Caidan Order Badges, and progress on the website

[cormac]

From reading comments in other LJs, it seems like there's some confusion over the design history of some Caidan order badges. So I've done some minor research and would like to take this opportunity to share it with you all.

First, for those non-Caidans out there, Caid has 10 armigerous orders, split evenly into those that carry an Award of Arms and those that carry a Grant of Arms. These are:

Reason	Award-Level	Grant-Level
Service	Dolphin	Crescent
Arts/Sciences	Harp Argent	Lux Caidis
Armored Combat	Crescent Sword	Gauntlet
Rapier Combat	Duellist	White Scarf of Caid
Archery	Argent Arrow	Chiron

The first of these orders registered were the Harp Argent and the Dolphin, both registered in 1981. The badge for the Dolphin, however, was not registered until 1982. The orignal badges for each pf these orders were remarkable in that they were patterned off of the kingdom arms, replacing the crown and laurel wreath with a harp and a dolphin embowed uriant to sinister, respectively, but otherwise keeping the azure background and argent crescents and bordure.

The designs were scrapped in 1985 in favor of the current registered badges. The dolphin embowed uriant to sinister was plucked from the old design and placed on its own in a blue field, while the silver harp maintained not only the blue background but the silver embattled bordure as well. However, it should be noted that the medallions used by the kingdom do not include this bordure.

The following year, the Crescent Sword was registered. The ceremony describes it as a silver "sword surmounting a crescent of silver,
displayed upon a blue medallion." The ceremony omits the embattled bordure, but the medallion properly includes it. In 1989, the kingdom registered its first armigerous award for archers, the Argent Arrow. The design is straightforward enough: "Argent, an arrow between two crescents argent."

1994 was a big year for Caidan order registrations. In March, names and armory were registered for the first Caidan GoA-level awards, the Orders of the Crescent, Lux Caidis, and Gauntlet. Each of these has a blue background and embattled white border, with a set of three crescents, a sunburst, and a gauntlet holding a sword by its blade, respectively. Later that year, the rapier fighters registered their first kingdom award, the Order of the Duellist.

Of all the Caidan armory designs, the Duellist stands out for originality. Rather than a blue background and white border, the field is split in pale with a counterchanged blue and white background and border, with two rapiers likewise counterchanged. While the dexter side of the medallion looks entirely Caidan, the sinister side is foreign and odd, giving the badge a rather jarring cant on the order name.

Finally, in 1997, the kingdom registered its final two Grant-level Orders, the White Scarf and Chiron. While the inter-kingdom rapier order does not yet have a badge in Caid, the Order of Chiron kept to the traditional design of a blue background, white border, and icon appropriate to the order (in this case, a centaur drawing a bow).

Whether any of these awards had previous designs that could not pass Laurel muster is not at this time known to me. However, this is the information on the registered, and therefore "official" badges of the armigerous Caidan orders.

In completely unrelated news, I finally got my third project page up on the Poore House site. It shows how to design your own tablet weaving pattern from an existing image, and can be found at http://poore-house.com/projects.html. Check it out!

Comments

[czina.livejournal.com]

Cool way to transfer designs - but your link has a forward slash instead of a dot. :)

[cormac.livejournal.com]

Gah! Fixed. Thanks.

[mistresshuette.livejournal.com]

I guess that I am not understanding you about the Harp Argent. The first Harp was awarded on Sept. 13, 1980. Why are you saying that it was registered in 1981? The picture in my icon is me receiving the first one.

[cormac.livejournal.com]

Yes, it was given as an award before it was registered with Laurel. And when it was registered with Laurel in 1981, it was registered as a harp between three crescents, within a bordure.

[the-celestia.livejournal.com]

Well then, perhaps you ought to wear your Harp to Angels Anniversary since it falls on the same date as you received the first Harp.

(p.s. if you really like the current medallions better, I believe there is a way to purchase one at quite reasonable cost. I know that a few of us did this for a friend whose medallions were stolen at an event from their gear bag some years ago).

[gottasing.livejournal.com]

"...while the silver harp maintained not only the blue background but the silver embattled bordure as well. However, it should be noted that the medallions used by the kingdom do not include this bordure."

It should also be noted that the harp on the medallion is a nineteenth century pedal harp. **snort**

And on another note, cool tablet weaving stuff!

[cormac.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I hope to do more with it as time goes on. I just got in some silk yarn from India that I hope to use in a project soon.

[the-celestia.livejournal.com]

yes, indeed it is, and given that Cormac has pointed out elsewhere (in my journal actually) that without the embattled bordure, this design is in conflict with real-world heraldry, it seems too bad they couldn't have chosen some other symbol indicative of 'arts' rather than a blatantly out of period one.

I suppose too many people would consider it heresy but I'd love to see a redesign of these medallions with consideration given to making the symbols more period (and do something, anything, with the baked potato!)

[cormac.livejournal.com]

Witch! Witch! Burn her! She's trying to destroy our TRADISHUNZ!

I completely agree with you that the artwork for some of the badges needs some major work. What we have registered is pretty good period style. It just needs to be done by a heraldic artist, is all.

By the way, if you check out my Caidan tablet patterns (on the same projects page as referenced above), I did my best to de-potato the sunburst. Thoughts?

[the-celestia.livejournal.com]

Yes, well, I'm known to be Not A Traditionalist.

There are good traditions out there that should be kept, but that is not an excuse or reason or rationale for keeping BAD traditions when we now know better (don't even get me started on "autocrat" "troll" or worst of all "removes"!!!).

We know that is a post-period harp.
We know what a period harp looks like.
Why on earth have we a post-period harp on the medallion?

Your version is far less 'baked potato'. I suppose some would complain it was a bit too like the Aten Sun, but I can deal with that and it is FAR better than the current design (which also goes by the name 'steaming pile').

Question, since you seem to be quite informed on all this...is there any reason one could not make one's own medallions in a more period manner? I do know that Drachenstein sell their version of several of the Caiden awards, what I don't know is is there a set of hoops to jump through, or could one just make something more persona-appropriate for themselves?

[aeddie.livejournal.com]

There's my method of medallion wearing: put them in a box and leave the box at home.

[the-celestia.livejournal.com]

Which is mostly my method as well, although I have a very nice stainless steel chain the Spouselike One made for me, and I can only wear it with garb if it has something 'adorning' it (since I will never be Knight or Squire), and because I took a lot of crap for 'adorning' it with a lovely bit of Venetian glass (which I guess was too small for the complaining Duke to see), I sometimes hang an award medallion (usually the Angels Arts one) from it, so that I can wear it.

[cormac.livejournal.com]

Well, considering the Aten sun is a full sun and is gold, and the potato is supposed to be a "sunburst," or rays of the sun coming out of the cloud, whoever thinks it's too Aten can stick it in their veldt.

There's absolutely no reason at all why someone couldn't make their own medallions and wear them, so long as they're entitled to wear the regalia for said order. Despite my dislike for hand-towel favors, I thought it might be cool to display the awards you've received in woven format, hanging from your belt (though Njall would probably trip over his).

[hagerson.livejournal.com]

Hey Kids! Collect the whole set!

(only two more to go, which I am not in the running for, and not just because I moved)

Note's: well yes, we know who coined the name "steaming turd"

I'm all for a redesign to a more period look. And a substitution of a more period harp is not a blazon change. Just an emblazon change.

I need to replace my dolphin (run over by a car and chewed by dogs, go figure). point me at who I need talk to to and tell me how much. maybe i can take care of that at GWW. (not that anyone around here would recognize a Caidan award. So no reason to wear them, even if I was so inclined.)

[cormac.livejournal.com]

If you're looking to replace your Dolphin with another that's given out by the kingdom, you need to contact Her Grace Felinah. I think they're charging $5 per replacement medallion.

On the other hand, if you're looking for a hand-cast, enameled pewter version, I know that Baron Malcolm has been making and selling them for years. They're very nice in general, but I don't care for the dolphin artwork he used.