Norman Conquest Encyclopedia
Banners
Personal standards, flags, pennons and gonfanons were all banners carried to identify forces or parts of forces. The Normans at Hastings were given added confidence by the presentation of a banner by Pope Alexander II to sanctify their mission. Various knights made themselves a focus for their followers by carrying a pennon or gonfalon on their lances.The English are shown to have the Dragon Banner of Wessex over Harold's headquarters in the Bayeux Tapestry. This was similar to a Roman flag, in the form of a wind-stocking. Harold is also said to have flown his personal standard, the Fighting Man.
See also: Bayeux Tapestry; gonfanon; Harold; Hastings; Pope Alexander II; Senlac Hill
Related Reading:
- Hastings 1066 (Revised Edition)- The Fall of Saxon England
(Campaign 13 ) - Norman Knight AD 950-1204
(Warrior 1)
Examples of flags from the Bayeux Tapestry. (© Osprey Publishing Limited, from Warrior 1 Norman Knight 950 -1066, by Christopher Gravett, artwork by Christa Hook)