''Baucent'' (''bauceant, baussant'', etc.) was the name of the war flag (''vexillum belli'') used by the

Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

in the 12th and 13th centuries. 13th-century sources show it as a white gonfanon with a black chief (''argent a chief sable'').

Jacques de Vitry Jacques de Vitry (''Jacobus de Vitriaco'', c. 1160/70 – 1 May 1240) was a French canon regular who was a noted theologian and chronicler of his era. He was elected bishop of Acre in 1214 and made cardinal in 1229. His ''Historia Oriental ...

, writing in the 1220s, mentions the ''gonfanon baucent'' and explains that the

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

colours symbolise the Templar's ferocity towards their enemies and their kindness towards their friends. It appears that later in the 13th century, the red cross of the Templar could be added to the banner. In a damaged fresco of the late 13th century in the Templar church of

San Bevignate San Bevignate is a church in Perugia, Umbria, central Italy. It dates to the mid 13th century, and was expanded by the Knights Templar in the 1280s. It is notable for its 13th-century frescoes. It is named for San Bevignate, the local patron sain ...

, Perugia, a Templar banner is depicted with the upper half in white and the lower half in black, with the red cross patty attached to the white field. The same fresco also shows a

shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of a ...

and horse-covers in the same design. The name ''baucent'' (also spelled ''bausent, bauceant, baussant, beausseant, beauséant'' etc.D. H. Wolf, ''Internationales Templerlexikon'' (2015)
130f.
/ref>) in origin is the Old French term for a piebald horse. The name was later approximated to the French ''bien-séant'', meaning "decorous, becoming". The name was also used as a

battle cry A battle cry or war cry is a yell or chant taken up in battle, usually by members of the same combatant group. Battle cries are not necessarily articulate (e.g. "Eulaliaaaa!", "Alala"..), although they often aim to invoke patriotic or religious ...

by the Templars, ''À moi, beau sire !'' ''Beauséant à la rescousse !'' (French for "To me, good sire ! Beauséant to the rescue"). According to the statutes of the order as edited by Münter (1794), each squadron (''eschielle'') of the order had its own banner. In battle, the banner-bearer was obliged to avoid direct contact with the enemy, and between five and ten brothers were specifically charged with guarding the banner. If any brother were to find himself separated from his banner, he was obliged to try to reach the nearest Christian banner in the field. No brother was permitted, on pain of expulsion from the order, to leave the field of battle as long as at least one banner of the order was still flying. If all of the Templars' banners had been lost, the men were expected to flock to the nearest banner of the Hospitallers, or any other Christian banner still flying. Only after the last Christian banner had fallen were they permitted to think about saving their own lives. After the dissolution of the order, the

Freemasons Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

adopted the banner. It has also been noted that, according to a medieval legend, Alexander the Great was said to have had a similar banner with miraculous powers. Gustav Weil, ''Biblische legenden der muselmänner'', English translation 1863
p. 70
"Alexander was the lord of light and darkness, when he went out with his army the light was before him, and behind him was the darkness, so that he was secure against all ambuscades; and by means of a miraculous white and black standard he had also the power to transform the clearest day into midnight and darkness, or black night into noonday, just as he unfurled the one or the other. Thus he was unconquerable, since he rendered his troops invisible at his pleasure, and came down suddenly upon his foes. Might there not have been some connection between the mythical white and black standard of Alexander and the Beauseant of the Templars? We know that the latter were familiar with Oriental symbolism."

References

{{reflist Military flags Religious flags Knights Templar Masonic symbolism

See also

References