Origins
There are claims that the design dates from prior to 1188 when the flag was used in the Crusades, and an article in Encyclopædia Britannica tells that the flag was carried by the Cornish contingent at the Battle of Agincourt (1415). However, the reference given by Encyclopædia Britannica seems to have been confused with one that comes from a 1590 poem entitled "Poly-Olbion" by Michael Drayton. It states that the banner carried by the Cornish men at Agincourt depicted two Cornish Wrestlers in a hitch.
The earliest known evidence of this flag was recorded by Davies Gilbert in his 1838 work: 'The Parochial History of Cornwall', where he gives reference to..
"a white cross on a black ground was formerly the banner of St Perran and the Standard of Cornwall; probably with some allusion to the black ore and the white metal of tin"
The fact that Gilbert identifies it as being 'formerly' a Standard of Cornwall implies that he believed it to have been used before 1838. However, Gilbert did not leave a record of his background research, and referred only to his "recollection".
One of the oldest depictions of the flag can be seen in a stained glass window at Westminster Abbey. It was unveiled in 1888 in memory of the famous Cornish inventor and engineer Richard Trevithick. The window depicts St Michael at the top and nine Cornish saints, Piran, Petroc, Pinnock, Germanus, Julian, Cyriacus, Constantine, Nonna and Geraint in tiers below. The head of St Piran appears to be a portrait of Trevithick himself and the figure carries the banner of Cornwall.
Read more about this topic: Saint Piran's Flag
Famous quotes containing the word origins:
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—W. T. Lhamon, U.S. educator, critic. “Material Differences,” Deliberate Speed: The Origins of a Cultural Style in the American 1950s, Smithsonian (1990)
“Lucretius
Sings his great theory of natural origins and of wise conduct; Plato
smiling carves dreams, bright cells
Of incorruptible wax to hive the Greek honey.”
—Robinson Jeffers (1887–1962)
“Grown onto every inch of plate, except
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Blue bit of polished glass, glued there by time:
The origins of art.”
—Howard Moss (b. 1922)