Saint Piran's Flag
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Saint Piran's Flag is the flag of Cornwall. The banner of Saint Piran is a vertical white cross on a black background. Saint Piran is supposed to have adopted these two colours from seeing the molten tin spilling out of the black ore in his fire. This occurred during his supposed discovery of tin in the sixth century thus becoming the patron saint of tin miners. Tin, of course, was in use a few centuries earlier.
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[edit] Origins
There are claims that the design dates from prior to 1188 when the flag was used in the Crusades,[1] and an article in Encyclopædia Britannica tells that the flag was carried by the Cornish contingent at the Battle of Agincourt (1415).[2] However, the reference given by Encyclopædia Britannica seems to have been confused with one that comes from a 1590 poem entitled "Poly-Olbion" by Michael Drayton. It states that the banner carried by the Cornish men at Agincourt depicted two Cornish Wrestlers in a hitch.
The earliest written evidence of this flag was recorded by Davies Gilbert in his 1838 work: 'The Parochial History of Cornwall', where he gives reference to..
"a white cross on a black ground [that] was formerly the banner of St. Perran and the Standard of Cornwall"[3]
The fact that Gilbert identifies it as being 'formerly' a Standard of Cornwall implies that it was used before 1838.
One of the oldest depictions of the flag can be seen in a stained glass window at Westminster Abbey. It was unveiled in 1888 in memory of the famous Cornish inventor and engineer Richard Trevithick. The window depicts St Michael at the top and nine Cornish saints, Piran, Petroc, Pinnock, Germanus, Julian, Cyriacus, Constantin, Nonna and Geraint in tiers below. The head of St Piran appears to be a portrait of Trevithick himself and the figure carries the banner of Cornwall. [4].
The flag is, perhaps not coincidentally, similar to the Flag of Saint David, from the fellow Celtic nation of Wales.
[edit] Clues to its origin
 The Standard of the Army of the Breton Duchy. |
 The Welsh Flag of Saint David |
Saint Piran's flag has similarities to the old Breton flag and also the Flag of Saint David. The cultural links between Brittany, Wales and Cornwall are well recorded. Saint Piran's Flag is the negative image of the old Breton Flag, a black cross on a white field. The Flag of Saint David shares a black background with Saint Piran's Flag, but is surmounted by a gold, rather than a white, cross.
[edit] French Family Arms
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Several French families had coats of arms that bear a striking resemblance to the St. Piran's flag:
- Saint Peran or Saint Pezran (= Piran) of Brittany (from Glomel, in Cornouaille), is described as "sable a cross patée argent".
- Geoffroy le Borgne of Brittany is described as "de sable à croix d'argent".[5]
- Rossillon de Gex, Coat of Arms described: De sable à la croix d'argent.
- Brunet, de la Besse, Coat of Arms described: D'azur, à la croix d'argent.[6]
- Arnèke Family Coat of Arms.[7]
- Rouvroy de Saint-Simon of Picardy, described: De sable à la croix d'argent chargée de cinq coquilles.[8]
[edit] Usage
 Cornish Pirates RFC logo |
 Unofficial Cornish ensign |
Saint Piran's Flag is now more commonly seen flying from flag poles across Cornwall than the Union Flag or the Cross of St George, yet only a generation ago many saw it as a nationalist symbol for Mebyon Kernow.[citation needed] However for many today it is a symbol of pride in Cornish distinctiveness rather than a political call for independence.[citation needed]
The flag is flown at most Cornish gatherings such as the Gorseth Kernow, St Piran's Day (5 March), Padstow Obby Oss, Helston Flora Day, Camborne Trevithick Day and at Cornish rugby matches. It is regularly seen around Cornwall on car stickers with the word 'Kernow' (Cornish for Cornwall), and is used around the world as a symbol of the Cornish diaspora or overseas Cornish associations. In Cornwall it is used on a variety of Cornish merchandising products and is seen on the design of the Cornish All Blacks rugby shirt as well as Cornish Pirates rugby logo and other local companies such as Ginsters pasties use a similar emblem on their packaging and advertising.
The unofficial 'Cornish ensign' is another flag that is sometimes used to represent the regional identity of Cornwall.[9]
[edit] See also
- List of Cornish flags
- Constitutional status of Cornwall
- The Flag of the Duchy of Brittany
- Cornish Assembly
- List of topics related to Cornwall
- St Pirans Day
- Furry Dance
[edit] External links
- Flags of the World - Speculations of the origins of this flag.
- The Flag Institute
[edit] References
- ^ Celtic League flags
- ^ Cornish flag
- ^ 'The Parochial History of Cornwall', by Davies Gilbert. (1838) Vol III, p. 332
- ^ Westminster Abbey
- ^ http://www.briantimms.com/vermandois/bretons.htm
- ^ visu_armes_p
- ^ La page du généalogiste fou ... L'héraldique
- ^ rouvroy
- ^ Flags of the World
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