home
banners
| AN ARTICLE ON BANNER DEVELOPMENT There has been human desire to capture feelings and emotions through the symbolism of art since the days of our earliest ancestors. This is the beginnings of the development of culture - the very thing which sets humankind above the rest of the animal kingdom. As earliest societies were organized into groups and tribes, a need arose to create a unifying identity - something to symbolize the whole. Very often, this symbol came from the environment such as an animal, tree or significant landmark. Warfare and conflict have developed right along with the need to express art. The development of banners and flags has sprung from this military use of symbolism. This had the practical application of tactics, when a warrior could see where his side was positioned, he could make life saving decisions. When he could see the symbol of what he was fighting for, he could feel the pride of belonging to something greater than himself, knowing there were others who were there to support him too. Very likely these first symbols were a kind of totem, some carved object fixed upon a pole. Less permanently, an animal skin or bones may have been used. One can imagine how the use of an animal's pelt may have developed into the use of a shaped piece of leather, painted with a design and perhaps decorated with shells and beads. Just as early people undoubtedly used magic-religious artwork for hunting, so it became for warfare. It is speculated that around 8000 B.C. there was a great cultural shift towards domestication and farming. From this shift was developed weaving and the manufacturing of cloth. Because of the labor involved in hand making cloth, we can speculate that it's use would extend toward making very special banners and flags to show a community's strength and prosperity. Indeed, this is still the same use for many banners and flags today, both showing personal wealth and community involvement. Recorded history begins some 3000 years ago with the development of a unified and commonly understood system of writing. This was likely developed from a need to organize business and agricultural transactions in a growing economy and culture, but the business of warfare also benefited from it. It was very easy and natural then, to develop a motto to go along with the pictorial symbol applied to the community. Just as easy came the development of a personal symbol and motto, for although there is a great desire in humans to belong to a community, there is an equal desire to be recognized as a special individual within that community. Along with the development of writing, the great achievements of the Babylonian and Mesopotamian civilizations in mathematics produced an ever expanding array of symbols appropriate for use in flags and banners. With the development of great wealth and luxury came the need to display the status of prominent citizens. Thus the banner developed into a tool of warfare for soldiers and also the political battlefield of landowners and statesmen. In conjunction with the symbolic banner or flag, the use of tapestries to display wealth springs from repetitive or geometric designs produced by weaving or painting cloth. Painted, carved and mosaic scenes are created for decoration and display of power, yet are static and unable to be moved. Tapestries provide a mobile way to display wealth. Due in part to modern cinema, the Roman army is often one of the first things people think of when referring to banners and flags. The success of the Roman Empire certainly helped to bring Heraldry to develop it's complex rules of charges, tinctures and placement. The decline of the Roman empire is considered the beginning of the Middle Ages - a time when the pageantry of banners truly became magnificent. The Middle Ages brings us some of the most ostentatious and extravagant displays of Heraldry. Colors are imaginatively used not only on banners, but in clothing and uniforms. Complexity and variety in geometry, symbols and color becomes a language of it's own. During this time too, there is an ever increasing gap between wealth and poverty, and the use of Heraldry plays a large role in defining societal status. The banner plays such an important role during this time, that just being the keeper of the banner becomes it's own station. As a military banner became known as a lieutenant, there developed the rank of the same name. Broken down the first part "lieu" means "in place of", and the second syllable "tenant" means "one who holds an office". We see from this that the banner is a literal representation of the one to whom the soldiers owe allegiance. From Shakespear's Othello: "This is Othello's ancient, as I take it. The same indeed, a very valiant fellow." In reference to the character Iago who both bore the "Ancient", meaning the small flag or pennant, and was thereby named in rank by the term. The value of Heraldry is still evident, not only from the traditional use of pageantry, but from it's evolution into corporate logos, registered trademarks and the banners that are splashed over most websites. With modern freedoms we can express our allegiances or mood swings with the simple change of a T-Shirt - that piece of cloth which has become today's banner of the cultural battlefield. tanya@yesteadyhands.com 1-850-619-2732 |
