how did samurai use flags

Flags

Banners, worn by flag bearers, were popular means of identification.

  • These bannermen were seen as easy targets and were often shot as, by design, they could be easily identified from a distance.
    • Additionally, when a banner was captured, it was used to taunt the surviving enemies, as if to dare them to try and take it back, while projecting an air of confidence in their superiority.
  • These were often white flags with the family crest or mon of their comandor
    • Mainly abstract symbols or depictions of plants or animals were used for these flags, but sometimes Chines characters were used.
    • Through the generations some family crests changed sometimes reflecting political alignments or differentiating between sides of a family.
  • “The oldest visual representation can be found in Takezaki Suenaga's Scrolls of the Mongol Invasions of Japan, dating from the late thirteenth century.”
  • As armies increased in sized, banners became more important as not everyone will know eachother, thus they prevented units of samurai from mistaking allies for enemies and vice versa.
    • Sashimono were flags on worn on the back of a soldier in each unit, clearly displaying the crest lord they serve.
      • “Most late sixteenth-century armour had easily identifiable crests to show allegiances as well.”
    • There were a few standard styles of mon:
      • GOLD TREFOIL LESSER STANDARD
      • GREAT STANDARD
      • NOBORI FLAG
      • DOUBLE-BACK FLAG
      • SUNBURST DEVICE
      • CRESCENT
    • “a flag (sashimono) is attached to the back of his cuirass. A metal cup (machi uke) was tied or bolted to the lower part of the armour, and above it a round or square metal bracket (gattari) was attached to the upper part of the armour. The wooden or bamboo tube inserted to hold the flag is known as the uke zutsu.”
    • One samurai per unit wore a flag, with great standards placed to denote important locations on the battlefield, and other standards marking the location of commanders.
    • Additionally, Banners of recognition were used as a source of inspiration for troops and a point of reference during chaotic battles.
    • Another notable object of identification was the fan, or gunpai uchtwa, held by commanders.
    • UMA-JIRUSHI were distinctive flags that identified daimyo or other officers of similar standing. (Great Standard)
    • KO UMA-JIRUSHI (Lesser Standard)
    • SASHIMONO are identifying flags worn on a samurai’s back.
      • HERO SASHIMONO are more elaborate flags given to samurai who have proven themselves in battle.