Medieval flags are pieces of cloth, usually rectangular in shape and with unique colors and designs, used as symbols, signals or emblems during the middle ages. These are categorized into the Banner and the Standard. Medieval flags under the Banner classification were personal flags symbolizing nobility and knighthood while Standards were medieval flags used for military applications.
The Banner medieval flags were painted on crossed bars or embroidered with the arms of its bearer. The size of the flags was dependent on the denoted rank and the flags were often trimmed with the arms’ primary metals and colors. These types of medieval flags were usually square in shape and ranked according to their dimensions: emperor (6 feet square), king (5 feet square), prince or duke (4 feet square), marquess, earl, viscount or baron (3 feet square), and the baronet to knight bachelor (2 feet square).
Other Banner medieval flags include the “Beauseant” (ancient type banner used by the Orders of Knighthood like the Templars; rectangular or oblong in shape and attached to a staff), the “Gonfanon” (fixed in a frame and turns like a weather vane; has 2 or 3 tails or streamers), and the “Funeral” or “Banneroll” (square in shape; used in funerals; had the arms or crests of the deceased).
The Standard Medieval flags, on the other hand, are military flags which were used for campaigns and tournaments. These were only designed with crests, badges, mottos, livery colors and ornaments, and not personal arms like in Banner Medieval flags. The different types and uses of Standard Medieval flags include the following: “Guidon” (a rallying point in battler; also carried at funerals), “Pennon” or streamer (a half-sized guidon; designed with crests, heraldic and ornamental mottos), “Pennant” (a pennon with forked ends or swallow tails), and “Pennoncelle” or “Pensell” (small pennon carried at the end of a lance; small pointed flags with crests & ornaments when used in funerals), among many others.
For more Medieval Flags, drop by realmcollections.com’s special section devoted to Medieval Flags and other Medieval Home Decor.