Tournament Banner(s)

This article contains the documentation for several heraldic banners which I made and have used in the SCA. The banners contain parts of my personal Arms, which are registered to me. This paper and the banners were entered into the Ice Dragon Pentathlon in 2010. I won the Heraldic Category for Singles (non-Novice) class and was second in the Pent.

The focus of this project is a painted silk banner from the middle to late medieval period. Shown on display, in addition to the main project, are several other examples of heraldic banners used for the Tournament. The silk banner here was made with the intent to use it during participation in mounted Tournaments.

 

Background Information

 

"Period descriptions suggest that silk banners were used for prestigious events such as tournaments, and they probably would have been used for some religious display."^[1] These appeared in the 14th Century and were very common by the 15th Century. The term "banner" in the SCA is used to refer to a variety of flags, generally displaying the bearer's heraldic arms or a religious image. 

There are several flags types which are used in the SCA - the standard, the pennon, the pennoncelle, the armorial, and the gonfalon. The pennon is a small triangular flag, usually used on a lance. Some have tails, and by the reign of Henry III, the swallow-tail became common. The pennoncelle is a longer, narrow pennon, often with tails. The armorial flag is generally square, displaying the arms of the bearer, mounted on a stiff foundation and displayed with a rigid support so that the arms is clearly visible. The gonfalon is a long banner that is suspended from a horizontal cross bar. The standard is the flag that most people think of when they hear the words "silk banner." 



Parts of the flag or banner

It is a long flag, with its length two to three times its width, and often has a swallow-tailed fly. This type of flag never bore the entire arms, but portions of it, or the owner's badge. Extant examples show that long swallow‑tail style banners were in use in 11th Century Europe and as early as 10th Century Spain.^[2]A frequent arrangement was for the national or regional badge to be displayed near the hoist, and the rest of the field divided between the bearer's colors, and their personal badge displayed in the field. This type of flag was used exclusively for military purposes and festivals. It is the later type, the standard, which I wanted to make because it was used for Tournaments.  

Numerous banners seen in the painting in Rene's Tournament Book

Most commonly, the heraldic charges were painted, embroidered or appliqued onto the fabric. According to research by Lady Sabine du Bourbonnais, "anecdotal accounts support the use of paint on fabric as a period banner and standard making technique, even though examples are hard to find."^[3]  And "of the approximately two dozen banners held in Switzerland, the majority of them are painted only, with a very small number having some appliqué." ^[4]Another researcher notes, "in period, painted cloth was used for temporary displays, such as banners, city flags and decorations for processions." ^[5]

 

The period source, The Craftsman's Handbook: "Il Libro dell'Arte" by Cennino d'Andrea Cennini, clearly indicates the use of paint on silk banners. In the section titled, How To Work on Silk, on Both Sides, Cennini describes in detail the preparation of fabric for painting, and techniques of painting.  From this source, we definitely can confirm that banners, or flags, were painted. ^[6] 

 

Except in the case of the gonfalon style, flags have two sides and must therefore be painted on both sides. Any charges or writing (inclusion of mottos was common) must be done so that it appears or reads correctly when viewed with the pole on the left side, as shown in the diagram above.  The method of attachment is unclear. Some illustrations from the period seem to indicate a pocket was made into the hoist end of the flag.^[7]  Most SCA banners of the standard type are attached through use of ties. and researchers feel this was an entirely possible period method.

 

The Project

Pictured below are the completed banners which included the standard type, and a pennon banner. (See the next blog article for construction details.)



 

 

As noted, it was my intent to make a period silk banner for use in mounted Tournaments.  I also conceived of an idea to take my time with this project and "experience" the reality of making a medieval product as it was likely done in period. Therefore, I approached this project a little differently than I do most. I decided to journal my experience, and basically "stay in persona" throughout the experience. My assumed persona was that of a noble woman of the period, tasked with making a Tournament Standard.  In the modern world, I live on a country farm which I run by myself. My small house is surrounded by the gardens I have created and maintain. Several areas of the gardens are designed with medieval gardening in mind. Some of the plants were cultivated in period. This includes ornamental shrubs and trees, as well as flowers and a herbal garden used for culinary and medicinal purposes. This provided me with a perfect location to complete my work on the banner "in persona."

Since it was late summer, it was very enjoyable to sit in the gardens, as I can imagine women of the period might have done, and work on my project. To add to the experience, I dressed in garb - a simple chemise type dress - while working on the project.

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1. Website:  Banners and Flags, August 2009, http://web.archive.org/web/20041109143141/http://homepage.mac.com/rhook/sablerose/grimoire/12_2.html>

2. Website: "Early Banner Types," August 2009, http://www.housebarra.com/EP/ep02/01banner.html
3. Website: "Heraldic Standard" by Lady Sabine du Bourbonnais, August 2009, http://www.boryssnorc.com/content/view/2/4/4. Website: Banners and Flags
5. Banner Painting by Honorable Lady Suvdchin Khan, August 2009, http://bryn‑gwlad.ansteorra.org/articles/as/banner01/ 
6. Cennino d'Andrea Cennini (c. 1370 B c. 1440) was an Italian painter....He wrote "Il libro dell'arte", which can be translated as "The Craftsman's Handbook." It was written in the early 15th century, and is a "how to" book on Renaissance art. It is an invaluable source for medieval researchers.
7. Website: Banners and Flags

Sources:

Barber , Richard & Juliet Barker.  Tournaments: Jousts, Chivalry and Pageants in the Middle Ages, Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2000.
Cennini, Cennino d'Andrea . The Craftsman's Handbook: "Il Libro dell'Arte", trans.by Daniel V. Thompson, Jr., (New York: 1960) .This source can be viewed online at <http://www.noteaccess.com/Texts/Cennini/>
Dent,  Anthony Austen. The Horse Through Fifty Centuries of Civilization. NY: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1974.
Devries, Doughtery, Dickie, Jestice and Jorgensen.  Battles of the Medieval World, 1000‑1500.  NY: Amber Books, Ltd, 2006.
Eve, George W.  Decorative Heraldry: A Practical Handbook of Its Artistic Treatment ( G. Bell & Sons, 1908, Original from the University of California Digitized Nov 29, 2007 on GoogleBooks , available at and viewed 18 Feb 2009,  <http://books.google.com/books?id=6MBHAAAAIAAJ>.
Racinet, Auguste. "Le Costume Historique" and Racinet, Auguste Full‑Color Pictorial History of Western Costume: With 92 Plates Showing Over 950 Authentic Costumes from the Middle Ages to 1800. Available from amazon.com, <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/048625464X/thecostumersmani>
Website: Archaeological Sewing techniques, August 2009, <http://heatherrosejones.com/archaeologicalsewing/index.html>
Website: Atlantian MOAS site (links), Jan 2009, <http://moas.atlantia.sca.org/wsnlinks/index.php?action=displaycat&catid=56>
Website:"Banners," August 2009, <http://mktag.org/projects/banners/content.html>.
Website: "Banners and Flags", August 2009, <http://web.archive.org/web/20041109143141/http://homepage.mac.com/rhook/sablerose/grimoire/12_2.html>
Website: "Banner Painting" by Honorable Lady Suvdchin Khan, August 2009, http://bryn‑gwlad.ansteorra.org/articles/as/banner01/
Website, "Is this Stitch Period?" (#5 of a Series): Applique: Lay On! by Christian de Holacombe, West Kingdom Needleworkers Guild Deputy, Feb 2009,  <http://www.bayrose.org/wkneedle/Articles/applique.html
Website: "Period stitches", Jan 2009, August 2009,  <http://jauncourt.i8.com/stitches.htm>
( referenced information on running stitch, back stitch, and over‑stitched or over‑sewn, as well as Hem treatments including: running, whip stitch)
Website: "Period stitches and extant examples," August 2009, <http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc‑carlson/cloth/stitches.htm>
Website:  "20' Up! Making and Flying silk war standards" by Baroness Theodora Delamore and Baron Alan Gravesend, Oct 2008, August 2009, http://genvieve.net/sca/vermine/20UpWarStandardsHandout.pdf