Oriflamme



The Oriflamme (from Latin aurea flamma, "golden flame") was the battle standard of the King of France in the Middle Ages. It was originally the sacred banner of the Abbey of St. Denis, a monastery near Paris.

In French, the term "oriflamme" has come to mean any banner with pointed ends; by association with the form of the original.

Origins
The Oriflamme was mentioned in the eleventh century ballad the Chanson de Roland (vv. 3093-5) as a royal banner, first called Romaine and then Montjoie. According to legend, Charlemagne carried it to the Holy Land in response to a prophecy regarding a knight possessing a golden lance, from which flames would burn and drive out the Saracens. This suggests that the lance was originally the important object, with the banner simply a decoration, but this changed over time.

History
The Oriflamme was first used by Louis VI in 1124 and was last flown in battle at Agincourt in 1415, though a version of it remained in the Abbey of St. Denis until the 18th century.

It is recorded as having been carried at the following battles
 * Bouvines 1214
 * Mons-en-Pevele 1304
 * Crécy 1346
 * Poitiers 1356
 * Roosebeke 1382
 * Agincourt 1415

The Oriflamme was lost four times; Mons-en-Pevele, Crécy Poitiers and Agincourt

Appearance
The banner was red or orange-red silk and flown from a gilded lance. According to legend, its colour stems from it being dipped in the blood of the recently-beheaded St. Denis.

The surviving descriptions of the Oriflamme are in Guillaume le Breton (thirteenth century), in the "Chronicle of Flanders" (fourteenth century), in the "Registra Delphinalia" (1456) and in the inventory of the treasury of St. Denis (1536). They show that the primitive Oriflamme was succeeded in the course of the centuries by newer Oriflammes which bore little resemblance to one another except for their colour.

Significance on the battlefield
When the Oriflamme was displayed on the battlefield it indicated that no quarter was to be given, its red colour being symbolic of cruelty and ferocity.

Although the azure ground (from the blue cope of St. Martin of Tours) strewn with gold fleur-de-lis remained the symbol of royalty until the 15th. century, the Oriflamme became the royal battle standard of the King of France, and it was carried at the head of the king's forces when they met another army in battle. In the fifteenth century, the fleur-de-lis on the white flag of Joan of Arc became the new royal standard replacing both the symbol of royalty and the Oriflamme on the battle field.

Porte oriflamme
The bearer of the standard, the porte-oriflamme, became an office (like that of Marshal or Constable) and a great honour, as it was an important and very dangerous job to take charge of such a visible symbol in battle. If things went badly, the bearer was expected to die rather than relinquish his charge.

Froissart vividly describes porte-oriflamme Geoffroi de Charny's fall at the side of his king at the Battle of Poitiers in this passage: "“There Sir Geoffroi de Charny fought gallantly near the king (note: and his fourteen year old son). The whole press and cry of battle were upon him because he was carrying the king’s sovereign banner [the Oriflamme]. He also had before him his own banner, gules, three escutcheons argent. So many English and Gascons came around him from all sides that they cracked open the king’s battle formation and smashed it; there were so many English and Gascons that at least five of these men at arms attacked one [French] gentleman. Sir Geoffroi de Charny was killed with the banner of France in his hand, as other French banners fell to earth.”"

Notable Bearers of the Oriflamme

 * Geoffroi de Charny - 14th century knight and author of several works on chivalry. He first bore the Oriflamme during the failed attempt to relieve Calais in 1347 and died at Poitiers defending it.
 * Arnoul d'Audrehem - 14th century former Marshal of France. He held the office from 1368 to his death in 1370 but never carried the banner in action.
 * Guillaume de Martel - Seigneur de Bacqueville. He carried the Oriflamme at Agincourt and died there.

The Oriflamme in literature
The 19th century poet Robert Southey refers to the Oriflamme and its reputation in his poem Joan of Arc:::::"Dark-minded man!"
 * The Maid of Orleans answered, "to act well
 * Brings with itself an ample recompense.
 * I have not reared the oriflamme of death —
 * Now God forbid! The banner of the Lord
 * Is this; and, come what will, me it behooves,
 * Mindful of Him whose minister I am,
 * To spare the fallen foe: that gracious God
 * Sends me a messenger of mercy forth,
 * Sends me to save this ravaged realm of France,
 * To England friendly as to all the world;
 * Only to those an enemy, whose lust
 * Of sway makes them the enemies of man."