College of Arms

## General

The College of Arms, or Earl Marshal’s Courts, is the royal ministry consisting of professional officers of arms, also known as heralds, who are delegated authority to act on behalf of the Crown in all matters of heraldry, the granting of new coats of arms, genealogical research and the recording of pedigrees.

The College is also the official body responsible for matters relating to the flying of flags on land, and it maintains the official registers of flags and other national symbology. The Lord High Steward, as the Crown’s direct representative, and the Lord High Speaker, as presiding officer and chairperson of the parliament, shall retain ex officio status on the College of Arms.

The College’s operations can be summarized into two Courts: Peerage and Heraldry. The current Earl Marshal is Aras Ardalan.

## Court of Peerage

Heralds assigned to the Court of Peerage will convene weekly to review and discuss the submitted applications for Lord Temporals, Lord Spirituals, and Gentry as applicable in accordance with the Grand Charter of the House of Nobles. It is here the Heralds will exercise their judgment and wisdom of ceremony, rank, and pedigree to come to a consensus whether or not to grant such an honorific or appointment, or should the circumstance warrant it, to defer judgment to the House of Nobles. An example of an extraordinary circumstance that would warrant routing the nomination to the House of Nobles may include a claimant of contested territory or the affirmation of a holding through inheritance.

If the application is not deferred to the House of Nobles and subsequently passes the Court of Peerage’s approval, the Earl Marshal shall draft a Letter Patent and, if applicable, a Writ of Summons. A Letter Patent is a legal instrument that makes, or affirms, a lifelong appointment of an office, right, title such as in the case of a Lord or Lady of a fief. A Writ of Summons issued yearly for their respective calendar year that enables someone (typically a Lord Spiritual or Lord Temporal) to sit in Parliament and vote. If the application is deferred to the House of Nobles, the House, under the direction of the Lord High Speaker, will interview the applicant's case and come to a recommendation via majority vote to either approve or deny the nomination; said recommendation will be returned to the Court of Peerage for action.

## Court of Heraldry

The granting of Coat of Arms within the Kingdom of Stormwind is the sole prerogative of His Majesty the King. However, the monarch has delegated this power to two authorities; the Lord High Steward, and the Earl Marshal. Under the latter's jurisdiction, the right to arms is acquired exclusively either by proving descent in an unbroken noble-line from someone registered as so entitled, or by a newly issued Letter Patent by the Earl Marshal.

Once a petition for a Coat of Arms is submitted to the Earl Marshal (typically through an applicant's nomination to Peerage or Gentry) the design will be drawn by Heralds that are assigned to the Court of Heraldry. These court officers are responsible for the design, recording, and display of the Coat of Arms, as well as Cartography and Vexillology.