The Barony of Marinus


The Heraldry of Marinus

By Master Donal Mac Ruiseart

Founding Baron of Marinus

Former Sable Trident Poursuivant


The Coat of Arms

The Coat of Arms of the Barony of Marinus reflects the maritime nature of the Barony by the Sea, and also reflects its geography.

The Coat of Arms of a Barony is properly worn only by the Baron or Baroness, or by Baronial heralds on ceremonial garb.

Blazon

The blazon of the Marinus Arms is: “Per pale vert and azure, on a pile enarched argent a trident sable, its points environed of a laurel wreath vert.”

Elements

The Trident is a symbol long associated with the sea. It is a fishing spear, and is frequently shown carried as a scepter by the sea god Poseidon (Neptune to the Romans). Its three points represent the three principal areas of combat(armoured, rapier, and archery) or the three paths to Peerage (martial, service, and the arts).

The field contains the geographical allusion. The green represents the land, the white the sandy beach, and the blue the sea. The laurel wreath is a required element on the arms of SCA branches, distinguishing such arms from the arms of individuals.

Badges

The Barony has two populace badges. The first is identical to the Arms without the laurel wreath. The other is the blacktrident all by itself, expressed heraldically as “(fieldless) a trident sable.”

Any member of the Barony may wear either of these badges to show their loyalty to or association with the Barony.

History

In the early days of SCAdian activity in the Hampton Roads Area, there was one branch that encompassed the area now consisting of Tir-y-Don and Marinus, and it became known as Tir-y-Don. Its heraldry was “Per bend sinister vert andazure, a pile enarched argent issuant from dexter base, in canton a laurel wreath or ”Most of the same elements are now found in that Barony’s current Arms.

Then Marinus separated from Tir-y-Don, there was some confusion about its heraldry, but when the two groups confederated to form the City-State of Dinas Moryn, the heraldry of Tir-y-Don was adopted by the confederated group while the two component groups adopted difference versions. Tir-y-Don added the dolphin hauriant gules and Marinus the trident sable. Both were placed on the broad part of the pile.

Time passed, and Tir-y-Don grew large enough to seek elevation to Baronial status.At the same time, they concluded that Dinas Moryn ought to pass into history.So the two groups again were divided. Tir-y-Don claimed the design of its Arms under the City-State as its own, and Marinus modified it by rotating the pile and centering the laurel wreath, now green, around the head of the trident. Some attempt was made to retain the collective fighting band, the Dinas Moryn Shield Wall, but the advent of households in both groups interfered and the Shield Wall also passed into history.