Heraldry and Vexillology
The term heraldry refers to the practices of heralds, a special form of minstrels, who became responsible for identifying and cataloguing the arms of participants at tournaments. Their knowledge of coats of arms also helped them identify fighters in battle and dead on the battlefield. For this reason heralds ultimately became involved as messengers in battles, arranging truces or delivering declarations of war.
Heraldry appeared in the landed aristocracy and quickly spread to the knightly class in the 12th century, at a time when knighthood and nobility remain very distinct classes. Over the course of the 13th century, as knighthood and nobility came to merge, heraldry began to spread far beyond either class. Soon all classes of society were using heraldry. Thus, heraldry is not particularly linked to nobility, although the most easily documented uses of heraldry are among nobles.
Vexillology is the science of the study of flags and emblems. It comes from the vexillum, a Roman military standard having a square of fabric bearing a design hung from a horizontal crossbar on a pole. Celtic Warriors and Japanese Samurai both had similar forms of banners in the field. Knights within the Order of Scáthach each create their own vexillum, flags and banners bearing heraldry which represents their Warrior path. These are displayed at Scáthach rituals, both indoors and outdoors. It is quite moving to see the ranks of banners on the ritual room walls or on poles surrounding an outdoor ritual area. The banner of the Order of Scáthach is pictured at the top of this page. Below you will see Kerr Cuhulain's banner, followed by banners of some of the other Knights of our order.
The symbol of our Order originated back in the early 1990s. The moon represents the divine feminine. It represents the intuition and psychic power that directs and inspires us on our path as Warriors. The branch silhouetted against the moon is a symbol of the divinity which shines through us and illuminates our Warrior path. The upright branch represents the divine masculine. It represents the life energy, chi, that flows through us and helps us to grow and achieve on our Warrior path. This branch, with it's three leaves, represents our growth as Warriors through our three degrees: From Novice to Squire to Knight and, ultimately, to Master.
The three leaves also represent the dubbing ritual that forms part of the Arming ritual that makes us Knights. This is where the Grand Master taps the initiate with the sword first on the right shoulder, then the left shoulder, then the right shoulder again.
Mirroring the practices of the ancient Warrior Celts, who painted their faces with woad when going into battle, our Knights also develop designs which they paint on their faces at initiations.
