Heraldry of Ilbarych

Imperial Heraldry

Imperial heraldry is codified and adjudicated by the Heralds of Ilbarych. The specific combination of elements and colors is kept careful track of by the heralds, and those who use sigils to which they are not legally entitled find the heralds wield a great deal of legal authority against those who flout the Heraldic Canon.

The Elements

The standards of the Heraldic Canon were established in the Old Empire, and consist of three Elements: the Element Primal, the Element Providential, and the Element Imperial. The needs of the Crowndom have developed a fourth Element, the Element Exemplary, used in personal rather than familial sigils.

• Element Primal: The Element Primal is a natural symbol which represents the heart and soul of the House's character. It is most often an animal, but may be a notable plant, natural feature, or celestial body. In the Old Empire, the four highest-ranked such symbols were the bear, the lion, the eagle, and the wolf, after the founding peoples of that Imperium.
• Element Providential: The Element Providential is a symbol of the House's bounty, most often an agricultural (sheaf of wheat) or natural resource (ingot of ore), it might also be a finished product (wagon wheel or plow). By and large, this symbol tells what the House's prosperity and right to Imperium is based on, although with the accumulation of years, some Houses Providential Element no longer reflects modern realities.
• Element Imperial: The Element Imperial is an architectural or design iconograph given to a noble house by the Crown to represent the deeds of that House, some element of the House's history, or some virtue which the Crown associates with that family. Additionally, Greater Houses add a coronet to their heraldry, Warden Houses change this to a Crown, and the Royal House bears the singular Crown of Imperium in its Heraldry. Elements Imperial belong to acknowledged Houses, and never appear on personal heraldry.
• Element Exemplary: Although only nobility may have heraldry, some organizations and factions within the Crowndom are granted an Element Exemplary - a sigil or sign which can be added to the personal heraldry of its members. Elements Exemplary are also given for specific awards and honors.

Noble Heraldry

The heraldry of a noble House consists of the Elements Primal, Providential, and Imperial. All three of these Elements are only permitted to appear on formal seals, tapestries, and shields – in places that support the full level of detail necessary, in other words.

In all other instances, the Primal and Providential Elements are combined to represent a House on jewelry, embroidered patches, battlefield banners, servant or retainer livery, and similar uses. These sigils are usually referred to as "the [Primal]-and-[Providential] of [House]," such as "the hound-and-grapes of the Durwalds" or "the oak-and-amber of House Kylervus."

This abbreviated heraldry is also frequently worn by individual nobles of that House, often with any Elements Exemplar they have earned appended to it. The main exception to this is for the non-Heir knighted scions of a House - they are entitled to their own heraldry, as noted for knights below.

Knightly Heraldry

Knights are given leave to bear their own heraldry in the Heraldic Canon. Since all knights are viewed as "Lords Aspiring" by the Canon, they are given the foundations for sigils that will ideally one day represent their own new Houses. A knight's heraldry consists solely of Elements Primal and Providential, with the Providential Element being identical to their liege-lord's if they have one, or a sword if they do not (or simply prefer to keep the sword, although this tends to denote the lowest tier of knights in Ilbarych culture).

A knight who becomes landed must change their Providential sigil to reflect the prosperity of the land they are lord of, a change that remains with their family even after achieving proper nobility. A House of landed knight who is elevated to true nobility is given an Element Imperial by the Crown at their elevation.

Many knights have a registered heraldry of their own, but choose to simply use the heraldry of the House to which they are sworn, particularly if they serve as the leaders of armed forces for that House. Knights bear many Exemplary Elements, with military honors and membership in various knightly orders each having their own Exemplaries.