History: The idea for the Havenholde badge is far from new. We tried to get it passed for 6 years, but encountered various obstacles. This all changed in June of 2000 at Lilies War. A group of us making up the Havenholde Expeditionary Force known as "Loki" were recognized for our skill and treated like craftsman on the field of archery. We ended up shooting target and combat archery for Baron Modar Neznanich of Forgotten Sea.
As luck would have it, Baron Modar loves heraldry and is very, very knowledgeable in that field. For our service to his Barony, he decided he would help us do whatever necessary to get the badge passed. The badge was passed in ten months under the name of our Seneschal, who had it transferred to the group afterwards.
Who may wear the Havenholde group badge?
You must be a member of Havenholde to wear and display the badge. To determine if you are a member you must have your group listing as Havenholde in the Gryphon's Pages. If you are not already listed, you must contact whoever is doing the Gryphon's Pages and state that you want to be classified as part of Havenholde. You must also notify the Havenholde Seneschal of your desire to be considered part of the group. This way no one has to wait until the next yearly printing of the Pages to be eligible (as the Gryphon's pages are printed once a year.) If you leave Havenholde, then you no longer are eligible to wear the group badge and should not wear it.
Description:
The heraldic description is : Per pale argent and Or, a Norse Hagall rune gules, overall an arrow inverted sable.
For us non-herald type folks, the badge is round, and divided in half vertically. Looking at the badge, the right half is yellow and the left is white. The Viking rune looks like a red "H" with a crooked crosspiece. The arrow is black, with the point going up and the feathers at the bottom. That is how it was passed.
What the Badge Means
The Havenholde badge background colors reflect the background colors on our Baronial Surcoats. The red Viking rune was meant to kind of look like the letter "H", which would stand for Havenholde. We have used a version of this rune in red trim on our fighting surcoats to show our group identity as well as our support and identity with our Barony. Later research revealed that this rune suits our archery involvement as well (one of its meanings is "hailstone"). Of course, the arrow in the badge shows our strength and interest in target and combat archery.