April — June 2003

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Vol. 36 • No. 2

Ø NSF Flag! Ø Gold Star Mothers

Ø USS Sullivans NSFØ Service Flags OfferedØ Additional 18th-C. U.S. Flags

Ø Stepney Flag Ø ChumleyØ Banners of King Arthur & KnightsØ “In the trappings of a tale …”

Ø China View Ø LettersØ Corporate America FlagØ NAVA-37 Flag Update

Ø Sagueney at NAVA-37Ø New Members 2003

April—June 2003INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

April — June 2003 Issue #178

NAVA 37MONTRÉAL, QUÉBEC

CANADA

OCTOBER 10-12, 2003

The NAVA 37 Flag

NATIONAL SERVICE FLAG—FLAG!Recently, a number of

special support flagshave been sighted inthe U.S. as a result ofthe war in Iraq and theevents leading up to it.Pictured here is themost common designwhich features the Na-tional Service Flag inthe center of a whiteflag flanked above andbelow by the motto (inblue) “We Honor ThoseWho Serve.” This photowas taken in front of the Gray,Maine Town Office and hasbeen seen in a number of dif-ferent places in Maine. Let usknow if you’ve seen this or asimilar flag in your area.

GOLD STAR MOTHERSA recent article in the New-

ark, N.J. Star Ledger (April 6,2003) described the Gold StarMothers organization (founded1928), whose members are themothers of servicemen whodied in the course of active

duty. It was namedafter the custom of re-placing the blue staron the National Ser-vice Flag with one ofgold when the servicemember is killed in theline of duty. The articlewas accompanied by aphoto of DorothyOxendine, President ofthe national organiza-tion. Her only son waskilled in Vietnam in1968. The photo

shows a variant of the NSFused by this organization; ona white field bordered narrowlyin red is a large gold star atthe top and the initials“U.S.A.” in blue at the bottom.

NAVA News 36/2 - #178

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USS THE SULLIVANS SERVICE FLAG

SERVICE FLAGSOFFERED BYAMERICAN

HEROES.CCIn the wake of 9/11/01, Gate-

way Seed Company of St. LouisMO, doing business on theinternet as AmericanHeroes.cc, isoffering a line of four differentService Flags. Each Service Flagis made of polyester and ismounted on a wooden dowel withyellow plastic spearheads and agold string tied on each end. Thenon-military designs are copy-righted. The company states“Tradition holds that in the un-fortunate event of a death in ser-vice, the emblem of the serviceflag changes to gold.” It offers goldoverlays at no additional charge.All flags are made in the U.S.A.

The traditional Military ServiceFlag is available with one to sixblue stars and the company iscertified by the U.S. Departmentof Defense to market these ban-ners.

Three designs are new andunique to this company:

The Law Enforcement Flagshows that a family memberserves in law enforcement. In thecenter of the traditional white flagbordered red is a gray shield, bor-dered in black.

The Fire & Rescue Flag showsthat a family member serves infire and rescue. It features a redMaltese Cross in the center of thetraditional flag.

The Support Flag shows sup-port for U.S. military, law en-forcement, and fire & rescue per-sonnel. It can be displayed along-side any other service flag andshows patriotism. It displays theletters “USA” vertically in blue.

A special Service Flag was re-cently made by Richard R.Gideon for the U.S. Navy. It flewat a special commander’schangeover on the USS THESULLIVANS. All five Sullivanbrothers were killed in active ser-vice in World War II. A grand-daughter of one of the Sullivanbrothers attended the ceremony.

The Navy had to ask permis-sion from the Institute of Her-aldry to have the flag made, sinceNational Service Flags are for thefamilies, not for the military it-self. The original Sullivans Ser-vice flag is in a museum in Iowa(where the Sullivan family wasfrom), and it was a banner, not aflag. But since the Navy wanteda flag, Gideon used current regu-lations and the original banner’sstar layout and produced theflag.

The flag measures 6' x 11' 4#/4".Richard R. Gideon Flags is lo-

cated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylva-nia, http://www.gideonflags.com and is authorized by the U.S.Department of Defense to pro-duce the NSF.

April — June 2003

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ADDITIONAL 18th CENTURY STARS & STRIPESThree more contemporary 18th-century images of the

United States flag have come to light to add to the sur-vey published in NAVA News #167 (April-June 2000).

The entries in the survey should read:

24.1 U.S. Ensigns (and pennant and jack) in engravingmade at Philadelphia.American; dated 1785.This engraving is part of a nautical scene.Stars: 13 multipointed (probably intended to be 5- or6-pointed) dark on light, arranged in three rows of 5-5-3 (staggered) on one and 4-5-4 (staggered) on theother (same on the jack and pennant).Canton: Light, extends to the 9th stripe and one andto the 7th on the other. “Rests” on a W stripe.Stripes: 13 dark and white, 7 dark and 6 white.Image source: Dr. Henry Moeller.

35.1 Flag of the American States on map of “NorthAmerica”, engraved by Samuel John Neele (1758-1824), published by G.G. & J. Robinson, London.British; dated 1793.The map and flag are hand-colored.Stars: 13 multipointed (probably intended to be6-pointed) W, arranged in rows of 3-2-3-2-3 (stag-gered).Canton: B, extends to the 7th stripe. “Rests” on aW stripe.Stripes: 13 R and W, 7 R and 6 W.Image source: Daniel I. Caplan, MD.

35.2 U.S. America (Flag) on chart from Rees’ Ency-clopedia.British; dated 1794.This chart was purchased separately from the en-cyclopedia it purports to come from. Source is as-sumed.Stars: 13 6-pointed W, arranged in rows of 3-2-3-2-3 (staggered).Canton: hatched B, extends to the center of the8th stripe. Does not “rest” on any stripe; rather itextends to the center of the flag.Stripes: 13 R and W, 7 R and 6 W.Image source: Matthew Larsen.

The author, Dave Martucci, would appreciate copiesor references of any further illustrations for this series.

Note: the following conventions are used in this pre-sentation: “staggered” means the stars are set equidis-tant from each other in each row causing some rows tobe shorter and some to be longer horizontally; “R” meansred, “W” means white, and “B” means blue.

NAVA News 36/2 - #178

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THE STEPNEY FLAG STORY

by Joel Leneker

This flag for the village ofStepney, Connecticut wasdesigned by Save Our

Stepney Task Force (SOS)in order raise communityawareness of the integrityand character of the village.In August 2001, SOS ac-cepted a grant from theRegional Youth/Adult Sub-stance Abuse Project(RYASAP) to produce a pro-totype Stepney flag withina year’s time. The awardwas given to SOS under theRYASAP NeighborhoodPride grants category. SOSenlisted its members andthe children of Stepney El-ementary School for their

ideas about a coat of armsthat exemplified the com-munity of Stepney.

SOS took its design inspi-ration from the coat of armsof Stepney, England, lo-cated south of London,which is divided into fourquadrants and includes atower and nautical motifagainst a medieval design.The group decided the im-ages for the coat of armswould symbolize Stepney’spast, present, and future.

Under the leadership ofDoree Voychick, Art In-structor at Stepney El-ementary School, Stepney’sschoolchildren had the op-

portunity to submit draw-ings that showed whatthey saw for the future ofthe community. Three stu-dents drew a pastoral set-ting with a path and a sun.SOS chose to include thethree ideas into one, com-posite design. The winningdesigns were drawn byfourth-graders SarahLewis, Caitlin Lombardi,and Chelsea Price.

The SymbolsThe shield is divided per

saltire and is bordered inwhite and then blue. Ablue locomotive with greenfront and yellow details onred represents Stepney’spast. The Housatonic Rail-

April — June 2003

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road first arrived in Stepneyin 1840 to usher in indus-try and a new era. In 1861,at the outbreak of the CivilWar, P.T. Barnum and EliasHowe traveled by train witha group of hired ruffians tobreak up the peace rallyheld at the Stepney Green.

Next is a yellow path ongreen. Then a red and yel-low sun on blue.

The part of the coat ofarms that speaks toStepney’s present is sym-bolized by the red and greenmaple leaves with a bluestem on gold, distinctlybeautiful every fall. Bothleaves appear to tie in withStepney’s past and future ina celebration of the present.

The new Stepney coat ofarms appears in the fly of awhite flag. Its colors of red,golden yellow, green, andindigo reflect aspects ofStepney’s history, as well asits present and future. Redsymbolizes the blood thatwas shed in the New En-gland colonies during theAmerican Revolution, and itis the color of the heart.Yellow represents the grainharvests of Stepney’s past,green speaks to the lushStepney countryside, andindigo is the color of thewaters of the PootatuckRiver.

The strong diagonals ofthe new Stepney coat ofarms are intended to sup-port the concept of Stepneyas a crossroads for thearea’s commerce and cul-ture since the community’ssettlement by second andthird generation Englishcolonists in 1720. At thattime, the Stepney area be-longed to Stratford.

The name Stepney firstappeared in the Stratfordland records of 1735. Forthis reason, the year 1735is shown below the coat ofarms in blue. It appearsbelow the motto “FromGreat Things to Greater,”which is an English trans-lation of the Latin motto onthe Stepney, England arms,shown in green on a whiteribbon, outlined in blue.Above the arms are thewords “Stepney” in greenand “Connecticut” in blue.

of Stepney, Connecticut,incorporated in the Town ofMonroe. Included in theOrganization’s scope of con-cern are identifying, docu-menting, improving and/orpreserving historic, culturaland natural properties andfeatures of the community.Activities include publicevents, education, beautifi-cation, and cultural enrich-ment. Community involve-ment and cooperation withother civic groups and theTown of Monroe are encour-aged.One Year Free MembershipWe invite you to join us in

our activities of preserving,improving and celebratingthe village of Stepney. Yourpurchase of a Stepney Flagentitles you to one year’sfree membership in theSave Our Stepney TaskForce. By joining Save OurStepney you add your ownexpertise to our collectiveefforts making us more ef-fective and efficient. Simplysend US$45 for each flagalong with your name, ad-dress, phone number, emailaddress and areas of inter-est or expertise to: Save OurStepney, c/o Joel Leneker,70 Huntingtown Road,Stepney, CT 06468, emaillenekedsgn@aol.com, phone(203) 375-0830.

About Save Our StepneySave Our Stepney Task

Force was organized in2001 to preserve and en-hance the character of thecommunities of the village

NAVA News 36/2 - #178

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The Banners of King Arthur andPROLOGUE

When history, legend, and religioncombine with flags and banners,vexillologists cannot resist learningmore.

King Arthur and the Knights of theRound Table present such a case.While in fact they could not haveused flags or coats of arms, and theirvery existence is uncertain, these leg-endary figures have seen literatureand art bestow upon them an intrigu-ing range of flags, banners, and coatsof arms. Even these fanciful symbolsinterest the vexillologist, as windowsinto the era in which they were in-vented.

rthur was likely a 5th- or6th-century Romano-British chief-

tain named Artoris who fought invad-ing Anglo-Saxons, organizing a suc-cessful resistance and establishingan uneasy peace following the Romanwithdrawal from Britain.

As a Celtic chieftain, he would havedressed in fur or a leather coat, witha wool cloth around the waist. Ro-man accounts of that era said of theCelts, “they shine with stripedcloaks”—not quite the medieval im-age of knights in armor with shiningshields. And, according to Romanaccounts, the ancient Britons usedvexilloids—figures of animals likerams, stags, boars, and bears en-graved in leather, rather than medi-eval flags—colorful and richly-em-broidered banners with striking he-raldic devices.

The slow but steady invasion ofSaxons, Jutes, and Angles frommainland Europe eventually replacedthe Romano-British order, but someof the ancient Celtic chieftains be-came folk heroes in oral narratives.After the Norman Conquest in 1066,these narratives eventually inspiredthe legendary tales of King Arthur,popularized in the 12th century byGeoffrey of Monmouth in his Historyof the Kings of Britain.

During Henry II’s reign in the

1150s, the Norman chronicler Mas-ter Robert Wace amplified Arthur’sstory in verse to suit court tastes.He was the first to mention the fa-mous Round Table, and said “I knownot if you have heard tell the mar-velous gestes and errant deeds re-lated so often of King Arthur. Theyhave been noised about this mightyrealm for so great a space that thetruth has turned to fable and an idlesong. Such rhymes are neither sheer

bare lies, nor gospel truths. Theyshould not be considered either anidiot’s tale, or given by inspiration.The minstrel has sung his ballad, thestoryteller told over his tale so fre-quently, little by little he has deckedand painted, till by reason of his em-bellishment the truth stands hid inthe trappings of a tale. Thus to makea delectable tune to your ear, his-tory goes masking as fable.”

By the 13th century, romancesreflected the rising interest in man-ners and courtly love. They con-verted Arthur and his colleagues intomedieval knights more acceptable tocontemporary audiences, withclothes and appearance closer to theNorman fashion of William the Con-queror, and heraldic arms and ban-ners appropriate to the times.

Heraldry is a second-millenniumphenomenon, beginning in the1000s. The earliest true heraldicarms are those of Geoffrey V, Countof Anjou, known as “Plantagenet”,dating from 1127. Heraldry spansthree periods: 1) the Heraldry ofWarfare, between the 11th and 13thcenturies (during the Crusades), 2)Tournament Heraldry, during the14th and 15th centuries (the Renais-sance and Baroque periods), and 3)Ornamental Heraldry, from the 16thcentury onwards.

However, during the Age of Chiv-alry, enthusiasm for heraldry led tothe retroactive assignment of armsto many figures of the past. In thisera, heroes of Homeric poems, Bib-lical prophets, and even the twelveApostles were all given arms andbanners. Ladies of nobility as wellas other non-combatants, such asclerics, members of the middle class,and even peasants, followed the cus-tom of the knights and adopted ar-morial bearings. The 12th-centurypoems and narratives about Arthur,Camelot, Excalibur, Avalon,Lancelot, and Merlin inspired manysuch examples of “fictitious her-aldry”.

The arms and banners attributedto the Knights of the Round Tablefirst appeared as illustrations anddescriptions in literary works of the12th and 13th centuries. Later writ-ers added more designs and devicesand much later, more knights. Read-ers would eventually come to takethese heraldic attributions as fact.

Expanding the Arthurian legends,stories from England, France, andGermany included characters later

by Gustavo Tracchia

Count Geofrey of Anjou, called Plantagenet.A line drawing from the earliest knowncolored armorial illustration, c. 1127. Theshield is blue with gold lions.

April — June 2003

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incorporated by other writers intothe Round Table, such as Le Cheva-lier de la Charrette (The Knight of theCart) by Chrétien de Troyes, UlrichVon Zatzikhoven’s writings about theadventures of Lanzelet (Lancelot),and Thomas Malory’s La Morted’Arthur. De Troyes was the firstwriter (circa 1170) to give the nameof Camelot to Arthur’s headquartersand capital city (said to be today’sCadbury Castle, near Somerset).Malory wrote La Morte d’Arthur (TheDeath of Arthur), one of the finest ofthe English romances about Arthur,when in London’s Newgate Prisonduring the 15th-century War of theRoses.

The number of members of theRound Table changes depending onthe author and narrative. Sevenknights originally sat at the RoundTable: Arthur, Gauvain, Hector, Kay,Lancelot, Percival, and Pellinore. Butothers would include UtherPendragon—Arthur’s father, Ban deBenoic—Lancelot’s father, andTristan, who came from a brief Ger-man romance from the 13th century.Kings and knights from other realmsalso joined this exclusive club, overtime increasing its membership toover thirty members.

Some authors of Arthurian epicswere experts in heraldry; in fact,Chrétien de Troyes appears to havebeen a herald himself. Wolfram vonEschenbach (1170-1220) andHartmann von Aue (1160-1210)were themselves knights. All went toconsiderable lengths to describetheir heroes’ armorial bearings.

When family references weremade, the heraldic principle ofdifferencing arms was followed, giv-ing a sense of legitimacy to the armsand their bearers. Cadencies aremost evident in the arms attributedto Lancelot’s family and on the armsof Perceval de Galles, famous for hisquest for the Holy Grail.

In some cases, the same charac-ter may have different arms and ban-ners, reflecting confusions and in-consistencies among the manyArthurian authors. Such conflicts

and duplications are typical of thecollective narratives and poems ofthe time. Even the deeds and tasksof each character change dependingon the author, the era, and theevents described.

The arms and banners of fourteenimportant Knights of the RoundTable follow, as depicted in variousArthurian works through the ages.

ARMS OF THE KNIGHTSOF THE ROUND TABLE

1. ARTHURA blue field with three golden

crowns displayed two over one.The Nine Heroes Tapestry (circa

1400), in the collection of The Clois-ters, a branch of New York City’sMetropolitan Museum of Art, depictsArthur with a blue pennant with thethree crowns, one below the other.However, his tunic, also blue, showsthe crowns in a two-over-one con-figuration.

Other arms are attributed to KingArthur. Some English sources show

the three crowns on red, while in theTudor period they are sometimesdescribed as the three crowns on redin the 2nd and 3rd quarters whilethe 1st and 4th quarters show awhite cross on green with the VirginMary with the child in gold in thecanton. Francois R. Velde’s work onArthurian heraldry notes that Arthurwas represented by thirteen crownson blue after a 15th-century mis-translation of “thirteen” for “three”.

Edward I was an Arthurian enthu-siast who granted to many cities theuse of three crowns—the probableorigin, for example, of the arms ofthe city of Oxford. The three crownsare said by some to symbolizeArthur’s supremacy over otherkings, to others they represent therealms of North Wales, South Wales,and Logres.

Henry VII also claimed direct de-scent from King Arthur, perhaps toreconcile warring factions. He namedhis eldest son, the heir apparent andPrince of Wales, Arthur. His claim isfurther supported by the RoundTable displayed in the great hall ofWinchester Cathedral. The tablehangs on a wall with the Tudor roseat its center and radiating from itcompartments of green and whitebearing the names of each knight,with Arthur’s uppermost.2. BEDEVERE

A yellow field with a red gonfalon(a banner hanging from crossbar withtails) in the center.

The gonfalon was a symbol ofBedevere’s status as Arthur’s con-stable (Count of the Stables or Mas-ter of the House). In medieval times,the constable was a high-rankingofficial of the court, analogous to anarmy chief of staff or the keeper orgovernor of a royal castle.

Together with Kay, Bedevere wasArthur’s best friend, later createdDuke of Normandy by Arthur. Arthurentrusted Bedevere to throwExcalibur back into the lake and ac-companied the mortally woundedArthur to the barge that would takehim to Avalon, an island said to be

the Knights of the Round Table

William Longespée, grandson of CountGeofrey of Anjou, bearing the same armsdiferenced by the alteration of thebackground color from blue to red.

Continued on page 10

King Arthurand the Knights of the Round Table

King Arthur

Sir Bedevere the

Constable

Sir Kay the

Seneschal

Sir Lancelot del Lac

Sir Galahad

Sir Ector des Mares

Sir Brunor le NoirSir Gawaine of

Orkney

Sir Gareth of

Orkney

Sir Mordred of

Orkney

Sir Bohort

Sir Sagremor le

Desreez

Sir Tristan de Lyones

Sir Palomydes

the Saracen

Sir Perceval of Wales

The truth stands hid in the trappings of a tale …

King Uther Pendragon

©2003 NAVA—All Rights ReservedNAVA, PMB 225, 1977 N Olden Ave Ext, Trenton NJ 08618-2193 USA

NAVA NEWS #178—Apr-Jun 2003ISSN 1053-3338

NAVA News 36/2 - #178

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located in Glastonbury.3. BOHORT

An ermine field with three red di-agonal stripes from upper hoist tolower fly.

Ermine represents the fur of an er-mine, with a white field with blackarrowhead-like shapes with threedots—1, 2—at the upper end of thearrowheads.

Bohort was the son of King Bohortde Gaunes, the elder brother ofLionel, and a cousin to Lancelot.Some accounts make Bohort the go-between Lancelot and QueenGuinevere.4. LANCELOT DEL LAC

A white field with three red diago-nal stripes from upper hoist to lowerfly.

Lancelot was the son of Ban deBenoic, from whom he took his armswithout differencing or cadency. Al-ternatively, the three bends signifyLancelot’s strength as triple that ofa common man.

Lancelot, the chief knight of theRound Table, was the favored loverof Arthur’s Queen Guinevere. He isalso the central hero of three medi-eval romances, beginning withChrétien de Troyes’s Knight of theCart, composed around 1170. Ac-cording to that narrative, he ob-tained these arms after capturing theenchanted castle known as DolorousGard, where he found three silvershields with red bends.

The “del Lac” appended toLancelot’s name refers to how he (to-gether with Arthur, according toother accounts) had been given as ababy to the Lady of the Lake (Merlin’slove, and the cause of his downfall)to be raised until the age of 15 tokeep secret his noble origins.

Lancelot was among the knightsquesting for the Holy Grail, but hisinfatuation with Guinevere and withother ladies (among others DameElaine, Galahad’s mother) causedhim to fail in the quest, having lostthe required spiritual purity.Lancelot was also to blame for theend of the brotherhood of theKnights of the Round Table and in-directly for the death of King Arthur.5. GALAHAD

A white (silver) field with a red

cross.Galahad was the son of Lancelot

and Dame Elaine. The cross recallsGalahad’s central role in the questfor the Holy Grail. “Galahad” wasoriginally Lancelot’s first name.

Galahad was introduced toArthur’s court at Camelot in red ar-mor, but without a shield with he-raldic devices. However, during thequest for the Holy Grail he found hisshield behind the altar of an abbey—a silver shield with a red cross, whichhad been “waiting for him for centu-ries”. Galahad adopted the shield ashis own and refused to bear another.His surcoat was also white with ared cross.

Galahad’s fictitious symbols arethe most intricately connected to realmedieval history and religious sym-bolism. The Crusades, themselves aquest to the Holy Land and for theHoly Sepulcher, were fought at thetime that people began reading ro-mantic poems about King Arthurand his knights. Many English cru-saders’ surcoats and flags bore asingle red cross on white, or a whitecross on red.

English and French troops bothused such flags during the crusades,and the white flag with the red crossbecome known as the cross of St.George (today the flag of England)and the Banner of Victory. The cru-saders’ flags are considered the gen-esis of European national flags.

In many medieval paintings of theResurrection and of the Ascension,

Jesus Christ is represented with awhite pennant bearing a red cross.In these the cross is the sign of vic-tory over death, as Jesus achievedvictory over the cross. The whitestood for purity and the red for blood.Other saints, many of them martyrs,are also depicted with the Banner ofVictory.

In the Arthurian narratives theHoly Grail, or sacred chalice, is thecup used at the Last Supper andlater filled with the blood of Christduring the crucifixion. The fictionalArthurian quest for the Grail paral-leled and helped inspire the real-lifeCrusades to liberate the Holy Land.6. HECTOR DES MARES

A white field with three red diago-nals of red from upper hoist to lowerfly with a blue sun, or maunch, atthe center.

Hector was Lancelot’s half-brother,also the son of Ban de Benoic.

Arthur was raised in the house-hold of Hector, sometimes spelled“Ector”, under the tutelage of Mer-lin. He learned the military arts fromHector, and intellectual pursuitsfrom Merlin.7. BRUNOR LE NOIR

A white field with a rampant lioncheckered in red and black.

Brunor le Noir (the Black) was theson of Brunor le Chevalier sans Peur(Knight without Fear), whose ban-ner was a plain white field. Hisyounger brother, Dinadan, used arampant lion in black.8. KAY THE SENESCHAL

A dark blue field with two verticalwhite keys parallel to each other (perpale addorsed) at the center.

Kay served as Arthur’s seneschal,the keeper of the lord’s estates infeudal times, often symbolized bykeys.

Arthur began his service as a lowlysquire to Kay. In the “Sword in theStone” story, Uther (Arthur’s father)had placed a sword in a stone, to beremoved only by the next king ofEngland. Kay was among theknights who attempted to pull outthe sword. The then-anonymousArthur, seeking a sword for Kay dur-ing a tournament, found and re-moved the sword.

Some narratives have confusedthat sword with Excalibur, the sword

Arthur Continued from page 7

An excerpt from the Bayeux Tapestryshowing the dragon standard of King HaroldGodwinson.

April — June 2003

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given to Arthur by the Lady of theLake, and returned to her byBedevere after Arthur’s death. Thesword’s name derives fromCaliburnus (from “chalybs”, Latin for“steel” or “Calad-Bolg”, Welsh for“hard lightning”).9. GAUVAIN

(GAWAINE OF ORKNEY)A white field with a red canton (also

known as a “lot”).Gauvain was the eldest son of King

of Lothian (Lot), and used his father’sundifferenced arms.

Gauvain wa s associated with PopeGregory the Great (served 590-604);the white shield and red canton issaid to have belonged to JudasMaccabaeus (died 161 BC). Sometexts attribute ownership ofExcalibur to Gauvain rather thanArthur. A famous 14th-centurypoem pits him against a mighty foein Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

He and his brothers, Gareth andMordred, were known collectively asthe Princes of Orkney. Gareth’s armsplaced five golden eagles on the redcanton; Mordred’s reversed the col-ors of Gauvain’s arms.

Later, a double-headed gold eagleon purple was attributed to Gawain,while Gareth was assigned the samearms differenced with a red diago-nal (bend) and Mordered the samewith a white horizontal stripe abovethe eagle (a chief argent).10. PALAMEDE

(PALOMYDES THE SARACEN)A checkered field in white and

black (chequy argent and sable).Palamede was the son of Esclabor

le Méconnu (King of Babylon), whosearms were a checkered field in yel-low and red (chequy or and gules).His brother, Saphar, used arms di-vided vertically with a blue and whitepattern on the left and checkeredyellow and green on the right (perpale vair and chequy or and vert).Esclabor’s brother (Palamede’suncle) Arphasar used a white diago-nal cross on black (sable a saltireargent).

This knight is only mentionedonce, in an anonymous 13-centuryFrench prose narrative.11. PERCEVAL (PARSIFAL, or

PERCEVAL OF WALES)A purple field with golden crosses

arranged in rows (semé). Number ofcrosses not specified.

The heraldic term for such a dis-tribution of items is “semy” (from theFrench semeé, “sown”). Perceval’sfather, Pellinor, used a yellow fieldwith blue or purple crosses semy.Perceval reversed the colors keepingthe same devices. Lamorant deGalles, Pellinor’s other son, also re-versed his father’s colors and addeda white rampant lion in the center.

Chrétien de Troyes describedPerceval as the “Conte del Graal”(Count of the Grail). Wolfram vonEschenbach, writing in early 13thcentury, placed Perceval in a castlewhere the Grail is preserved, but

does not give the castle a location.Perceval lives there with his wife andchildren very happily, although thisdescription does not conform to themedieval monastic ideal of theguardian of such a holy relic.12. SAGREMOR LE DESREEZ

A blue field with a white canton,bearing three eight-pointed starsplaced two over one, such that oneblack star is in the canton and twowhite stars are in the field.

Some narratives describeSagremor’s arms on a red field in-stead of blue and others a gyronny(spiral of triangles around the cen-ter) of black and yellow.

Sagremor is the nephew of theEmperor Constantine and has an ill-ness that attacks him without warn-ing. “Le Desreez” means desperate.13. TRISTAN

A green field with a yellow lion ram-pant with red claws and tongue.

13-century English and Frenchsources attributed to Tristan a lionfor his main heraldic achievement,hence the name “Tristan theLyonesse”; Germanic and Scandina-vian texts give him a boar instead.

Tristan is the son of Rivalin, Kingof Lyonesse, and of Blanche, sisterof Mark, King of Cornwall. He is mostfamous for his relationship withIsolde; his connection withArthurian narratives is tenuous.

In a brief German romance, writ-ten around 1210 by Gottfried vonStrassburg, Arthur invites Tristanand Isolde to a festival in Camelot.The story, which included manyArthurian figures, became one of themost brilliant literary achievementsof German medieval literature andwas read all over medieval Europe.Alfonso X (The Wise), the king ofCastile from 1252 to 1284, was veryfond of this tale and helped spreadthe romance across the Iberian Pen-insula. Miguel Cervantes deSaavedra’s Don Quixote may well re-flect the influence of Arthurian ro-mances in Spain.14. UTHER PENDRAGON

A yellow field with two back-to-back (addorsed) crowned red drag-ons.

Some sources depict the dragonsin “ruddy gold”, a copper-like shade.

Uther Pendragon (“Dragonhead”)was Arthur’s father, in most narra-tives. However the relationship mayhave been arisen from a story iden-tifying Arthur as “Arthur the Ter-rible” (uthr in Gaelic), misconstruingthe phrase as “Arthur son of Uther”.

Uther was the younger brother andsuccessor to Aurelius, King of theGalles (Welsh). According to Merlin,Uther’s surname derives from the“luminous” dragon that appeared inthe sky overhead during Uther’scoronation after Aurelius was poi-soned. Merlin interpreted it as fore-telling the glories of Uther and of hisunborn offspring, “Once upon a timethere was a future King…”

Arthur is sometimes describedusing a dragon banner inheritedfrom the dragon helmet crest usedby his father. In fact, the dragon isnot originally a Celtic symbol butRoman, likely derived from vexilloidsor battle standards of auxiliary cav-

Another version of the Armsfor Uther Pendragon

NAVA News 36/2 - #178

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alry carried by Romans in Britainuntil the 5th century.

The Anglo-Saxons used the dragonas a prevailing and important sym-bol on banners and as vexilloids. TheBayeux Tapestry, the pictorial his-tory in fabric of the battle of Hastingsin 1066, by tradition sewn by QueenMatilda (wife of William, Duke ofNormandy) and her maids, twicedepicts a dragon vexilloid attachedto a pole held by King Harold’s stan-dard-bearer. On the ground is thelegend, “Here King Harold was slain,and the English fled”.

Henry VII used the dragon is a pre-dominant symbol. The arms of hisdescendants Henry VIII and Eliza-beth I, as well as the arms of theCommonwealth under OliverCromwell, used a dragon as a sup-porter. A painting depicting HenryVIII arriving for his meeting nearCalais with the French King Francis

I in 1520 shows a dragon in the skyabove Henry’s head in the samemanner Merlin described duringUther Pendragon’s coronation.

Showing the continuing strong in-fluence of Arthurian symbols, drag-ons appear as supporters in the1957 arms of the City of London,which according to 13th-centurynarratives was the city where UtherPendragon held court.EPILOGUE

To the roster of medieval writersmust be added the work of modernauthors and composers such asAlfred Lord Tennyson’s The Idylls ofthe King, Mark Twain’s A Connecti-cut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court,and Richard Wagner’s three operasbased on Arthurian legends: Parsifal,Lohengrin, and Tristan und Isolde.T. H. White’s 1953 The Once and Fu-ture King inspired Camelot, a 1960musical by Richard Rodgers and

Lorenz Hart. Many films have beenbased on the Arthurian legends,from Camelot and First Knight toMonty Python and the Holy Grail andDisney’s The Sword and the Stone.The long-running comic strip PrinceValiant, by Hal Foster and now JohnCullen Murphy, has retold old andnew versions for over 65 years. Morerecently, Marion Zimmer Bradley re-told the Arthurian story from thepoint of view of the women in TheMists of Avalon. King Arthur seemsto have new meaning for each gen-eration.

The debate continues whetherArthur was a historical figure or onlya legend. Perhaps his deeds and ac-tions were actually those of variousreal but unknown men that, as timewent by, oral chronicles attributedto one person alone now called KingArthur. No matter—vexillologists,vexillophiles, and flag enthusiastspursue understanding by studyingflags of all kinds and periods. Realor imaginary, Arthur has inspiredsignificant creativity in heraldry andvexillology, worthy of our study as awindow into the times when it wasinvented.

BibliographyBrault, Gerard, Early Blazons, Ox-

ford, 1972Pastoureau, Michel, Les Armoriaux

Medievaux, Paris, 1983Scherer, Margaret R., About The

Round Table: King Arthur in Artand Literature, New York, 1945

Additional information was ob-tained from the Camelot Project atthe University of Rochester, the ar-chives of the Robert Lehman Collec-tion Library at the Metropolitan Mu-seum of Art in New York, as well asExcalibur: An Arthurian Drama byRalph Adams Cram, The Sword ofKingship, by Thomas Westwood, andExcalibur, by John Grosvenor Wil-son.

This lecture, delivered at NAVA 35 inNorfolk, Virginia in October 2001,won NAVA’s annual Captain WilliamDriver Award for the best contribu-tion to vexillological scholarship.

VIEW FROM CHINAby Dave Martucci

Recently, a neighbor and friend,Elizabeth Vickerman, who is inthe Peace Corps serving in Thai-land, had a chance to visit China.She knows how much I love flagsand so had this photo taken onthe Great Wall. Notice the flags.

The one next to her is blue withred flammules and the others lin-ing the wall are either red, yel-low, or blue, all with redflammules.

On a recent visit, she showedme her coffee mug that has thePeace Corps symbol on it. Itshows part of a U.S. flag with twostars and a dove in white on blueand some red and white stripes.Over the top is the name in blue.

April — June 2003

—13—

CORPORATE AMERICA FLAG PROTESTFlags are the central feature of

a protest sponsored by the website Adbusters.org. This site isurging people to participatethrough public flag usage andthey are distributing these flagsfor the purpose of rebellingagainst the perceived take-overby multi-national corporations.

Their complete statement fromthe web site follows.

A shrinking number of theplanet’s biggest businesses—AOLTime Warner, Shell, Nike,Microsoft, McDonald’s — are themoney behind presidents, thepower that drives global traderules, the voice of authority onhow we live and the way we think.Corporations have all the rightsof we, the people, but thousandsof times more money to make thesystem work for them.

We call this system “democ-racy.” But today it looks a lot likecorporate rule.

A rebellion is building. Thou-sands of protesters shake up ev-ery global trade conference withcalls for less corporate clout andmore grassroots power. And onJuly 4, America’s IndependenceDay, culture jammers deliveredanother blast of symbolic disobe-dience. Across the US andaround the world, proud citizenstraded the Stars-and-Stripes fortoday’s Brands-and-Bands—thesymbol of all that’s wrong withAmerica. Five hundred CorporateAmerica flags waved over paradesand over highways, in front ofWal-Mart and the White House.

The flag campaign is far fromover. More and more CorporateAmerica flags are being sentacross America and around theworld to support a year-roundCorporate Crackdown. Fromstreet protests to teach-ins, theflag is fast becoming a public ral-

lying point for the movementagainst corporate power.

The flags snapping in the windare raising sparks. You just don’tmess with America’s Old Glory.But many would say it’s been acorporate doormat for years. Andtoday, the question is global.What counts as “independence”?And when will we win it back?

http://adbusters.org/campaigns/flag/And a comment from an

Adbusters reader:Has anyone bothered pointing

out that this US Corporate Flagironically, includes the symbolsfor Royal Dutch Shell—an Anglo-Dutch firm; Daimler-Chrysler—a German firm; and Adidas—an-other German firm. By the way,when will adbusters create anEuropean analogue for the EUflag? The USA doesn’t possess amonopoly of voracious MNCs....

sgabig, Newville, Pennsylvania

NAVA News 36/2 - #178

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NAVA 37 FLAGSYMBOLISM

The proportions are indeed 1:2.While the flag of Québec is 2:3, Iwanted my design to take on the pro-portions of the national flag (as wellas many other provinces) to symbol-ize Montréal as part of Canada (notjust Québec).

The white cross on (Québec) bluebackground symbolizes the provinceof Québec.

The NAVA flag is placed in the can-ton to symbolize the purpose of theconference (the study of flags in theU.S. and Canada) Like the Montréalcivic flag, a fleur-de-lis is in the can-ton. This is to symbolize the strongFrench influence on Montréal.

All the best,Morgan Milner

850 North Randolph St #1508Arlington, VA 22203

703.248.8396

To the Editor,Thank you for “NAVA News” issue

177, January-March 2003. As always,your publication contains plenty ofvery accurate information. Congratu-lations.

To the Editor,Here are my comments (for what

they are worth) on the subject ofOfficial Flags as requested in thelast Edition of Nava News.

In the first place I must admit thatI do not like the phrase “shadow”flags, to me a flag is either officiallyacceptable or it is not. When a flagis only loosely defined by law or ex-ecutive decree, any design whichfalls within the terms so definedmay be described as ‘a variant in-terpretation’, but remains a legalentity. A flag which does not is anunofficial variant.

If, at some stage, a governmentfind these variant interpretationsunacceptable, they may then issueprecise construction details, andany flag which does not conform tothese thereafter becomes an unof-ficial variant. But, while they areofficially acceptable they remain‘official flags’.

Regards,Christopher Southworth

Penwortham,Preston,

LancashireUnited Kingdom

chris.southworth@tiscali.co.uk

To the Editor,re: When is a Flag Official? (NAVANews, January - March 2003, p7)

The question to which you havesolicited opinions is a good one, par-ticularly when applied to the USFlag. The original Flag Act of 14 June1777, approved by the Congress,belies the fact that there was no ac-tual country called the United Statesof America in operation at that time.Although it came nearly a year be-fore the flag act, the Declaration ofIndependence did not establish anation; in fact, the wording of thatdocument, with its use of pluralnouns, shows clearly that our found-ing fathers were more interested ineffecting separation than creating anincorporated nation, as may be seenin this portion of the Declaration:

We, therefore, the Representativesof the United States of America, inGeneral Congress, Assembled, ap-pealing to the Supreme Judge of theworld for the rectitude of our inten-tions, do, in the Name, and by theauthority of the good People of theseColonies, solemnly publish and de-clare, That these United Coloniesare, and of Right ought to be Freeand Independent States; that theyare Absolved from all Allegiance tothe British Crown, and that all po-litical connection between them andthe State of Great Britain is andought to be totally dissolved; andthat as Free and IndependentStates, they have full Power to levyWar, conclude Peace, contract Alli-ances, establish Commerce, and todo all other Acts and Things whichIndependent States may of right do.I have no doubt that it was in the

minds of these men (at least some ofthem) to form a new country out ofthe 13 free republics that the Decla-ration in essence created, but theydid not say so specifically in thedocument. It is the Articles of Con-federation that created the first ac-tual central government, weakthough it may have been, with thename “United States of America.” Infact, the first article in the Articlesof Confederation addresses the ques-tion of by what name the countryshall be called: “The Stile of thisConfederacy shall be ‘The UnitedStates of America’.“ The Articles

were agreed to by Congress on 15November 1777 (five months afterthe first Flag Act), but not signeduntil 9 July 1778 (over one year af-ter the first Flag Act); and they didn’tgo into force until 1 March 1781,when they were ratified by Maryland.

Perhaps one may protest that thisis nothing but semantics, but re-member that law is all words, andjustice is all action. The fact is thatwhat we celebrate on Flag Day as theadoption of the first US Flag is actu-ally the adoption of a flag, recom-mended by the Marine Committee inthe middle of a “sandwich” of reso-lutions, for a set of States united forthe common purpose of breaking thepolitical bands that bound them tothe British Crown. Was it the offi-cial flag of the United States? Yes,as the term “United States” wouldhave been understood by an 18thcentury mind in His Majesty’s formerColonies. Was it the official flag ofTHE United States of America? No,because “The United States ofAmerica” didn’t exist at the time. Yes,there was a Continental Army andNavy, and there was a Congress, buton 14 July 1777 there was no coun-try, either Confederate or Federal.The first US Flag would have become“official” on 1 March 1781, when areal country existed. Prior to thattime the Stars and Stripes wouldhave been a military signal of sorts,or the symbol of a commonly heldbelligerence.

Respectfully Yours,Richard R. Gideon, Editor

AMERICAN VEXILLUM Magazinehttp://

www.americanvexillum.comeditor@americanvexillum.com

With best regards,Wladyslaw Serwatowski

Earth Flag Centerul. Plakatowa 5

02-796 Warszawa, Polandtel. 48 22 44 63 320

wserwatowski@iam.pl

April — June 2003

—15—

Chumley the Vexi-Gorilla™... Is the creation of Michael Faul, Editor of

Flagmaster, the distinguished journal of The FlagInstitute in the United Kingdom. To a field not

often blessed by humor’s grace, Mr Faul brings adelightfully light touch, deep vexillological roots,and sparkling whimsy.

�

CLASSIFIEDSNAVA Membership entitles you toone free classified ad per year. Ad-ditional ads are US$2.00 plus 10¢per word above 21 words. Address,email, etc. doesn’t count. Send adinformation to NAVA NEWS ADS,240 Calderwood Rd, Washington ME04574-3440 or email them to<navanews@nava.org>. Checks/money orders should be made pay-able to NAVA. Sorry, no cash, please.

NAVA NewsPublished quarterly by the North

American Vexillological Association(NAVA), PMB 225, 1977 N Olden Ave Ext,Trenton NJ 08618-2193 USA. ISSN1053-3338. Material appearing in NAVANews does not necessarily reflect thepolicy or opinion of NAVA, the executiveboard, or the editor.

Please send articles, letters to the edi-tor, and inquiries concerning advertis-ing rates and permission to reprint ar-ticles to:

David Martucci, Editor240 Calderwood Rd

Washington ME 04574-3440 USA(207) 845-2857

navanews@nava.orgArticles may be submitted in hard copy

or in any Macintosh or PC format (ex-cepting Lotus Word Pro) on 3.5” diskettesor Zip disks. A hard copy showing allformatting preferences should accom-pany the disk. Articles and/or disks ac-companied by a SASE will be returned.

NAVA solicits annual bids for format-ting, layout, and printing of its publica-tions. Please write to the address belowfor more information.

Please send copies or originals of anyflag-related newspaper and magazineclippings and all non-NAVA News relatedcorrespondence, including change ofaddress or changes in email status tothe Association’s permanent address:

NAVAPMB 225

1977 N Olden Ave ExtTrenton NJ 08618-2193 USA

treas@nava.org

Visit NAVA on the web athttp://www.nava.org/

©2003 NAVA - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Support historic flag conservation.Donate to NAVA’s Flag Conservationprogram and preserve a piece of his-tory!

SAGUENAYAT NAVA 37Mr. Bruce Patterson, Canada’s

Saguenay Herald, will be the guestspeaker at the Saturday night ban-quet and will speak on the topic ofCanadian symbology, with an em-phasis on flags. This talk willcomplement the meeting’s theme ofA Celebration of CanadianVexillology.

Badge of the Saguenay Herald.The badge represents, in a stylized form, ablueberry, with its heart composed of foursmall crowns. Blueberries are a famousfeature of the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jeanregion, the inhabitants of which areaffectionately known as “Bleuets.” The fourcrowns in cross make reference to the“Kingdom” myth of the Saguenay regionfrom the time of Jacques Cartier andRoberval.

HELP PUT USOVER THE TOP!NAVA members have re-

sponded, already pledgingsome $2,000 of the remain-ing $3,000 needed to pub-lish the 350-page AmericanCity Flags with its accompa-nying full-color poster.Please consider a gift in sup-port of the largest publish-ing effort by NAVA ever. Do-nors may receive additionalbooks and posters for every$25 contributed. Mail yourgift or pledge to NAVA's Tren-ton mailbox, and watch forpublication in November2003.

A “lost panel” from the Bayeux Tapestry?

NAVA News 36/2 - #178

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http://www.fiav2003.com/

Make your plans now!

Visit NAVA’s Award-winning Web Sitehttp://www.nava.org

Alabama Flag & Banner, Inc.Mrs. Belinda M KennedyHuntsville AL USAEmail: belinda@alabamaflag.comhttp://www.alabamaflag.comAoI: historic

America Welcomes the WorldMr. Stan G. SoftleyProvo UT USAEmail: americawelcomestheworld@hotmail.com

Mr. James G. BairdWoodstock GA USAAoI: Strictly Amateur. Just as waris too important to be left to thegenerals, flags should not be left tothe politicians.

Mr. Charles K. BradleyTerrytown LA USAEmail: trekker504@aol.comAoI: I’ve been interested in flagssince childhood & have a small flagcollection. I just love flags! Theyare very interesting.

Mr. Earl D. ComstockChariton IA USAAoI: Historic flags, & preservation

Mr. Joseph E. DonovanSeattle WA USAEmail: arb16035@scn.orgAoI: European flags, national andtraditional design elements,history primarily Islands of NorthAtlantic.

Ms. Pamela FastGrover Hill OH USAEmail: fasting@bright.net

Mr. Thomas GauthierNixa MO USAAoI: State flags and flags of othernations.

Mr. Raymond R. Jett, Jr.Yucaipa CA USAEmail: q@fieldmarshal.nethttp://www.fieldmarshal.net/AoI: Historic, Military, Political

Mr. Richard F. KehrbergAmes IA USAEmail: r.f.kehrberg@att.netAoI: Historic flags

Mr. Jack KoenemanSan Leandro CA USAEmail: jkoenema@attbi.com

Mr. Thomas M. LandryPawtucket RI USAEmail: tmlslp@hotmail.comAoI: I have been interested in flagssince childhood. In addition tocurrent international, subnational,and municipal flags, I enjoylearning about flags from history.

Mr. Donald M. MacomberRichmondville NY USAEmail: macombd@cobleskill.eduAoI: Historic Flags - FlagPreservation

Mr. Charles R. MaierOttawa ON CANADAEmail: charles.maier@pwgsc.gc.caAoI: World flag developments, flagrelated articles and books.

Mr. Joseph MooreFrederick MD USAEmail: mdirishman@aol.comAoI: U.S. Historical, MarylandState, Flags of counties & cities, &Flag Manufacturing.

Mr. Paolo RussiThornton CO USAEmail: russitalia@aol.comAoI: All aspects of flag history withemphasis on European flags.

Rev. John RutowiczNiles MI USA

Mr. Richard “Rick” A. RutowiczMinot ND USAEmail: ricallen1@juno.comAoI: I have a general interest in allflags, but will focus on “TheNational Service Flags of the USA”,a.k.a. “The Blue Star Flag/Banner”and its variations.

SaratogaFlag.com/Broadway Banner & Flag Co.Ms. Julye CalderGansevoort NY USAEmail: office@saratogaflag.comhttp://www.saratogaflag.com/AoI: Historic Flags

Mr. Joseph A. TringaliN Palm Beach FL USAEmail: jatringali@msn.comhttp://www.calkinsharbor.comAoI: Author of “Yachting Customsand Courtesies”; interested in flagdesign and history.

NEW MEMBERS 2003

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