Double Headed Eagle

Double-headed eagleFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search This article is about the device in heraldry . For the American coin, see Double Eagle.

Double-headed eagle emblem of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (Istanbul), based on insignia of the Byzantine Empire. The head on the left (West) symbolizes Rome, the head on the right (East) symbolizes Constantinople. The cross and orb in the claws symbolize, respectively, spiritual and secular authority. Relief from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople buildings.

The double-headed eagle is a common symbol in heraldry and vexillology. It is most commonly associated with the Byzantine Empire, the Holy Roman Empire and Russia. In Byzantine heraldry, the heads represent the dual sovereignty of the Emperor (secular and religious) and/or dominance of the Byzantine Emperors over both East and West. In the Holy Roman Empire's heraldry, it represented the Church and the State. Several Eastern European nations adopted it from the Byzantines and continue to use it as their national symbol to this day, the most prominent being Serbia and Russia.

Contents

1 Origins 2 Byzantine Empire

3 Use by the Seljuk Turks (c.1058–1246)

4 Holy Roman Empire (c.1250–1806)

5 Use by other countries

6 Use in Masonry

7 Use in sports

8 Use in cults

9 Examples of double-headed eagles

10 See also

11 Notes

12 References

13 External links

Origins

Double-headed eagles have been present in imagery for millennia. The two-headed eagle can be found in the archaeological remains[1] of the Sumerian civilization and through the Hittite civilization, dating from a period that ranges from the 20th century BC to the 7th century BC. The Gandaberunda is another example of a mythological two-headed bird, which is in common use in India.

Cylindric seals discovered in Bogazkoy, an old Hittite capital in modern-day Turkey, represent clearly a two-headed eagle with spread wings. The aesthetics of this symmetrical position explains in part the birth of this religious figure: It originally dates from circa 3,800 BC, and was the Sumerian symbol for the god of Lagash, Ninurta son of Enlil. It can also be seen in the same region in three monumental settings: Circa 1,900 BC during the Hittite surge from north-central Anatolia down into Babylonia; in Alacahöyük around 1400 BC and in Yazilikaya before 1250 BC. Here the context looks slightly different and totally religious: The eagle returns to its ancient origins as a symbol of divine power. The two-headed eagle is seen less and less during the last Hittite period (from the 9th century BC to the 7th century BC) and totally disappears after the end of the empire.[citation needed]

The double-headed eagle was also in use by the Arsacid Dynasty of Armenia in the 3rd to 9th centuries.[citation needed]

Byzantine Empire

Further information: Byzantine heraldry

Marble plaque with double-headed eagle in Mystras, marking the spot where the last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI, was crowned.

Example of the use of the eagle on imperial vestments of Theodora Kantakouzene, empress consort of emperor Alexios III of Trebizond. Golden Bull of Alexios III of Trebizond, mid-14th century.

Constantinople was the successor of Rome, and the Byzantines continued the use of the old imperial "single-headed" eagle motif. Although the roots of the transformation to double-headed are almost certainly connected with old depictions in Asia Minor, the details of its adoption are uncertain. It was, however, already in use by the 10th century.[citation needed]

The Ancients used no flags in the modern sense. The Romans used various signa, such as the bronze aquilas (adopted as the legions' symbol by Marius) and vexilloids, and, if the emperor was present, pikes or banners with the emperor's portrait. With the adoption of Christianity as state religion during the later Empire, the Chi-Rho and the cross became more and more used in military standards, such as the labarum. The Roman single-headed eagle however continued to be used as a symbol of imperial authority.

According to the most prevalent theory, the single-headed eagle was modified to double-headed by emperor Isaac I Komnenos (1057–1059) being influenced from local traditions about such a (mythical) beast (the haga) in his native Paphlagonia in Asia Minor. Local legends talked about this giant eagle with two heads that could easily hold a bull in its claws; the haga was seen as a representation of power, and people would often "call" it for protection. Isaac Komnenos, deeply influenced by these beliefs, had already used it as a family emblem.[2]

Emblem of the Seljuk Turk dynasty and the Great Seljuk Empire

Use by the Seljuk Turks (c.1058–1246)

The double-headed eagle became the standard of the Seljuk Turks with the crowning of Tuğrul (meaning "Falcon") Beg at Mosul in 1058 as "King of the East and the West" and was much used afterwards.[citation needed] The Sultans of Rum, Ala ad-Din Kayqubad I (1220–1237) and his son Kaykhusraw II (1237–1246) used the bicephalous eagle in their standards,[citation needed] and the motif was also found on tissues, cut stones, mural squares, and Koran holders.[3]

Turcomans who ruled in Anatolia during the 13th century, inherited it from the Seljuk Turks. Islamic coins from the reign of Khalif Nasreddin Mahmoud bin Mohammad, following Turkish influence, sporting a double-headed eagle on one side and the Star of David on the other as early as year 1200.

Today, Turkish police have a double-headed eagle in its insignia as a secondary charge, in addition to the Atatürk University in Erzurum, municipality of Diyarbakır and two football clubs of Turkey, Erzurumspor and Konyaspor using it as their coat of arms.

Holy Roman Empire (c.1250–1806)

Main article: Reichsadler

The eagle of the Holy Roman Empire, c. 1510

Double-headed eagle, reminiscent of the House of Austria, in the petit appartement de la reine in Versailles.

The first mention of a double-headed eagle in the West dates from 1250, in a roll of arms of Matthew of Paris for Emperor Frederick II of the Holy Roman Empire. Usually depicted black on a gold background, it replaced the earlier single-headed eagle, and was subsequently adopted in the coats of arms of many German cities and aristocratic families. After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the double-headed eagle was retained by the Austrian Empire, and served also as the coat of arms of the German Confederation.

Use by other countries

From Byzantium, two-headed eagles spread to Russia after Ivan III's second marriage to Zoe Palaiologina (a niece of the last Byzantine emperor Constantine XI),[4] and to Montferrat, where a cadet branch of the Palaeologi ruled. It remains also an important motif in the heraldry of the imperial families of Russia (the House of Romanov) and Austria-Hungary (the House of Habsburg), as well as the royal family of Montenegro (the House of Petrovic).

It was the charge in the Coat of Arms of the Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Alexander (reigned 1331–1371).[citation needed] The Serbian Nemanjić dynasty adopted a white version as their own to signify their own independence of, and indeed, claim to the imperial throne of Constantinople. The white eagle was retained by most Serbian medieval dynasties, as well as the Karađorđević, Obrenović and Petrović-Njegoš houses and remains to this day in use in the coat-of-arms of the countries of Serbia and Montenegro. George Kastrioti (Skanderbeg) adopted a similar flag in his struggle against the Ottomans, consisting of a black eagle on red background, which has been

resurrected in the current Flag of Albania. During the next centuries, the eagle was made to hold a sword and/or a scepter and an orb with a cross, symbols of the aforementioned double sovereignty.

Russian imperial eagle, Saint Petersburg.

Its usage also survived as a decorative element in the Greek Orthodox Church, which was the inheritor of the Byzantine legacy during the Ottoman Empire, while it remained a popular symbol among Greeks and is still in use in Church flags. In modern Greece it is used officially by the Hellenic Army (Coat of Arms of Hellenic Army General Staff). It was also used as a charge on the Greek coat of arms for a brief period in 1925–1926.[5]

The two-headed eagle appears on the coat of arms of the following countries and territories:

Albania (see Coat of arms of Albania) Armenia (see Coat of arms of Armenia)

Austria (1934–1938) (see Coat of arms of Austria)

o Austria-Hungary (historical)

Byzantine Empire (historical)

German Confederation (historical)

Holy Roman Empire (historical)

Kingdom of Mysore (historical)

Montenegro (see Coat of arms of Montenegro)

Republika Srpska (formerly used from 1992 until 2007) in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Russian Federation (see Coat of arms of Russia)

o Russian Empire (historical)

Seljuk Empire (historical)

Serbia and Montenegro (historical)

Serbia (see Coat of arms of Serbia)

o Nemanjić Serbia (historical)

o Serbian Empire (historical)

o Moravian Serbia (historical)

o Serbian Despotate (historical)

o Kingdom of Serbia (historical)

o Kingdom of Yugoslavia (historical)

Spanish Empire during the House of Habsburg dynasty (see Coat of arms of Spain)

It also appears on the following coat of arms and flags:

Flag of Albania Flag of Montenegro

Flag of Serbia

The flag of the Greek Orthodox Church, which is also used unofficially at the autonomous monastic state of Mount Athos

Coat of Arms and flag of Hellenic Army General Staff. Also Coat of Arms and flag of Hellenic Army XVI Infantry Division.[6]

o With the addition of Greek letters "Ε Φ" or the label "ΕΘΝΙΚΗ ΦΡΟΥΡΑ" a similar coat of arms is used by the National Guard of the Republic of Cyprus.[7]

Coat of Arms of the Serbian Armed Forces and all three service branches: Land Forces, Air Force & Air Defence, Training and the administrative General Staff.

The coat of arms of Belgrade, capital of Serbia

The Coat of Arms of the city of Valjevo, Serbia

The coat of arms of the province of Groningen, Netherlands

The coat of arms of the city of Groningen, Netherlands

The coat of arms of the city of Nijmegen, Netherlands

The coat of arms of the town of Bolsward, Netherlands

First Russian eagle, 1472. Adopted by Ivan III after marriage with Byzantine princess Sophia Palaiologina

Two-headed eagles on fresco of Serbian Despot Stefan Lazarević (founder's portrait in Manasija monastery, painting by 1413–1418.

Use in Masonry

The Double-Headed Eagle of Lagash on the cover of Morals and Dogma

The Double-Headed Eagle of Lagash is used as an emblem by the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry.[8] There are many meanings attached to this symbol. It has been introduced in France in the early 1760s as the emblem of the Kadosh degree.[9]

Use in sports

The double-headed eagle is the emblem of the Greek sport clubs A.E.K (black eagle on yellow background, with open wings) and P.A.O.K. (black eagle on white background, with folded wings). It is a symbol of the clubs' origins, since both clubs were founded by Greek refugees who fled to Greece from Constantinople in 1922–23. It is also the emblem of the Turkish Konyaspor,[10] the Dutch clubs NEC and Vitesse, the English League Two football club AFC Wimbledon and Scottish Premier League side Saint Johnstone FC

Use in cults

The double-headed eagle was part of the emblem of the Order of the Solar Temple. This cult was started by Joseph Di Mambro and Luc Jouret in 1984 in Geneva. It gained notoriety in 1994 when members of the cult committed mass suicide and murders in two villages in Switzerland,

followed in 1997 by suicide/murders in Canada.

Examples of double-headed eagles

Emblem of the Palaiologos dynasty and the Byzantine Empire

Coat of Arms of Charles I, during the Spanish Empire.

Coat of arms of the Austrian Empire

Coat of arms of the German Confederation

Coat of arms of the Russian Empire

Coat of arms of the Russian Republic

Coat of arms of Montenegro

The Emblem of Albania

Emblem of 21. Waffen-Gebirgs-Division der SS "Skanderbeg"

Flag of the Greek Orthodox Church

Coat of arms of the Serbian Nemanjić dynasty (12th c)

Genus Balogh Coat of Arms

See also

Double Eagle Eagle (heraldry)

Gandaberunda

Polycephaly

Reichsadler

Coat of arms of Austria-Hungary

Divide and rule

Notes

1. ̂ Gallery.hd.org2. ̂ Zapheiriou, N. (1947). The Greek Flag from Antiquity to present. Athens, Greece.

pp. 21–22.

3. ̂ A picture can be found in Titus Burckhardt, Art of Islam, under the chapter on the Rum seljuks.

4. ̂ Alfred Znamierowski (2003). Illustrated book of Flags. London: Southwater - Annes Publishing Ltd. p. 55. ISBN 1-84215-881-3.

5. ̂ Eleni Kokkonis-Lambropoulos & Katerina Korres-Zografos (1997) (in greek). Greek flags, arms and insignia (Ελληνικές Σημαίες, Σήματα-Εμβλήματα). E. Kokkonis-G. Tsiveriotis. pp. 47, 51. ISBN 960-7795-01-6.

6. ̂ Army.gr

7. ̂ Army.gov.cy

8. ̂ Scottishritemasons-can.org

9. ̂ Pierre Mollier (2004), "The Double-Headed Eagle: iconographic sources of the masonic symbol", The Chain of Union (Special issue No.3): 5–15, retrieved 2011-10-30

10. ̂ http://www.konyaspor.org.tr/

References

(French) Soloviev, A.V. (1935). "Les emblèmes héraldiques de Byzance et les Slaves". Seminarium Kondakovianum 7: 119–164.

Byzantine heraldryFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search

Byzantine heraldry

Emblem of the Palaiologoi, last dynasty of the Byzantine Empire.

 Tradition Byzantine

Typical Byzantine seal of Theodora Palaiologina, wife of David VI of Georgia. The Virgin Mary stands on the obverse and a representation of Theodora with her titles on the reverse.

For most of its history, the Byzantine Empire did not know or use heraldry in the West European sense. Various emblems (Greek: σημεία, sēmeia; sing. σημείον, sēmeion) were used in official occasions and for military purposes, such as banners or shields displaying various motifs such as the cross or the labarum. The use of the cross, and of images of Christ, the Virgin Mary and various saints is also attested on seals of officials, but these were personal rather than family emblems.[1] Unlike the Western feudal lords, Byzantine aristocratic families did not, as far as is known, use specific symbols to designate themselves and their followers. Only from the 12th century onwards, when the Empire came in increased contact with Westerners because of the Crusades, did heraldry begin to be used among Byzantines. Even then however, the thematology was largely derived from the symbols employed in earlier ages, and its use was limited to the major families of the Empire. Far more common, both in seals and in decorations, was the use of cyphers or monograms (sing. συμπίλημα, sympilēma), with the letters of the owner's personal or family name arranged around a cross.

The imperial eagle continued to be used as a motif, and a variant, the double-headed eagle, is probably the most well-known Byzantine emblem. The latter's exact date of adoption is much debated; it has been associated by scholars with the Komnenoi, but is well-attested only in illuminated manuscripts of the Palaiologan period, after ca. 1327.[2]

The late Byzantine writer Pseudo-Kodinos also records the use of the Palaiologan "tetragrammic cross" on the imperial ensign (Greek: βασιλικόν φλάμουλον, basilikon phlamoulon) borne by Byzantine naval vessels, while the navy's commander, the megas doux, displayed an image of the emperor on horseback.[3][4] The four charges surrounding the tetragrammic cross can be seen either as firesteels (πυρέκβολα), as in the badges of the Order of the Golden Fleece, or as the Greek letter "Β" (beta), whence its name ("tetragrammic" meaning "four-lettered"). In the latter case they are traditionally held to represent the initials of the Palaiologan motto, "King of Kings, ruling over Kings" (Βασιλεὺς Βασιλέων Βασιλεύων Βασιλευόντων/Βασιλεῦσι, Basileus Basileon Basileuon Basileuonton/Basileusi).

Kodinos further enumerates the various banners and insignia used in imperial processions: one named archistrategos (ἀρχιστράτηγος, "chief general"); another with images of renowned prelates and eight streamers known as oktapodion (ὀκταπόδιον, "octopus"); another in the form of a cross with the images of St. Demetrius, St. Procopius, St. Theodore Tiro and St. Theodore

Stratelates; another depicting St. George on horseback; another in the shape of a dragon (δρακόνειον, drakoneion); and another with the emperor on horseback.[5] A pair of each was carried in processions, while only a single example was taken along on campaign. These in turn were preceded by the dibellion (διβέλλιον), the emperor's personal ensign, whose name – most likely a mixed Greek-Latin compound meaning "double velum" – apparently describes a forked pennon, evidently of Western European origin.[6]

Another very Western design could be found on one of the now-demolished towers of the seaward walls of Constantinople, which had been restored by Andronikos II Palaiologos r. 1282–1328) and bore that emperor's emblem, a crowned lion rampant holding a sword.[7] Another example of the influence of the east was the frequent use of the star and crescent moon symbol, which appears on coins, military insignia and, perhaps, as a sometime municipal emblem of the imperial city. The symbol was clearly of eastern origin, dating from at least the second millennium BCE in Moab and Sumer.

Contents

1 Gallery 2 References

3 Further reading

4 External links

Gallery

The dynastic emblem of the Palaiologos dynasty, the double-headed eagle with the Palaiologos sympilema, or cipher.

The most common version of the imperial banner, as recorded by Pseudo-Kodinos and depicted in the Castilian Conosçimiento de todos los reynos atlas (ca. 1350)[8] The

Catalan Atlas (ca. 1375) and West European heraldry scrolls depict a square version of the same flag.

Square version of the imperial arms, from the 15th-century Harley 6163 manuscript

One version of the imperial flag from the Castilian atlas Conosçimiento de todos los reynos (ca. 1350) for the "Empire of Constantinople", featuring the cross of St George

(probably of Genoese Galata) and the tetragrammic cross.[9]

Arms of Andronikos II Palaiologos, located in the now demolished sea walls of Constantinople, sketched by Mary Adelaide Walker in the 19th century.[7]

References

1. ̂ Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. (1991). Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford University Press. pp. 472, 999. ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6.

2. ̂ Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. (1991). Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford University Press. pp. 472, 669. ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6.

3. ̂ Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. (1991). Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford University Press. pp. 472–473. ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6.

4. ̂ Pseudo-Kodinos, Book of Offices, Bonn Ed. 1839, p. 28

5. ̂ Pseudo-Kodinos, Book of Offices, Bonn Ed. 1839, pp. 47–48

6. ̂ Hendy, Michael F. (1992). Byzantine coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection, Volume 4, Parts 1-2. Dumbarton Oaks. pp. 175–176. ISBN 978-0-88402-233-6.

7. ^ a b van Millingen, Alexander (1899). Byzantine Constantinople: The Walls of the City and Adjoining Historical Sites. London: John Murray Ed.. pp. 189–190.

8. ̂ "Other Byzantine flags shown in the "Book of All Kingdoms" (14th century)". Flags of the World. Retrieved 07-08-2010.

9. ̂ "Flag of the Byzantine Empire shown in the "Book of All Kingdoms" (14th century)". Flags of the World. Retrieved 07-08-2010.

Further reading

Babuin, A. (2001). "Standards and insignia of Byzantium". Byzantion: Revue internationale des études byzantines 71: 5–59.

Dennis, George T. (1981). "Byzantine Battle Flags". Byzantinische Forschungen 8: 51–60.

(German) Fourlas, A. (1980). "Adler und Doppeladler. Materialien zum «Adler in Byzanz». Mit einem bibliographischen Anhang zur Adlerforschung". Phyloxenia (Münster): 97–120.

(Italian) Gerola, G. (1934). "L'aquila bizantina e l'aquila imperiale a due teste". Felix Ravenna 43: 7–36.

(French) Soloviev, A.V. (1935). "Les emblèmes héraldiques de Byzance et les Slaves". Seminarium Kondakovianum 7: 119–164.

Heraldry In Byzantium & The Vlasto Family

Byzantine Heraldry at heraldica.org

Byzantine Empire at Flags of the World

This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website

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The Byzantine Imperial flag

Flag of the Byzantine Empire shown in the "Book of All Kingdoms" (14th century)

Other Byzantine flags shown in the "Book of All Kingdoms" (14th century)

Reconstituted and replica Byzantine flags

See also:

Greece Flags of the Crusades (1099-1291)

Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and Autonomous Church of Greece

Serbian Orthodox Church

Serbia and Montenegro: Coat of arms

Serbia: Coat of arms

The Byzantine Imperial flag

Byzantine Imperial flag - Image by António Martins, 27 January 1999

The Byzantine Imperial flag is yellow with a black crowned double-headed eagle.The double-headed eagle was the symbol of the Palaiologos, the last Greek-speaking "Roman" dynasty to rule from Constantinople. Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos recaptured Constantinople from the Crusaders in 1261, from a state based in Asia Minor; the double-headed eagle symbolized the dynasty's interests in both Asia and Europe, and was kept despite the fact that virtually all of the Asian possessions were gobbled up by the Ottomans within a generation of the recapture of the city. Michael's descendants stayed on the Byzantine throne until the city and the Empire fell to the Ottomans in 1453.The double-headed eagle had in the two centuries of Palaiologos rule become identified not just with the dynasty but with the Empire itself and, more generally, with institutions and cultural ideas outside the Byzantine Empire that still remained centered on Constantinople. Most obvious of these is the Greek Orthodox Church, centered in theory in Istanbul to this day, and so it is not surprising that the Church would use the flag.Less obvious is the reason for its use by the Russians. In 1453 a flood of Byzantine churchmen and nobles fleeing the Ottomans ended up in Moscow, center of the last free major Orthodox polity. This more or less coincided with the adoption of the title of Czar (Caesar, or Emperor) by the former Princes of Suzdal who had been ruling from Moscow and had united much of the Russian-speaking world. Moscow began to be referred to as "the Third Rome" (Constantinople being the second), and the Czars saw themselves as successors in the Orthodox world to the Byzantine emperors. Thus the adoption of the double-headed eagle by them.

Josh Fruhlinger, 27 January 1999

The double-headed eagle is much older than Paleologues and Christianity, but in that time it became the symbol of entire Empire. Different colors of eagle had different rank. Some authors said that the gold eagle was reserved for royal family. Silver represented the second rank (despots, sevastokrators - the highest feudal title). Black eagles were used during the war. There again, yellow (gold) was reserved for the Emperor, all other ranks and units had different colors.

Zoran Nikolić, 14 July 2004

The Greek book I Istoria tis Ellinikis simaias (The History of the Hellenic Flag) mentions clearly the origin of the double-headed eagle. The first double-headed eagle flag was made by Emperor Komnenos. In the Emperor's region of birth (Cappadocia), a local superstition mentions a beast whose name was Hagka (pronounced "haga") and which was a gigantic eagle with two heads. Hagka would strike in the night stealing the livestock of the farmers and kill their owners.Emperor Komnenos, bringing some sort of superstition with him, or maybe just to show a fierce ruling dynasty, as well as an eagle that would protect both the eastern and westeren borders of the Empire, addopted it for his Empire.Flags were in use like today, but were banners. The banner with a porphyr red background and golden eagle was the war flag of the Empire, whereas the yellow-black was the Imperial flag used in peacetime.In the beginning the eagle had no crown and her mouth, wings and claws were open, showing the eagle ready to attack. The eagle looked like that of today's Albanian flag. Later a sword (romfaia) and the Globe of Orthodoxy were added.The Crowns were added by the Palaiologos dynasty, one crown for Nikaia (the original royal city of the Dynasty) and one for Constantinople (after its liberation from the Latins).

Kleonikos Tsakiris, 23 October 2005

Flag of the Byzantine Empire shown in the "Book of All Kingdoms" (14th century)

Flag of the "Empire of Constantinople"Left, after the 2005 Spanish transcription of the "Book of All Kingdoms" - Image by Eugene Ipavec, 7 January 2010Right, after Neubecker's rendition of the "Book of All Kingdoms" - Image by Santiago Dotor, 10 October 1998

The "Book of All Kingdoms" [f0fXX], of 1350, tells the voyages of an anonymous Castilian friar and is illustrated with 113 flag images, referred to (though seldom described) in the text.

The 95th flag mentioned and illustrated in the "Book of All Kingdoms" [f0fXX] is attributed to the "Empire of Constantinople", the Byzantine Empire).The 2005 Spanish illustrated transcription of the "Book" [f0f05] shows a quartered flag, I and IV, white with a red cross, II and III, red with a yellow cross couped, with each of its quarters taken by a yellow chain link; the flag is shown in the ogival default shape of this source. The design of the II and III quarters is identical to four other Byzantine flags in this source.The anonymous author of the "Book" describes the flag thusly: E el emperador de Costantinopla há por señales un pendón a cuarterones, los dos cuartos blancos con cruzes bermejas, e los otros dos cuarterones son bermejos con sendas cruzes de oro e con cuatro eslabones de oro d'esta manera (The Emperor of Constantinople has for device a flag quarterly, 1st and 4th argent a cross gules, 2nd and 3rd gules a cross or between four chain links or).The depiction of the flag in the 2005 edition matches the one given in the Hakluyt Society edition (1912) [f0f12] of the "Book", which sources the same design to manuscript "S" [f0fXXs], while from manuscript "N" [f0fXXn] is shown instead a samnitic shield, thickly edged in black, quartered red and white with golden crosses fleury (?) on quarters I and IV and red such crosses on quarters II and III, the golden crosses added with two (not four) annulets (not links) each: on quarter I, on the II and IV cantons made by the cross, and on quarter IV, on the II and III cantons made by the cross.

Neubecker (Heraldry: Sources, Symbols and Meaning [neu77]) shows a square rendition of the flag from the "Book of All Kingdoms". He shows the yellow cross throughout and with a green fimbriation, while neither the 1912 nor 2005 transcriptions show such features. The 2005 transcription, however, shows the cross througout on the four other Byzantine flags.

According to Neubecker, the flag consists of a combination of the St. George Cross (red on a white field) with the arms of the ruling Palaiologos family (1258-1453).The four charges in the corners of each of the other two crosses can be seen either as firesteels, as in the badges of the Order of the Golden Fleece, or as the Greek letter Β. In the latter case they form the initial letters of the Paleologues' motto, Βασιλευς Βασιλεων Βασιλευων Βασιλευσιν (King of Kings, ruling over Kings).

António Martins & Santiago Dotor, 18 December 2007

In the Orthodox Church, the cross that has been seen by Constantine the Great (270/288-337) is a very important symbol. Before the battle at Saxa Rubra (Milvian Bridge) he is said to have seen in the sky a very bright cross ("bright as many stars"). The message that he's been heard was In hoc signo vinces. There is a difference between this cross of victory (Constantine won the battle) and the cross of crucifixion. In addition, it is also a representation of the bright cross they believe that will appear in the sky at the end of the World (Matthew 24:30).There are several different ways to represent brightness of that cross. One of them is with diagonal rays, the second is with the Greek letters IS HS NI KA (Jesus Christ is victor). The third way is with four firesteels. The cross with four firesteels is an old Byzantine/Orthodox symbol and should not be connected to the Palaiologos. It has nothing to do with four Β's (Greek or Serbian Cyrillic alphabet).

Zoran Nikolić, 14 July 2004

Other Byzantine flags shown in the "Book of All Kingdoms" (14th century)

Flag of "Salonica" / "Lodomago" / "Greece" / "Castelle" - Image by Eugene Ipavec, 21 December 2007

The 94th flag mentioned and illustrated in the "Book of All Kingdoms" [f0fXX] is attributed to "Salonica". In the same source, the 96th flag is attributed to "Lodomago", which the Hakluyt Society edition (1912) [f0f12] of the "Book" identifies as Recrea*; the 97th flag is attributed to "the real Greece and Empire of the Greeks" (la vera Grecia e el imperio de los griegos); and the 103rd flag is attributed to "Castelle, which the Hakluyt Society edition (1912) of the "Book" identifies as Sinop.

The 2005 Spanish illustrated transcription of the "Book" [f0f05] shows the same flag for the four places, a red flag with a yellow cross throughout, each of its quarters being taken by a yellow chain link (the bottom fly one round and the other squarish); the flag is shown in the ogival default shape of this source.The anonymous author of the "Book" describes the flags thusly:- "Salonica": E el rey d'esta Salonico há por señales un pendón bermejo con una cruz de oro e cuatro eslabones de oro d'esta manera (The King of Salonica has for his device a red flag with a yellow cross and four chain links);- "Lodomago": E el rey dende há por señales un pendón bermejo con una cruz de oro e cuatro eslabones de oro d'esta manera (The King has for his device a red flag with a yellow cross and four chain links - Translation from the Hakluyt Society edition (1912) of the "Book");- "Greece": E há por señales un pendón bermejo con una cruz de oro e cuatro eslabones de oro tales (And it has for device a red pendon with a golden cross with four golden chain links like these - Translation from the Hakluyt Society edition (1912) of the "Book");- "Castelle": Sus señales son un pendón bermejo con una cruz de oro e cuatro eslabones de oro tales (Its device is a red flag with a golden cross between four chain links - Translation from the Hakluyt Society edition (1912) of the "Book").

António Martins, 17 December 2007

* It must have been the called Heraclea Perinthus, now Marmura Eregli, in Turkey. The November 1917 National Geographic article [gmc17] has excerpts showing that the author supposedly visited Recrea (Heraclea) while voyaging from Gallipoli to Constantinople : "Then I went along the seacoast to a city they call Recrea (Heraclea) and thence to the city of Constantinople..." (p.398).Heraclea Perinthus fits that location precisely.

Ned Smith, 26 December 2007