Last modified: 2002-10-12 by ivan sache
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The oriflamme was a sacred banner used by the kings of France in the Middle Ages in times of great danger. It was distinct from the heraldic banner of the French kings (semis of fleur-de-lys on azure, as expected). Its history is fairly continuous from 1124 onward, when it was first mentioned. It was first described in 1225. It consists of two parts: a gilded lance, to which is attached a silk banner, red with green fringes. The floating end of the banner splits into two or more trailing strips. The name, aurea flamma, conflates the banner (flamma) and the colour of the lance. The banner is sometimes represented as attached vertically to the lance, and sometimes (especially in the 19th century) as attached to a horizontal bar, itself suspended from the lance.
It was deposited in the abbey of Saint-Denis, north of Paris, where kings of France were buried, next to the relics of Denis who evangelised the area. When going to war, the French king would come to Saint-Denis to 'raise the banner'. The last time it was raised was in the late 15th century. It was destroyed during the Revolution.
What was its origin? The 1124 text mentions an old tradition of the counts of Vexin, who were protectors of the abbey; the kings of France had become counts of Vexin in 1077. But the text also alludes to a tradition specific to the kings of France. Also, a late 11th-century text, the Ges