The Royal Bend of Castile (''Banda Real de Castilla'') was the

heraldic flag In heraldry and vexillology, a heraldic flag is a flag containing coats of arms, heraldic badges, or other devices used for personal identification. Heraldic flags include banners, standards, pennons and their variants, gonfalons, guidons, and ...

of the monarchs of the Crown of Castile, a personal banner of military use, distinctive indicating to the troops the presence of the monarch and allowed them to have identified his position in the battles. This insignia, who joined in the symbolism of the king of Castile to heraldic flag with the Castile and Leonese arms, was created in 1332 by the king Alfonso XI of Castile, although its origin probably would go back to one of the primitive symbols of the

Counts of Castile This is a list of counts of Castile. The County of Castile had its origin in a fortified march on the eastern frontier of the Kingdom of Asturias. The earliest counts were not hereditary, being appointed as representatives of the Asturian king. Fr ...

, which had consisted of a gold bend on gules (red). The dragantes appeared on the handpiece or baton when Scipio brought the Roman legions to

Hispania Hispania ( la, Hispānia , ; nearly identically pronounced in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, and Italian) was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hisp ...

. Alfonso XI founded the Order of the Royal Band of Castile to reward the best services to the sovereign. The Bend of Castile was used by all the monarchs that had Castile until Charles V, Holy Roman Empire. It consisted, from the reign of

Henry IV of Castile Henry IV of Castile ( Castilian: ''Enrique IV''; 5 January 1425 – 11 December 1474), King of Castile and León, nicknamed the Impotent, was the last of the weak late-medieval kings of Castile and León. During Henry's reign, the nobles became ...

, on a reddish flag, probably

purple Purple is any of a variety of colors with hue between red and blue. In the RGB color model used in computer and television screens, purples are produced by mixing red and blue light. In the RYB color model historically used by painters, ...

scarlet, with a golden bend of throaty dragantes heads of the same color. The dragantes are the heraldic representation of dragons. Prior to the reign of Henry IV, the colors were something changing and have been preserved representations of the Royal Bend of Castile in the reign of

Peter of Castile Peter ( es, Pedro; 30 August 133423 March 1369), called the Cruel () or the Just (), was King of Castile and León from 1350 to 1369. Peter was the last ruler of the main branch of the House of Ivrea. He was excommunicated by Pope Urban V for ...

with dragantes of white and black color bend. The Bend of Castile description from

Henry I Henry I may refer to: 876–1366 * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry I the Long, Margrave of the ...

reign was: ''Gules, a bend or engouled into dragantes'' ( dragon or

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

's heads). Before, the bend and the dragon's heads were different colours. The Castilian Bend origin was the old Count of Castile's coat of arms ''Gules a bend Or'' -, after "''Gules, a three towered castle Or''" *The

Catholic Monarchs The Catholic Monarchs were Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of Spain. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, being bot ...

used the Castilian Bend between a yoke with ribbons Or (on obverse side) and a sheaf of arrows with ribbons Or (on reverse side) and their motto: ''Tanto Monta, Monta Tanto'' ("cutting as untying") an explanation of the equality of the monarchs. *Charles I used the Bend between the

Pillars of Hercules The Pillars of Hercules ( la, Columnae Herculis, grc, Ἡράκλειαι Στῆλαι, , ar, أعمدة هرقل, Aʿmidat Hiraql, es, Columnas de Hércules) was the phrase that was applied in Antiquity to the promontories that flank t ...

, External Oraments of the King-Emperor's heraldry.

Later use of the Royal Bend of Castile

* Francisco Franco,

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

and

Head of State A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

of Spain, used from 1940 to 1975 the Castilian Bend (like the version of Charles I) as Head of State’s Standard and Guidon: The Bend between the Pillars of Hercules, crowned with an imperial crown and open (old) royal crown. The Bend between the Pillars of Hercules also were depicting in the personal coat of arms used by Franco as Head of Spanish Statewww.generalisimofranco.com, Arms image
/ref>

References

{{reflist Band of Castile 14th-century establishments in Castile Heraldic charges Castille

Later use of the Royal Bend of Castile

See also

References