The Order of the Astrum Australis
(Badge image created by Lord Kieran Blake)
Second Constitution for the Order of the Astrum Australis:
I. There shall exist in the Barony of the Citadel of the Southern Pass an award, known as the Order of the Astrum Australis, which may be given by the Baron and / or Baroness, subject to the pleasure of the Crown, to those persons who have given outstanding service to the Barony, above and beyond that service normally expected of subjects of the Crown.
II. The holders of the award shall be styled as Companions of the Astrum Australis and shall be entitled to place the initials C.A.A. after their names.
III. The insignia of the order shall consist of a medallion bearing the registered badge of the Order: Azure, two piles inverted Or, in chief a compass-star elongated to base argent.
IV. Arms and Precedence
A. The award shall carry with it, subject to the pleasure of the Crown, an Award of Arms. Companions of the order shall take precedence after principality orders but before a simple Award of Arms.
B. If the award is given to a person who bears an award carrying higher precedence than given above, his/her precedence shall remain unchanged.
C. If the award is given to a person who has previously received an Award of Arms, his/her precedence shall date from his/her election to the Order.
V. Amendments to this constitution shall be made by the Coronet after due consultation with the Crown.
VI. The companionship of all previous recipients of the Order is hereby confirmed.
First Constitution:
By our hands this 21st day of August, A.S. XIX, being 1984 in the Common Era.
Jochen, Baron Monika, Baroness
Freanna, King Richenda, Queen
Keridwen of Montrose, Aten Principle Herald)
By our hands this 24th day of May, A.S. XXXIII, being 1998 in the Common Era
Berold, Baron Eirianedd, Baroness
Hrothgar II, King Madigan, Queen
Pendar the Bard, White Stag Principal Herald
History of the Order:
The Astrum Australis is the Latin translation for “Star of the South”. Our Barony is famous for the great star which is lit during the holidays upon the eastern face of the mountain which bisects the Barony. Although the star upon the mountain is that of a five pointed mullet, the star on the badge of the Order is that of a compass star which directs the way of the traveler to the great lands of the Kingdom of the Outlands from the wilds of Argonia from the South, the vastness of the Kingdom of Ansteorra from the East or the birthplace of our lands from the Kingdom of Atenveldt from the West.
The inverted piles upon all the badge of the Order signify the Pass which the Barony of the Citadel eternally guards. Our mundane city was first named by the Spaniards as El Paso del Norte or the Northern Pass since they had begun their conquest of the region from the south in Central America. The Citadel of the Southern Pass was named for the southern most Pass in the Rocky Mountain chain in the Kingdom of Atenveldt which we were a part of at the time.
When a person or persons takes the Baronial Thrones, they become the head of the Baronial Orders whether they create those Orders themselves or the Orders are already established. They may not be an actual member of the Order, but they are the head of said Order. At times, as is the case below, the incoming Baronial Coronet, in this case Rutor and Morgana, felt it was necessary to elevate their predecessors into an Order which their predecessors had created.
At the Baronial Investiture of Rutor and Morgana, one of the first items of business in their first court of their second day as Coronets of the Citadel was to admit Baron Jochen and Baroness Monika into the Order of the Astrum Australis. Jochen and Monika were past principals of the Order having established it during their reign as Baronial Coronets.
When the Order was originally confirmed, the Barony was less than a year old. The original constitution has in its’ wording the insignia of the Order being ‘ subject to the approval of the SCA College of Arms’. The badge for the Order was approved on 10 March 1985, almost seven months after the original constitution was signed. The Barony was at this time still a part of the Principality of the Outlands, Kingdom of Atenveldt hence the herald’s signature is that of the Aten Principle Herald, not the White Stag Principle Herald. Also of note, the medallion of the Order in the original constitution when presented is to be suspended from a ribbon (which was usually blue in color the first few years).
It was the only one of the original three constitutions of the Baronial Orders (Astrum Australis, Flos Australis and Order of Thermopylae) to carry with it an Award of Arms.
The second constitution written for the Order was done during the Baronial Reign of Berold and Eirianedd (she whom we all know now as Bahiyyah). During this time all of the Constitutions of the Baronial Orders to date were re-written to bring them up to date as far as heraldry and precedential position were concerned. The second constitution includes the approved badge of the Order and medallions given after this time need not be suspended by a ribbon.
The Premier of the Order is Master Walthari von Harx and his induction happened at Citadel 12th Night, January 12th, 1985. His induction happened two months before the badge of the Order was passed. The next three inductees were Lady Catalina de Almeria y Tiermas, Lord Garth Merioneth du Bogue and Lady Julienne la Flame on the 16th of March 1985, six days after the badge was passed.
Three members of the Order were not citizens of the Barony when they received admittance to the Order. The first was Lady Suzanna of the House of Jewels (resident of the Freehold of the Great River) during Jochen and Monika’s reign, the second was Lady Rose Owyne (resident of Kahlland) and the third Sheik Asad ud-Din (resident of Nahrun Kabirun), both during the reign of Berold and Bahiyyah.
Special permission was granted to the Citadel Coronets by the Crown to admit these individuals into the Order since it is a rarity that Citadel Awards go to those not living in our Barony.
[Link] to the most current listing of the members of the order.