Greetings, and welcome to the Herald's section of the Dark Voice newsletter...
One thing I have noticed over the course of both of my times as Herald is that most people do not know what should go on their "shields" on their Grant of Arms, so that shall be the topic of my submission for the Dark Voice.
First off... your symbol or "charge" should be something reflecting your character, or your character's family. For example, Exar Kun's charge could be a double bladed lightsaber.
Secondly... simplicity is ideal. Because of the small size of
the GoA's, complex charges (ie: "I want 6 TIE fighters doing a starburst
pattern flight, a Dark Jedi standing in the middle with a skull face, and
two lightsabers crossed in front"... don't laugh... I get that sort of
thing ALL the time) will not work well. A "charge" should be a very
simple shape or thing. An ideal example of a charge is seen on Guardian
Darrion Sulco's Grant of Arms.
It is a simple, yet effective and recognizable symbol, that means something
to him.
Another excellect example is Dark Jedi Knight Janich's Grant of Arms.
And probably best of all, Grand Master Khyron's Grant of Arms.
Each of the above examples uses a very simple charge, (and no, you cannot have the cool Gargoyles like on Khyron's Grant of Arms unless you are a Grand Master.) and still manage to look very cool. This is very important, because as of today, any Grant of Arms application I recieve that has an extremely complex charge will be rejected, and the applicant shall have to re-apply.
So remember... the first rule of business is "K.I.S.S." (keep it simple, stupid). The same applies here... MORE is not better... it is just more.