[MR] Norman heraldry and flags

[Ceara ni Neill]

Greetings,
this article from Early Period mentions the draco and also has an
illustration:
http://housebarra.com/EP/ep02/01banner.html
There are also references listed.
hope this helps!

-- 
===Ceara ni Neill
http://HouseBarra.com
---------------------------------------------------

> On Jun 25, 2004, at 4:22 PM, SNSpies at aol.com wrote:
>> Hello to you all.
>
>> May I please ask your assistance?  (I am not a herald!)
>
>> "The Norman rulers of southern Italy used flags and lance pennants
>> (among
>> them the 'draco') and adopted the golden imperial flag for their
>> investitures, which they received from the popes beginning in 1059."
>> (Kleinhenz,
>> Christopher."Medieval Italy: An Encyclopedia". New York: Routledge,
>> 2003.)
>
>> I assume that the 'draco' was a dragon or wyvern of some sort.  But
>> what did
>> "the golden imperial flag", received from the popes, look like?
>
>> Many thanks.
>
>> Nancy
>
> Nancy,
>
> I thought that this would be a quick and easy thing to answer, but it
> appears not.  Read on.
>
> That is the correct meaning of 'draco' in general, but the wording of
> the section you quote makes it look as if the author was saying that
> the draco was a form of standard.  And quick short web search might
> seem to support that reading. On
> http://www.scoutingresources.org.uk/countries_flags.html you will find:
>
> "Conventional wisdom is that the "draco" standards of the Romans were
> adopted by the Britons, probably as a metal (possibly real gold) head
> with a windsock type of body made of silk. In the mouth was a whistling
> type device that would make sounds as it was waved with vigor.
> Supposedly used by King Arthur, certainly used by the Wessex lords in
> the 700s, the emblem has been used by Britons right up to the present
> time. Y ddraig goch ddyry cychwyn! (The Red Dragon Gives Impetus!) Dave
> Martucci"
>
> But the http://www.data-wales.co.uk/flag.htm uses it in both ways
> (charge and banner type):
>
> "The Welsh flag has two equal horizontal stripes, white above green,
> and a large red dragon passant. The dragon standard was perhaps first
> seen in Britain in the shape of the "draco" a standard carried by the
> cohorts of the Roman legion. The Romans appear to have been inspired by
> the dragon standard carried by their Dacian and Parthian enemies and
> had adopted this device by the third century. Carl Lofmark (see below)
> argues that the dragon of the cohort was more familiar to the British
> than was the eagle standard of the legions. As Roman legions withdrew
> at the end of the fourth century and the British were left alone to
> face Saxon attacks, the dragon would have been a natural symbol for
> those who wished to preserve their Romanised way of life against the
> barbarian invader."
>
> Part of this confusion is probably due to the fact that Roman standards
> were rigid constructs, a practice that some of the cultures that they
> encountered also adopted.  Friar speculates that the dragon standard of
> Wessex that Harold used at Hastings was of the 'vane' type; a rigid
> form.  But a half-hour of web searches and digging around in the books
> I have here at home failed to turn up either an example of a
> banner/flag/standard called a draco other than those quoted.  I also
> checked the OED, and it does not list 'draco' as an English word, which
> they would if it were a type of banner.
>
> At this point I would tend to put the quote you posted down to the
> author being as confused as you and I about the meaning of 'draco'.  I
> have not found any example of a 'draco' as a type of flag or standard,
> but instead as a specific standard borne by some Roman legions and
> others later.  If you find a clear answer in the book, please let us
> know.
>
> David/Kwellend-Njal
>
>



Random Thought:
---------------
Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with the shades of deeper meaning. - Bertha Flowers