Submitting arms to the College of Heralds is a mysterious process for many Society participants. Misinformation abounds, and horror stories persist. Frequently even local pursuivants are not certain how the process works. Nevertheless, most people's submissions do get registered, at first try.

This article outlines the process, with a time line illustrating the 'ideal' submissions turnaround time. This time line does not take into account human error (by submitters or by heralds), problems with international postage, or volunteer burnout. It ends with some notes about the process.

1. Person sends their name and device, with appropriate documentation, to the Green Mantle herald (GM). A submission includes three colour copies, 1 black and white line drawing copy, and $15 Canadian per submission ($15/name, $15/device).

2. GM collects the money, makes sure there are no mistakes in the forms. Any submissions arriving without funds must wait until a cheque is received.

a) Once every 1-2 months, GM writes up the Internal Letter of Intent (ILoI)-includes the text of the submission, the mini line drawing of the arms, and the blazon-and sends it to all the kingdom-level commenters. The ILoI file is available online. GM files one colour copy for reference. Internal commenters get 1 month to review the submissions, and send or e-mail their comments to GM.

b) The herald in charge of the External Letter of Intent (ELoI) assembles all the comments, compiles the ELoI, and sends a submissions packet away to Laurel (includes the fees, the ELoI, the two colour copies of each device, and all the appropriate documentation for each name and device). Copies of the ELoI (including copies of the mini line drawing, and the blazon) are sent to all the Laurel-level commenters. More than 40 people comment for Laurel, including all the other Kingdom heralds.

3. Laurel receives the package. Any incomplete packages (missing funds, documentation, or copies) are held, and not processed until they are complete.

a) Laurel sets a date to review the ELoI 4 months from the package date, or the date of receipt. The members of the College of Arms submit their comments to Laurel, within that 4-month period.

b) At the Laurel meeting, Laurel and senior heralds review all ELoI set for that date, and say yay or nay (1 meeting can cover ~300 submissions).

c) Laurel writes up the Letter of Acceptance and Return (LoAR), which summarizes the outcome, by Kingdom, and alpha order (read: time-consuming). This letter goes to all Kingdom heralds and submission heralds, and is sometimes posted in kingdom newsletters. It is also available online.

4. The herald in charge of LoARs in each kingdom writes to the submitters, to tell them the outcome. IF their device was returned, it can be resubmitted with changes within a year free of charge.

Some points to keep in mind:

The submission herald can return paperwork because it is incomplete (missing documentation or cheques). Internal commenters can recommend returns for obviously violating Rules of Submission, or if the drawing is unrecognizeable. But Kingdom and submissions heralds cannot judge your submission for style. They may think it will be returned, but only Laurel and senior heralds advising Laurel can say yay or nay regarding style.

Most kingdom-level commentary is electronically-based. The letter is posted online, and commentary is sent in by e-mail.

All Laurel-level commentary is paper-based, with paper copies of letters and emblazons sent back and forth between commenters and Laurel.

A submission, or a group of submissions, can be 'pended' (set aside) until a problem is corrected. Pended items can be small errors (blazon is missing its tinctures, or the mini emblazon suffers from poor copy quality), or they can be submissions that raise larger issues (example: "This submission of X has once again raised the issue of ordinaries versus ordinaries couped, specifically that of palls versus shakeforks.").

Who are the commenters, and Laurel's 'staff'? Aside from Kingdom principal heralds, they are pursuivants and heralds with an interest in names and armory, who check submissions for conflict, and volunteer their research and expertise, frequently providing documentation for submissions that otherwise would be returned. Some of them are experts on the submission or heraldry rules; some have large personal libraries of heraldry resources; some have specialist knowledge of naming practices for rare or old languages.

The Laurel Herald staff also needs patient friends and supporters, willing to do the grunt work of filing hundreds of submissions monthly.

This article ends with some perspective. Dmitrii Volkovich, former Dragon Herald, commented:

"As a comparison, England's College of Arms is run by people who get paid for their work and don't have to consider names or questions of style, but still the SCA handles about as much armory in a month as they do in a year. We do it in half the time, and it costs our submitters less than one-hundredth as much."