THE SOCIETY

One King of Arms = Jesper Wasling  (chairman)

Seven Heralds = Thomas Falk, Stefan Bede, Henric Åsklund, Eduardo Pazikas, Lennart Wasling, Björn Fridén + 1
(the council)

Unlimited numbers of Persevants
(members)

Beginning - Borås Heraldiska Förening

On May 25, 1990, the Heraldry Society of Borås (Borås Heraldiska Förening, BHF) was founded at a café in Borås. Three men in their early twenties sat down and politely discussed heraldry. Inspired by the conversation (or: Someone, probably Stefan Bede, suggested...), Stefan Bede, Magnus Persson, and Jesper Wasling decided to found a heraldic society.

Since then, BHF has spread the knowledge of heraldry to the people of the Sjuhärad district. Stefan Bede became the chairman, and Jesper Wasling became the secretary. A treasurer wasn't necessary at that time.

Later that year, more friends joined the society. Between 1990 and 1995, our council had a total of 12 members, not all serving simultaneously: Stefan Bede, Per Ladenvall, Mathias Söderlund, Jesper Wasling, Pontus Wasling, Magnus Andersson, Henric Oscarsson/Åsklund, Magnus Persson, Greger Lundstedt, Jonas Rengensjö, Fredrik Nättorp, and Mathias Svenungsson. Additionally, there were four other officers: Markus Carlsson, Felix Nolte, Henrik Sjövall, and Gunnar Johansson.

Our original name was the Heraldry Society of Borås (Borås Heraldiska Förening). In 2010, we changed it to Seven Heralds (Sju Härolder), matching the name of our publication from 2006 to 2008.

In 1991, the society adopted a coat of arms featuring three sheep-shearing shears in the same tinctures (colors) as the Swedish coat of arms. Notably, the city of Borås has a coat of arms with two shears.

The middle - A sleeping society

1995 the society hirbernated. All but two of the twelve members of the council and other officers had moved from Borås to universities around Sweden. BHF lapsed into a sleeping society. BHF had at most 28 members in the city of Borås, all in their twenties.

The today - An awakening

Between 1995 and 2005, all heraldic activities in Borås were arranged by the Heraldry Society of Sweden (why? See below.). In 2006, that changed, and the BHF woke up from her beauty sleep. 

Stefan Bede, Henric Åsklund, and Jesper Wasling, together with Thomas Falk and Johanna Arnell/Hellström, restarted the society. All except Johanna were members of the council of the Heraldry Society of Sweden, SHF. Between 1990 and 1995, Stefan Bede was the chairman, and Jesper Wasling was the secretary. This time, the roles were reversed.

The society focused on the publication Sju Härolder and produced six issues between 2006 and 2008. Afterward, the members had their articles published on the society's website on a subdomain of the website for the SHF. When the SHF changed their web platform and CMS in 2010, there was no room for BHF.

So the council then decided that the BHF society should be replaced by the informal association Seven Heralds/Sju Härolder. The name was, of course, taken from the publication. No more chairman, but a king of arms. No other council members, but seven heralds. And no members, only persevants. 

The heraldic artist Thomas Falk was elected king of arms. The others became heralds.
In 2020, Thomas Falk and Jesper Wasling switched place so Jesper became king of arms (equivalent to chairman) .

Contribution to heraldry in Sweden

Inspired by the society in Lund, which Henric Åsklund co-founded earlier, Jesper and Stefan co-founded the Heraldry Society of Gothenburg (Göteborgs heraldiska sällskap) in 2015. This means the founders of Seven Heralds also co-founded two of the three other local heraldic societies in Sweden. The fourth, founded in Stockholm and Uppsala in 1992, has no connection to Borås... yet.

Stefan Bede, Jesper Wasling, and Per Ladenvall were assistants at the 19th International Genealogical and Heraldic Congress in Uppsala, Sweden, in 1992.

Jesper Wasling has had five books about heraldry published, as confirmed by Wikipedia. He also runs the largest heraldic blog in Scandinavia, perhaps in the world - www.waslingmedia.se.