Signet

A Signet or Sanction is a special type of status effect. It has no actual effect on the player's abilities. It also does not go away, as all other status effects aside form Dedication, upon the player being KOed.

Signet
Having a signet will show that the player is participating in his or her country's Conquest. While he has this effect, a portion of his experience is automatically transfered into Conquest Points. Conquest points can be exchanged for items and equipment as a sort of reward for their efforts.

A Signet is given the gate guards of the player's country, one representative in each of the opposing cities' embassies, and by all Ducal guards in Jeuno. The signet lasts a number of hours equal to the player's rank plus the nation's position in conquest the previous week--one hour for 1st place, two for second, and three for third. There are 10 ranks and 3 positions in conquest so a signet can last anywhere between 2 and 13 hours.

Conquest points can only be gained in areas subject to conquest, that being the main portion of Vana'diel, all zones that were created before Treasures of Aht Urhgan.

Sanction
Sanction is similar to Signet in concept, but it applies in different areas, those that were added by the Treasures of Aht Urhgan expansion. Sanction is given out by gate guards for the Empire of Aht Urhgan. Instead of participating in conquest, they are instead listed as acting as a mercinary with the sanction of the Emperor.

Sanction does not give conquest points, but instead Imperial Standing. Imperial standing can be used to buy items and equipment from gate guards as well, just like Conquest but with different available items. It can also be exchanged for Imperial Currency, which functions on Bronze, Silver, Mithral, and Gold instead of Gil (though gil is used by almost all vendors). Sanction can also be used to purchase a pass to use the Runic Portal which provides easy transportation to and from various Staging Points.