Hello all,

I'm looking for web sites that would contain army banners and flags
from 2000-BC to 1400-AD any idea?
I went through search engines without much success...

Cheers

How profesional do they have to look. Why not trying to type in the three kingdoms characters and then paste them onto a backround and make a pole for the flag?

China is said to be the country that had the earliest army banners. Can someone translate these articles:

http://army.yule.com.cn/changshi/0117.htm

http://www.gamerhome.net/main/jingtai/31/17286.htm

Unfortunately, there are no clear depictions of Chinese army banners surviving from before 1400.

Actually they don't have to look very pro as it just to use them for
my hobby. I'm painting a miniature generic chinese army that i would
use in many periods (from the western chou 1100-BC to the 1500-AD Ming)
Right now i don't have the money to buy all the mini's for all the period hence
the generic version^^.

Using chartacters and drawing them on flags is an idea i like and will surely
use, however i would still need references to paint the background of flags
and banners to make them colorful. I doubt it's very accurate but i'm might use
those nice sacred beast i've found here in your forum :
http://www.chinahistoryforum.com/index.php...opic=1766&st=15

Too bad there are not clear depictions of early army banners i would have
loved watching them and painting them; still i could use some from 1400 AD
if they are available somewhere. Sadly i don't read chinese that's why i'm
looking for drawings and pictures

Any more ideas?

cheers

didier

Hmm, I've found some depictions in the Osprey Men-at-Arms books. So there ARE such depictions after all, just not many of them. Here you go:



This is the mural of The Retinue of Chang I-ch'ao (Zhang Yichao) mentioned in the above diagram:





And from the Wubei Zhi, a military manual written not long after 1400:

I think this site needs a banner. ...

thanks for the Osprey references i can now make my own banners now
that i have the shapes

China the first country to have command system using banners, this differ alot from the european banner which indicated status not communication.
When did other armies adopt the banner system , i know th mongols did

It seem the scanned pictures I posted last year are no longer available at Imageshack. Those who want them can PM me their e-mail address.