimes can take them into venues other than court or field. Sign heralds in the Society are heralds who express auditory information into visual and/or tactile information. Sign heralds use sign language, lip movements, facial expressions, gestures, and body language to convey what they hear, this is the visual part. In addition,  there may be some members of the populace who require the sign herald to make signs into the person’s hands, this is the tactile part.1

As a Silent Herald, or Mast Herald (the named position in Trimaris), you are the voice/hands of the Crown. Your primary duty, just like the voice herald, is to convey the content and intent of the Crown as well as the needs of the person requesting service and to do your best to convey information in the language used by that person.

The requirements needed to fulfill this position is as follows:  working knowledge of sign language (regardless of if that is American Sign Language or some form of Signed English). Your knowledge can be as basic as knowing the manual alphabet or as complex as full knowledge of sign language with its syntax, grammar, and vocabulary. As a sign herald, you are expected to use facial expression, body language, lip movements, and signs to convey meaning. You need to have the basic ability to understand the gist of what is signed to you, and the ability to convey the gist of the information you hear.

(1)  https://heraldry.sca.org/sign/SignHeraldsHandbook.html?fbclid=IwAR2JhKe4yjzMQ1dYHYNoSFWx8B9m8lDGzfisAp1Z0k_hZp3CA9wuFrIMojY