Military Communication in Feudal Japan - Flags and Banners

Flags and Banners

Since the beginnings of what we would today recognize as Japanese culture, and probably earlier, various symbols, crests, banners, or markings on armor were used to help identify and distinguish warriors on the battlefield. The mon, or symbol, of a clan or a daimyo was particularly common, identifying which side a warrior fought on; some samurai used their own names or mon rather than that of their lord, while other factions, such as the Ikkō-ikki, could be identified by banners declaring namu amida butsu, praising the name of the Amida Buddha.

By the mid-16th century, flags and banners were seen in greater numbers than ever before, and in an unprecedented variety of styles, sizes, shapes and colors. Where once only higher-ranking samurai and commanders had standards (flags), now lower-ranking warriors wore flags to denote their unit or division, along with their clan or lord. Not only were armies larger than in the past, but the number of clans present on any given side in a battle had increased as well. In any one battle, a single daimyo could have under him several other daimyo, each with a number of units or divisions, and sub-commanders, as well as individual samurai of such a reputation (or wealth) as to warrant their own individual banner. This profusion of banners meant that the commanders, especially the daimyo at the head of each side of the battle, had to have especially large and noticeable standards to identify their location; warriors needed to know where to rally around, whose orders to follow, and what those orders were. The role of standard bearer was one of the most dangerous, and thus one of the most honorable, positions on the field of battle.

• Sashimono were small rectangular banners worn on the backs of ashigaru, or common soldiers. They typically featured the mon of their daimyo or clan, and used colors to denote units or divisions.

• Jirushi, various flags or banners used as a means of identification. Hata-jirushi were one of the older types of standards; they were long streaming banners attached to a crosspiece and held up on a long bamboo or wooden rod. Uma-jirushi (馬印, lit. horse standard) were the massive, often three-dimensional, banners used to distinguish the daimyo or other top commanders on the battlefield. Sode-jirushi, a badge worn on the shoulder armour, and kasa-jirushi, a badge worn on the helmet, these were used in place of the (more cumbersome) sashimono in night attacks, ambushes, sea fights, and on stormy days. For private soldiers they are used as regimental badges.

• Nobori (幟, lit. flag, banner) are perhaps the most well-known of feudal Japanese military flags. Introduced somewhat later than the hata-jirushi, nobori were stiffened pieces of cloth, attached to a pole through loops, and including, of course, a mon or other identifying mark on it, to represent the samurai or daimyo who carried it.

• The horo (母衣) were large pieces of cloth, not entirely unlike a cape or cloak, which would be worn on the back, supported and shaped by a series of bamboo or wooden sticks. In addition to displaying an identifying mon or symbol, and making the samurai appear larger-than-life, it served the purpose of arrow entangler. Ultimately, it marked that warrior as someone important, usually a messenger or scout, and worthy of honorable treatment, even by his enemies.

• A daimyo would often signal with his war fan "gunbai or gunpai" as well. While these fans were much larger than the usual paper or silk ones, it seems unlikely that orders could be conveyed to thousands or tens of thousands of warriors in this way.

• Saihai were signal batons used by samurai commanders, these were small hand held staffs with strips of leather, lacquered paper or a streamer of animal hair on one end.