Swedish flags and banners in the late middle ages

Flags and banners are a great way to elevate a wargames unit. They add movement and flair to otherwise static miniatures. So let’s take a deep dive into the obscure world of Swedish flags and banners in the late middle ages.

Men from Vadsbo hundred arrive at the camp of the mustered army. Romfartuna kyrka, north of Västerås, 1521.

As with so many other things in this period, flags and banners are not really a well documented subject, it is barely documented at all. It is reasonable to believe that troops carried flags in some capacity but who carried them, how they were used and to some extent how they looked is unknown to us. Perhaps they were used a signals on the battlefield, maybe they marked out which troops lived where in camp, maybe noblemen flew their colours at tournaments or perhaps flags with saints on them were used in rituals before the battle. It’s very possible, unfortunately we just don’t know.

For me though flags are an important part of a wargames army, most importantly because they look great on the tabletop. I’ve made two sheets of flags which you can download on the Resource-page, print and add to your own forces (if you are mad enough to collect and game this very obscure time period). What follows is a guide to these flags.

National flags

The coat of arms of Finland Proper on Gustav Vasa’s grave in Uppsala Domkyrka. Source: Olle Norling/Upplandsmuseet

The mythos of the modern Swedish flag with a yellow cross on a blue background stretches back to the 12th century and the first Swedish crusade. There aren’t any depictions of banners like that until much later. One early example is probably the coat of arms of Karl Knutsson Bonde, he was king in Sweden in the mid 15th century, his coat of arms was blue with a yellow cross. After that there are textual references to blue flags with yellow crosses here and there over the next hundred years but it isn’t until Gustav Vasa’s son, Johan III, is given Finland Proper as a duchy in 1556 we see two tailed blue flags with yellow crosses in that regions coat of arms. There were other symbols that represented the king or the state though.

1 The three crowns

The symbol of three crowns (tre kronor) has been known since the beginning of the 12th century. The meaning of the crowns is unclear and it might be as simple as ”it looks good''. The first time we see the crowns on a banner is in the reign of Albrekt of Mecklenburg. On a painting from 1378 of Albrekt and his father a banner with three golden crowns on a blue field can be seen. This is what I have based my flag on. The three crowns were a part of the banners of the Kalmar union during the 15th century. Even after Sweden had left the union Danish kings kept the symbol in their coat of arms. Today the crowns are part of both the Swedish coat of arms and the Danish coat of arms.

The three crowns appear on this painting of Albrekt of Mecklenburg from 1378. Source: Ernst von Kirchberg. Die Mecklenburgische Reimchronik von 1378.

2 Banner from the siege of Narva, 1581

This flag is based on a painting by the Danish painter Rudolf von Deventer portraying the Swedish siege of Narva in 1581. This is some 40 years after our intended period but the source is too good to ignore. The flags are striped blue-white-yellow and reminds me of a few landsknecht flags I’ve seen. I think this flag is perfect to be carried by some of the early state troops raised by Gustav Vasa, the foot walkers, or fotgångare in Swedish. The foot walkers were troops paid for, clothed and housed by the state. They were organized in similar ways as the German mercenaries but were not paid as well, thus Martin Neuding Skoog, author of “I rikets tjänst” about military developments in Sweden during the late middle ages, describes them as ”budget-landsknechts”.

From left to right: From the book *Om meteorer* by Joen Petri Klint, coat of arms of Finland Proper, also by Joen Petri Klint, Swedish peasantry by Paul Dolnstein, 1502. Sources: alvin-portal.org, waslingmedia.se, State Archives of Weimar in Germany/Wikimedia

3 Banners with crosses

We have a few examples of banners with crosses on them and with an age difference of about 80 years between them. The first one (3a) is from Paul Dolnstein’s drawing of battles against Swedish peasants in 1502. The cross is quite thin and the banner looks to be divided in two parts. I chose to have a white cross on a blue and yellow background. In his book about Swedish banners from the late middle ages and forward Lars-Eric Höglund believes that this is a flag for Ydre härad (hundred), probably because of the similarities with the cross. I made a variant of this as 3b with the colours known from 1555.

The two other examples are by the Swedish priest and historian Joen Petri Klint and are from the 1580’s. The first (3c) is very similar to Dolnstein’s drawing, the difference being that the cross is much thicker and the background is solid. It comes from a drawing of the coat of arms of Finland Proper (the region around Turku in southwest Finland). Heraldry expert Jesper Wasling thinks that a flag like this probably never existed but rather Joen Petri Klint drew what he “thought” was a Swedish flag. Wasling is probably right but I have included it because of the similarities with Dolnstein’s flag. Klint’s other flag (3d) is from his book about portents and is taken from a scene which depicts Danish and Swedish cavalry clashing during the Nordic Seven Years' War. The Swedish riders are carrying two banners with large white crosses on a striped background.This might also be a mistake as there are naval flags from this time which are striped and contain crosses, although not exactly like this.

Regional flags

We have little evidence of what the banners, flags or colours of the peasantry or forces from the cities looked like. It is interesting that in one of Paul Dolnstein’s drawings of a battle between Danish landsknechts and Swedish peasantry the Swedes are carrying a banner with a cross as in 3 above, but also what looks like a wooden parrot or rooster on top of a pole. Sometimes I don’t know if Dolnstein is just mocking his enemies or if the peasants actually carried that around. Since it is a funny little detail I have added a rooster and a duck as banner tops to two of my bannermen.

4 Peasantry banners

There is no lack of local symbols in the sources. A prominent symbol was the häradssigil (seal of the hundred) which were heraldic symbols for the hundreds. These were used to sign legal documents, in official papers or in letters to the king or regent. Martin Neuding Skoog suggested that these symbols might also have been used as field signs.

Vadsbo härad is situated between Sweden's two great lakes, Vänern and Vättern and its seal (4b) is known from 1568 but is of a mediaeval type. It depicts a plow flanked by two oak branches with acorns on them. The modern heraldry is a green field with symbols in white so I used that too.

Peasants carrying banners with the seals of the hundreds they come from.

Elwedalen härad, or in a more modern form, Älvdals härad, is located far north in the region of Värmland and follows the Klarälven river. It borders Norway to its north and west and the region of Dalarna to the east. Its seal (4a) depicts a crossbow and a bolt and is first known from after our intended period but is of a mediaeval type. Colours, if any, are unknown but later municipalities in the same area used a similar symbol with a blue background and white symbols.

5 Banners of the cities

The cities were important military players in the late middle ages. Not just because of the city itself with its walls, defences and cannons but the burghers could also muster considerable military forces. This was especially true for Sweden's largest city, Stockholm, who could regularly muster 100 well equipped soldiers or more. In 1505 Stockholm sent 200 soldiers to participate in the siege of Kalmar and in 1511 60 soldiers from Stockholm were mustered to help repel the Danish attack on Västergötland. Stockholm used several different seals during the middle ages, one portrayed the city’s towers and walls and another the patron saint S:t Erik (see 8 for an example of this). I decided to make a smaller banner with the symbol of a single crown (5a) that can be found in a seal from 1507. The single crown might just hint at the city’s importance as Sweden’s capital.

Another city we know sent soldiers on campaign is Arboga. Men from the city, or rather paid for by the burghers of the city, participated in campaigns around Kalmar in 1506 and in the defence of Stockholm in 1518. We don’t know how many men they sent though, but certainly fewer than Stockholm. The city’s earliest seal (5b) is known from around 1330 and depicts an eagle spreading its wings. Above the eagle is the letter A and two stars. For colours I went with the colours of the modern variant, a black eagle on a white background.

A well equipped soldier from the city of Arboga carrying a banner with the city’s seal on it. Source: Sörman, Ellert Johan Viktor/Köpings museum

Personal heraldry

It is uncertain how personal or family heraldry was used on the battlefield. Flags with the nobles' colours might have been carried by squires to tournaments or to the ting (legal meetings). We don’t know if knights or nobles dressed in their own colours although it seems plausible that they did. There are no sources of household troops of noblemen wearing their lord's colours as was common in England for example. We have several sources of troops being paid partially in cloth but where we do know of the colours they don’t match the nobles colours.

Worth noting is that many of the noble families didn't call themselves the names we have for them today. They simply carried a symbol in their heraldry that their family was later named after. Most people, from kings to peasants used their father’s name as their last name. As an example Gustav Vasa wasn’t known as Vasa, he was known as Gustav Eriksson (son of Erik) after his father Erik Johansson. But he was of the family of Vasa and used their symbol and seal.

6 Nils Bosson of the family Grip

Nils Bosson was one of the most important and influential noblemen in Sweden in the late middle ages. Among other positions he was lawman in Östergötland, military commander of Borgholm, had a seat in the Swedish national council and was knighted by the Danish king Hans. He changed allegiance several times during the early 1500’s and fought both for and against Danish kings as well as Swedish regents. In 1522 he was murdered and it’s not entirely clear by who or why. One rumour is that Gustav Vasa ordered the murder, possibly because of Nils Bosson’s power.

The coat of arms of the Grip family on the left and the Trolle family on the right from an altar piece in Västra Eds church. Source: Historiska Museet.

We have a contemporary coat of arms for Nils Bossom from an altarpiece in Västra Eds church. Bosson and his wife, Anna Arvidsdotter of the family Trolle, paid for the altarpiece and thus had their families coat of arms added to the piece. I’ve followed this when making the flag, a black griffon head (a Grip) on a yellow background. This flag would also work for Nils Bossons son, Birger Nilsson, who despite the rumour about his fathers murder became a very close ally to Gustav Vasa and even married the king's niece.

7 Sten Kristiernsson of the family Oxenstierna

Besides being a member of the national council, just as his father had been, and the commander of Nyköping castle, Sten Kristiernsson had a prominent military career as one of Sten Sture the older’s closest men. He fought against the Russians in Finland in the late 1490’s, conquered Västerås in 1501, laid siege to Varberg in 1502, campaigned in Halland in 1508, ravaged Blekinge and Lolland and burned the town of Nakskov in 1510. Conflicts arose with later regents Svante Nilsson and Sten Sture the younger which eventually led to Kristiernsson being imprisoned in Stockholm castle in 1516 where he died of unknown causes,

Sten Kristiernsson's father, Kristiern Bengtsson, was also a member of the Swedish national council and had participated in two revolts against the Danish crown in the 1460’s. Kristiernsons nephew was one of the noblemen killed at Stockholm bloodbath in 1520. They were all members of the Oxenstierna family who had an ox forehead with horns as their symbol. I based my flag on a church painting in Tensta church showing the Oxenstierna coat of arms from 1437. The colours are a bit faded in the painting but have traditionally been red for the ox and yellow for the background so I kept it like that.

Religious motifs

Just as most of western Europe Sweden was a deeply catholic country in the late middle ages. Even though Gustav Vasa would start the Swedish reformation in 1527 catholic symbols, saints and customs survived for generations. We have no evidence of religious symbols or banners being carried into battle but it’s not hard to imagine given the importance of religion. There were plenty of saints with local connection at this time and maybe the peasantry would carry their images with them when going away.

8 Banner of S:t Erik

S:t Erik, or Erik the holy, was a Swedish king in the 12th century. He was murdered in 1160 and was later revered as a martyr and a saint. A Banner of S:t Erik was kept at Uppsala cathedral among other relics of the dead king, most of which are still there today. During the Swedish regent Sten Sture the Elders war against Russia in 1495 the banner was brought along but was lost somewhere along the way. Unfortunately there are no descriptions of the banner so we don't know how it looked. There might be a hint in the national seal from 1436 though. It depicts S:t Erik in armour holding a double-tongued banner so I choose that as the shape for the banner. Luckily there are plenty of depictions of S:t Erik and I based the flag on a church painting from Överselö church. S:t Erik was, and still is, the patron saint of Stockholm so this banner could also be used to represent the city just as 5a above.

A proud knight flying the banner of S:t Elin. Source: Historiska Museet

9 Banner of S:t Elin

Elin of Skövde, or S:t Elin, or sometimes Helena, was a noblewoman who lived in Våmb outside of Skövde in the 12th century. According to legend she had a daughter who was married to an abusive husband. A servant killed the husband but the murder was blamed on Elin. The husband's family wanted revenge and killed Elin when she was on her way to inaugurate a church in Götene. There is no evidence of S:t Elin being portrayed on a banner but she was one of the most popular saints in Sweden at the time, especially in the western parts. Today she is the patron saint of Skövde and many churches all over Sweden are dedicated to her. I based the image of her on a painting from an altarpiece in Norra Ny church in Värmland from around 1500. Elin is depicted wearing a wimple, a head cloth for widows and carrying a sword, the weapon she was killed with. She is also carrying a book with her finger on it, the finger was cut off at the time of her murder to steal a ring she got during a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The finger later became a relic and is still preserved in S:t Elin’s church, the church she was going to inaugurate when she was murdered.

A note on sources

Most of the pictorial sources are listed above but there are a few more worth mentioning. All of these are unfortunately in Swedish. For info about the Swedish flags and heraldry Jesper Wasling’s site is a good starting point, Wasling Media. If you want to know more about the häradssigill, seals of the hundreds, there is an article by Fridolf Wildte in Fornvännen - Journal of antiquarian research number 37 from 1942.

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