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A war flag, also known as a military flag, battle flag, or standard, is a variant of a national flag for use by a country's military forces when on land. The nautical equivalent is a naval ensign. Under the strictest sense of the term, few countries today currently have proper war flags, most preferring to use instead their state flag or standard national flag for this purpose.
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The use of flags as field signs apparently emerges in Asia, during the Iron Age, possibly in either China or India.flag. (2008). Encyclopædia Britannica. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica. in Achaemenid Persia, each army division had its own standard, and "all officers had banners over their tents".E. Pottier, ''Douris'', London, 1909, p. 105 fig. 20, Plate XXV.b Early field signs that include, but are not limited to a flag, are also called
A war flag, also known as a military flag, battle flag, or standard, is a variant of a national flag for use by a country's military forces when on land. The nautical equivalent is a naval ensign. Under the strictest sense of the term, few countries today currently have proper war flags, most preferring to use instead their state flag or standard national flag for this purpose.
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History
Field sign
{{Distinguish, field mark
A field sign is an unofficial differencing mark worn on a combatant's clothing to show the difference between friend and foe or a combatant and a civilian.
Examples
*A tabard in the livery colors of a lord and bearing h ...
s were used in early warfare
Ancient warfare is war that was conducted from the beginning of recorded history to the end of the ancient period. The difference between prehistoric and ancient warfare is more organization oriented than technology oriented. The development of ...
at least since the Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
.
The word ''standard'' itself is from an Old Frankish
Frankish ( reconstructed endonym: *), also known as Old Franconian or Old Frankish, was the West Germanic language spoken by the Franks from the 5th to 9th century.
After the Salian Franks settled in Roman Gaul, its speakers in Picardy ...
term for a field sign (not necessarily a flag).
The use of flags as field signs apparently emerges in Asia, during the Iron Age, possibly in either China or India.flag. (2008). Encyclopædia Britannica. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica. in Achaemenid Persia, each army division had its own standard, and "all officers had banners over their tents".E. Pottier, ''Douris'', London, 1909, p. 105 fig. 20, Plate XXV.b Early field signs that include, but are not limited to a flag, are also called vexilloid
A vexilloid is any flag-like (vexillary) object used by countries, organisations, or individuals as a form of representation other than flags. American vexillologist Whitney Smith coined the term ''vexilloid'' in 1958, defining it as
This in ...
or "flag-like", for example the Roman Eagle standard or the dragon standard of the Sarmatians. The Roman Vexillum itself is also "flag-like" in the sense that it was suspended from a horizontal crossbar as opposed to a simple flagpole.
Use of simple flags as military ensigns becomes common during the medieval period, developing in parallel with heraldry
Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known bran ...
as a complement to the heraldic device shown on shields. The maritime flag also develops in the medieval period. The medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
Japanese Sashimono carried by foot-soldiers are a parallel development.
Some medieval free cities or communes did not have coats of arms, and used war flags that were not derived from a coat of arms. Thus, the city of Lucerne
Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label= Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital o ...
used a blue-white flag as a field sign from the mid 13th century, without deriving it from a heraldic shield design.
Current war flags
Used by armed forces only
Army (land) use only
War flags that are also naval ensigns
Former war flags
See also
*Colours, standards and guidons
In military organizations, the practice of carrying colours (or colors), standards, flags, or guidons, both to act as a rallying point for troops and to mark the location of the commander, is thought to have originated in Ancient Egypt som ...
References
Further reading
* Wise, Terence (1978) ''Military flags of the world, in color''. New York: Arco Publishing. 184p. . War flags of 1618–1900.External links
*{{FOTW, id=xf-fis, title=FIAV Flag Information Symbols Military flags Types of flags