The Standard of Recognition

The Four Degrees

The Foundation recognises a work in one of four degrees. Each says something different about the work, and each is reached in its own way. They are listed here from the first to the highest.

IN BRIEF

The ladder

A work can be a software project, an institution, an agreement or body of law, a course or school, or a publication. Degrees are given to the work, never to a company or a person in general. Each work has a named steward who answers for it.

Degree	What it says	Reached by	Required standing	Renewal
I · Supported	Its purpose is aligned with the Charter	Application and review of purpose	None	Every year
II · Approved	It conforms to the Canon in practice	Full examination	None. May be sought directly	Every year, by review of changes
III · Certified	It is excellent, and has stayed so	Audit by two new examiners	12 months Approved without breach	Every year, by audit
IV · Sponsored	The Foundation holds it as its own	Invitation of the Council only	Certified and renewed at least once	Reviewed every year

DEGREE I · BRONZE

Supported

Aligned in purpose

The Foundation has read what the work sets out to do and finds that purpose aligned with the Charter. Supported recognises intent and character. It does not yet speak to quality, and it should never be presented as if it did.

Requires: A public statement of the work’s purpose. Public adoption of the principles of the Charter. A named steward who answers for the work. No known breach of the Charter.
Reached by: Application. One examiner reviews the stated purpose and the steward.
Term: One year, renewable on the same terms.

DEGREE II · SILVER

Approved

Conforms in practice

The work has been examined against the Canon for its field and found to conform. Where Supported speaks of what a work intends, Approved speaks of what it does.

Requires: Everything required for Supported. A complete examination against the Canon for the work’s field. Every finding of that examination resolved.
Reached by: Examination, on request, once the work is ready. A work does not need to be Supported first.
Term: One year. Renewed by an examination of everything that has changed.

DEGREE III · GOLD

Certified

Excellent by habit

The work is not only correct but excellent, and it has stayed excellent. Excellence is a skill reached by practice, so this degree is never given on a single examination. It is the seal of genuineness.

Requires: Twelve months held as Approved without breach. A full audit by two examiners who took no part in earlier examinations of the work. The findings published in the Register.
Reached by: Audit, on request once the twelve months have passed.
Term: One year. Renewed by a new audit every year.

DEGREE IV · CRIMSON

Held as our own

The Foundation puts its own name and resources behind the work: stewardship, funding or people. Crimson is the colour of The Republic itself, and this degree is the Foundation saying that it stands with the work as if it were its own.

Requires: Certified, and renewed at least once. Exemplary standing in its field.
Reached by: Invitation of the Council of the Foundation only. It cannot be applied for, and it is never sold.
Term: Reviewed every year. While a work holds this degree, the Foundation answers for it publicly.

THE SEAL

Showing the seal

A work that holds a degree may show any of that degree’s marks, in whatever form suits it best: the rosette, the hologram, the registry seal, the stamp or the badge. All are in the brand kit. The rules are few and strict.

Show only the degree held today. A higher degree’s mark is never used, and when standing changes, the marks change with it.
Show the seal beside the work it was given to, and only at the addresses recorded for that work in the Register. Never use it as a mark for a company or for unrelated works.
Link every seal to the work’s entry in the Register, at republic-foundation.org/register/RF-YY-NNNNNN.
Use the marks as published. Do not recolour, redraw, crop or combine them. Registry seals and holograms that carry the work’s own number are issued by the Foundation with the degree.
A breach suspends the degree at once, and the Register shows the suspension. A work whose degree is revoked removes every mark within thirty days.

A degree is never sold.

The Foundation takes no payment in exchange for a judgement.

Ask about an examination Verify a seal