When you think of Joan of Arc, you probably see a teenage girl in gleaming white armor, hair cropped short, sitting astride a massive warhorse. In her right hand, there is almost always a sword. It makes sense, right? She was a military leader in the Hundred Years' War. She led the charge at Orléans. You don’t win a siege with a polite conversation.
But here is the thing: Joan rarely used that sword.
She was obsessed with her banner. In fact, during her trial in 1431, she flat-out told her judges that she loved her banner "forty times" more than her sword. That isn't just a quirky historical footnote; it’s the key to understanding how a peasant girl from Domrémy actually commanded an army of battle-hardened men. The banner of Joan of Arc wasn't a decorative flag or a piece of medieval branding. It was her primary tactical tool, her psychological shield, and—in her mind—a direct command from God.
The Real Design of the Banner
Most modern replicas you see at Renaissance fairs or in movies are, honestly, kinda wrong. They’re too small or too simple. Based on Joan’s own testimony during her interrogations, we actually have a very specific idea of what the "Great Standard" looked like.
It was made of a heavy, white linen fabric called buckram. It wasn't a little pennant; it was a massive thing that trailed behind her as she rode. The fringes were silk. On this white background, the world was painted. Literally. It depicted Christ holding the world, flanked by two angels.
The words "Jhesus Maria" were stitched onto it.
She also had a smaller banner, a triangular one called a pennon, which showed an Annunciation scene with an angel bringing a lily to Mary. But the big white standard was the one that mattered. It was her "sign." When she held it aloft, French soldiers who had been losing for decades suddenly felt like they couldn't be killed. It was psychological warfare at its finest.
Why She Carried It Instead of a Sword
Joan was very clear about one thing: she never killed anyone.
Think about that for a second. She was at the front of some of the bloodiest skirmishes of the 15th century, yet she claimed she never shed blood with her own hand. The banner of Joan of Arc allowed her to be in the thick of the fight without being a combatant in the traditional sense.
"I was the one who carried the said standard when we attacked the enemy," she said during her trial, "to avoid killing anyone. I have never killed anyone."
It was a brilliant, if perhaps subconscious, move. By holding the banner, she became a lighthouse. In the chaos of medieval combat—the mud, the screaming, the blinding visor of a helmet—you need to know where to go. If you saw that massive white banner moving toward the English earthworks, you followed it. It wasn't just about morale; it was about positioning. She used the banner to direct the flow of the "Gens d'armes."
The Mystery of the Sword of Fierbois
People love the story of the sword. You know the one—she supposedly had a vision that a sword was buried behind the altar of the Church of Saint Catherine de Fierbois. She sent for it, and the priests found it, rusted and old, with five crosses engraved on the blade.
It’s a cool story. It’s legendary. But Joan herself downplayed it.
When the judges at her trial tried to grill her about whether she had "blessed" the sword to make it magical, she basically rolled her eyes. She told them she liked it because it was a French sword, but the banner was her true joy. She actually ended up breaking that famous sword later on. Legend says she used the flat of the blade to chase away some camp followers (prostitutes) who were hanging around the army, and the ancient steel snapped.
She went back to her banner. She always went back to the banner.
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The Tactical Impact at Orléans
Let's look at the Siege of Orléans in 1429. This is where the banner of Joan of Arc became a nightmare for the English.
The French were attacking the Les Tourelles, a fortified gatehouse. It was a meat grinder. Joan was hit between the neck and shoulder by a crossbow bolt. She fell. The English cheered, thinking the "witch" was dead. The French started to retreat.
But Joan didn't stay down.
She pulled the bolt out herself (some sources say she cried, which makes her more human, honestly) and headed back to the fray. She grabbed her banner. She stood at the edge of the moat and shook the standard at the English.
The effect was immediate. The English, who were already superstitious, saw this girl they thought they’d killed rising from the dirt with a glowing white banner. They panicked. They thought she was using sorcery. The French, seeing the banner waving again, found a second wind that shouldn't have been physically possible. They took the fort.
What Happened to the Banner?
This is the sad part.
When Joan was captured at Compiègne by the Burgundians, her equipment was seized. We know she had the banner with her. After she was sold to the English and put on trial in Rouen, the banner became a "piece of evidence."
To the English, it wasn't a holy relic. It was a tool of the devil.
During the trial, they obsessed over the imagery. They asked her why the angels were painted on it. They asked why she insisted on carrying it into the cathedral at Reims for the coronation of King Charles VII. Her response was one of her most famous lines: "It had shared in the toil; it was only right that it should share in the honor."
After she was burned at the stake in 1431, the banner disappeared from the historical record. It was likely burned or left to rot in an English treasury. There is no "original" Joan of Arc banner in a museum today. We only have descriptions and the echoes of it in art.
The Symbolism Today
The banner has become a shorthand for French identity, but it’s more complex than just "patriotism."
- Purity vs. Power: The white buckram symbolized her "Maid" status, but the size of the banner signaled raw military authority.
- The Divine Mandate: It was her way of saying she wasn't following the King's orders—she was following God's. This is actually what got her killed. The Church couldn't handle someone who claimed a direct line to the divine without their mediation.
- Visibility: In a time before radios or drones, the banner was the only way to communicate "The leader is still here."
Practical Insights for History Lovers
If you are researching Joan or looking to understand the era, don't get distracted by the "warrior princess" trope. Joan was a visionary and a signal-bearer.
If you're visiting France, the best place to get a "feel" for this history isn't necessarily the Louvre. Go to Orléans. They have a house (a reconstruction, but a good one) where she stayed. Every year in May, they have the Johannine Festivals. You'll see replicas of the banner everywhere.
Pay attention to the iconography. Notice how the angels are holding the lilies (the fleur-de-lis). This was a deliberate political statement. She was tying the French monarchy directly to the kingdom of heaven. It was the ultimate PR move in a century that desperately needed one.
Also, look into the works of Régine Pernoud. She was a French historian who spent her life debunking the myths about Joan. Pernoud's research into the trial transcripts gives the most accurate, "human" version of Joan you can find. It strips away the stained-glass perfection and shows you a girl who was terrified, stubborn, and deeply attached to a piece of white cloth because it was the only thing that made her feel safe in a world of fire and iron.
Moving Forward with the History
To truly understand the banner of Joan of Arc, you have to stop looking at it as a flag. Start looking at it as a weapon of morale.
- Read the Trial Transcripts: Specifically, look for the sessions in February and March of 1431. Joan's descriptions of her "voices" and her standard are surprisingly vivid.
- Study Medieval Vexillology: If you’re a hobbyist, look at how 15th-century standards were weighted. They were incredibly heavy. Carrying one for hours while wearing armor required insane core strength.
- Visit the Center of Joan of Arc in Orléans: They have the most extensive collection of documents regarding her military career and the visual history of her standards.
History isn't just dates; it's the objects people clung to when everything was falling apart. For Joan, that was a heavy sheet of white linen and the belief that as long as it was flying, France couldn't fall.