A Revised Armory Conflict-Checking Checklist

SENA devotes over 10,000 words to conflict checking armory, which the below guide attempts to summarize in one-twentieth of the space.

Many details have been omitted, so references are included to the relevant sections of SENA to facilitate additional research as needed.

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Conflict-Checking Procedure
To conflict-check a new piece of armory, search the armorial database to find a list of all existing registrations which could possibly conflict, then review the new item against each of them in turn.

Work through the checklist below until you find that they are clear of conflict through at least one Substantial Change (SC) or two Distinct Changes (DCs).

This analysis will require that you’re able to identify the charge groups in each piece of armory. (Appendix I)

If you reach the end of the checklist without finding an SC or two DCs, the items conflict and the new one can not be registered without permission to conflict. (A5H)

DC for Fieldlessness
If either item (or both) are fieldless, that’s a DC. (A5G1e)

SCs for the Field
If both items are fielded, any of the following changes to the field is an SC:

• One field is divided and the other is undivided. (A5F1a)
• Direction of lines of division is different. (Number of lines doesn’t count.) (A5F1b)

[Highlighted above is the first change as of the March 2021 Cover Letter; previously, you could not get an SC for the field when considering armory with a primary charge group.]

If both items are fielded, and there is no primary charge group, the following changes to the field are an SC:

• No tinctures in common; or for divisions into two, three, or four pieces, each section is different and each item has at least one tincture the other does not. (A5F2)

DCs for the Field
If both items are fielded, each of the following is a DC:

• Tincture is different for at least half of the field. (But if divided into more than four parts, swapping or rotating tinctures does not grant a DC.) (A5G1a)
• Direction of line of division is different. (A5G1b)
• Style of partition line is different. (A5G1c)
• Number of pieces is different (1, 2, 3, 4, more than 4). (A5G1d)

[Highlighted above is the second change as of the March 2021 Cover Letter; previously, you could not get multiple DCs for the field when considering armory with a primary charge group.]

SC for Field-Primary
If one piece of armory has a primary charge and the other doesn’t (field-only, or peripheral ordinaries only), that’s an SC. (A5E1)

SCs for Primary Charge Group
If both items have a primary charge group, any of the following changes to it is an SC:

• Type of all charges are substantially different. (A5E2)
• Number of charges is substantially different (1, 2, 3, more than 3). (A5E3)
• Arrangement of charges is substantially different. (A5E4)
• Posture or orientation of charges is substantially different. (A5E5)

DCs for All Charge Groups
Comparing each of the charge groups against the corresponding group in the other item, each of the following is a DC:

• Entire charge group has been added or removed. (A5G2)
• Type of charge is different for at least half of the group. (A5G4)
• Number of charges is different (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, more than 5). (A5G5)
• Tincture is different for at least half of the group. (A5G3a)
• Addition of division line, or change in direction, style, or number of pieces (1, 2, 3, 4, more than 4). (A5G3b, A5G3c, A5G3d)
• Position or arrangement of charges in the group is different (and it wasn’t forced by contrast rules). (A5G6)
• Posture or orientation of the charges is different. (A5G7)