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HUNGARIAN FLAGS
An extract from Armies of the Middle Ages, Volume 2by Ian Heath
[Based on the Képes Krónica]
96. HUNGARIAN FLAGS
96a, described as an Apostolic cross on a triad of hills, was originally granted to Stephen (997-1038), first king of Hungary, by Pope Silvester II. It is red, with the cross in silver and the hills in green. The 'Képes Krónica', from which this and the next 3 flags are taken, invariably shows it carried alongside the red-and-white striped royal flag depicted in 96b.
96c is a variant of the last, having the Angevin arms (azure, semé-de-lis or) impaled with those of Hungary. This is taken from a picture of the Battle of Rozhanovce in 1312, where it is carried by King Charles Robert's army.
As elsewhere in Europe, Hungarian knights carried their own arms on their lance pennons, of which 96d and e show two 14th century examples. 96d displays the gold on red arms of the Hont-Pázmány family, while 96e is from Froissart's description of the pennon carried at Nicopolis in 1396 by Henry of Esteulemchale, Marshal of Hungary, whose arms he gives as argent, a cross moline sable.
96f and g are two examples of Serbian flags, from 13th-14th century murals. 3-tailed lance pennons also frequently occur. Note the appearance of a crescent on 96d and g, for further information on which see page 190.
