Brendan's Rank

Rank is recognized Society-wide and is given at the pleasure of the crown. I had been a member for several years before being given my AoA. (King Simonn of Amber Isle and Queen Tessa of the Blue Rose, who gave me the award at their last court as Crown of Ansteorra, told me that they had long assumed that I already had one.) Happens to a lot of people.

Grant of Arms (GoA) - SCA-wide status as nobility, conveying the title, "The Honorable Lord N." or "His Lordship, N." Nobody addresses me as "Your Lordship," though, except my good friend Owen when he's trying to call my attention to some matter of state that he thinks I should be paying more attention to.
Award of Arms (AoA) - SCA-wide status as nobility conveying the title, "Lord N." In other words, I'm a gentleman and I have the papers to prove it.