The Order of the White Scarf of Lochac was the award given to those who excel in the art, teaching and promotion of the art of fence within Lochac. Lochac joined the White Scarf Treaty in July of AS XXXVII (2002), when Lochac became a Kingdom in its own right. The Premier members of the Order were elevated at the first Lochac Coronation, being Don Táriq ibn Jelal ibn Ziyadatallah al-Naysábúrí and Don Damian Greybeard.
The Order was closed by Kinggiyadai Khagan and Altani Yeke Khatun on the 2nd of May AS L (2015), the precursor to the opening of the new rapier peerage: the Order of Defence. The existing White Scarves were instructed to retain their titles and regalia, however, the polling would come to an end and no new members were to be admitted.
Upon closing, the Order had 26 members, as listed on Canon Lore.
Companions of the Order style themselves as Don or Doña and wear a white scarf on their left shoulder to indicate their status. A tradition of this Order in Lochac is that every new member is given a scarf by a current member.
The owl is a badge used by the Order due to O-W-L being an abbreviation of the full Order name. Another tradition in Lochac is for the members of the Order to give out WOL’s (a Winnie the Pooh reference to how the character Owl spells his name). A WOL is a token (e.g. a pewter badge), usually with an owl motif, given by a member of the Order to encourage good fencing and it’s considered the highest form of praise a member of the Order can give.
At each Coronation, a member of the Order presents the incoming Queen with a white scarf to recognise her as the patron of the Order during Her reign. Around AS 48, Don Damian Greybeard commissioned a pin to be used by the Queens of Lochac to attach the white scarf. This pin includes an enamelled Tudor rose, and it is now passed from Queen to Queen at each Coronation.
A more informal tradition of this Order in Lochac is the use of “Secret Don Names”, which are nicknames given to incoming members of the Order using a pun on Don/Doña. For example, Don Juan is a play on Don the first and Ding Don is a play on a member who is notorious for wearing bells on his shoes.
The Order of the White Scarf of Lochac neither endorses nor discourages the practice of taking cadets. That is an issue that each White Scarf within Lochac decides for themselves. However, unlike in some other Kingdoms, the Order of the White Scarf of Lochac does discourage the use of red scarves to mark cadets and cadetship is a very rare occurrence in Lochac.