Preface

These Rules for Heraldic Registrations for the Adrian Imperial College of Arms, October 1999 shall supercede all previous Manuals, Rules and Handbooks. These antecedents include, but are not limited to:

1. The Manual for the College of Arms for the Empire of Adria, 1999
2. The Rules for Heraldic Registrations as used by the College of Arms of the Empire of Adria, 1999
3. The Herald's Handbook compiled by Del'Shaley nan Tolman, undated.
4. The Manual for the Ministry of Heraldry, 1997.
5. The College of Arms of the Adrian Empire, 1998
6. The French College of Heraldry of the Adrian Empire, 1997
7. The College of Heraldry of the Adrian Empire, revised 1993
8. The College of Heraldry of the Adrian Empire, 1992
9. All other previous manuals, guidelines, and precedents.

Note: For the purposes of these Rules, the term "herald" shall refer to any person acting in a heraldic manner, regardless of rank.

A glossary of terms follows the body of these Rules.

These Rules are a coalescing of the previous Manual and RfHR (numbers 1 and 2, above) into one comprehensive document. In some instances, Rules may have been deleted or expanded to conform with Bylaw changes or Fleur-de-Lis precedents. In particular, sections on onomastics and regalia have been stricken from the previous documents. Duplicate paragraphs appearing in both documents have also been deleted.

Article numbers in the previous RfHR remain unchanged. What follows is a table correllating the Article numbers in the Manual with the Rule number in the current document.

The Bylaws of the Adrian Empire, Inc. (as passed March 2001), Article VIII.F.4:

4. THE MINISTER OF ARMS.

1. College of Arms. The College of Arms shall be a sovereign body of arms, and shall consist of the Imperial Sovereign of Arms and the chief Minister of Arms of each chartered subdivision and other persons as appointed by the Imperial Sovereign of Arms.

1. The College of Arms shall protect only the Arms of the membership, Estates, and Domains of the Adrian Empire and those Arms that the Imperial Sovereign of Arms and the College of Arms agree are worthy of protection.
2. The College of Arms may not grant the right to bear arms, but only approve of their design and construction according to the established Rules of the College.
3. The College may reserve a device for a any member of the Adrian Empire as defined in Article III of these Bylaws against the day when that member shall have the right to bear it. The College may also register a device for any potential Estate or potential Domain against the day when that Estate or Domain may bear it.
4. The College of Arms shall further aid the Crowns and Estates in the design and staging of authentic ceremonies that are adapted to the needs of the Adrian Empire.
5. The College of Arms is entitled and required to establish a body of standard terminology, usage, and rules for heraldic registrations and display within the Adrian Empire.

2. The Imperial Sovereign of Arms shall be the foremost heraldic officer of the Adrian Empire and the head of the College of Arms. The Imperial Sovereign of Arms shall act as the Voice of the Imperial Crown.

1. The Imperial Sovereign of Arms is responsible for supervising and coordinating the heraldic functions and activities of the College of Arms and its members.
2. The Imperial Sovereign of Arms shall have the exclusive right to resolve conflict of armorial devices submitted by the membership, Estates, and Domains of the Adrian Empire.
3. The Sovereign of Arms of a chartered subdivision shall have the exclusive right to approve armorial devices submitted by the membership of the chartered subdivision.
4. The Imperial Sovereign of Arms is responsible for maintaining the Armorial, Ordinary, and Roll of Arms, or causing them to be maintained.
5. Requirements: A thorough understanding of the heraldic practices of the Adrian Empire.