Gonfanon

Church flag in procession for the Rosary Festival in Ortisei in Val Gardena

The gonfanon (from Italian gonfalone , port. Gonfalào , sp. Confalon , French gonfalon , all from Old Franconia. Gundfano (' battle flag ')) describes a rectangular flag - or banner of the Middle Ages , which wafts from a vertical rod and which is on the billowing end consists of several strips or ribbons. Today one understands it especially the church flag .

Function and presentation

Gonfanons were mainly used by Italian republics as well as in religious processions . But they also served as battle flags of chivalry, from which the knight standards developed.

The church flags , which are lecture or procession flags , also developed from this . They differ in their size and that they are also available without a hanging. They are shown with a crossbar and a flagpole (behind the cloth). The use in the coat of arms is rare (it is typical as an emblem of the Count Palatine of Tübingen and Montfort ), but possible as a splendid piece .

In Italy the gonfanon is also accidentally called ombrellino . The misunderstanding arose from the fact that ombrellini were sometimes depicted on papal gonfanones.

Examples

as a rider banner
A mounted knight with a gonfanon ( Schwerin )
A church flag, quartered red and silver, on a lance in natural colors, diagonally ( Hochstift Würzburg )