Used since 1281; current version adopted on 15 April 1999
Design
Four moors head in St. George's cross
The flag of Sardinia,[lower-alpha 1] also referred to as the Four Moors,[lower-alpha 2] represents and symbolizes the island of Sardinia (Italy) and its people. It was also the historical flag and coat of arms of the Aragonese, then Spanish, and later SavoyardKingdom of Sardinia. It was first officially adopted by the autonomous region in 1950 with a revision in 1999, describing it as a "white field with a red cross and a bandaged Moor's head facing away from the hoist (the edge close to the mast) in each quarter" (Regional Law 15 April 1999, n. 10, Art. 1).[6]
The flag is composed of the St George's Cross and four heads of Moors, which in the past may not have been forehead bandaged but blindfolded and turned towards the hoist. But already well-preserved pictures from the 16th century clearly show a forehead bandage (see gallery below). The most accepted hypothesis is that the heads represented the heads of Moorish princes defeated by the Aragonese, as for the first time they appeared in the 13th-century seals of the Crown of Aragon – although with a beard and no bandage, contrary to the Moors of the Sardinian flag, which appeared for the first time in a manuscript of the second half of the 14th century.
History
First testimony of the flag of Sardinia. Manuscript of Gelre, the second half of the fourteenth century, Folio 62rPeter I of Aragon receiving a shield emblazoned with the Cross of Saint George. According to legend, George appeared on the field of battle at Alcoraz. The heads of four Moors found on the battlefield were added to George's familiar emblem, creating the Cross of Alcoraz.Charles V and his Kingdoms' coats of arms16th-century flag, from Procession and Funeral of Charles VApoteosis Heraldica 1681 Museum of the History of Barcelona. Sardinia's depiction of the Four Moors is different from those of Aragon: the former has only the bandage on his forehead, and the latter is crowned and bearded.
The oldest certified heraldic symbol of the cross of Saint George with four Moors in each quarter, known as the Cross of Alcoraz, dates back to 1281 and was used by the Royal Chancellery of Peter III of Aragon as the king's coat of arms upon seals. In the 13th century, the Moors' heads had no head bandages and were bearded; the coat of arms of Sardinia never appeared in such a way.
After the kingdom of Sardinia was founded in 1326, it became part of the Crown of Aragon; these seals will come to closing documents of King James II (1326), Alfonso Benigno (1327–1336) and Peter I (1336–1387). Some specimens are preserved in the Historical Archive of the city of Cagliari. The late 14th century Gelre Armorial attributes the Four Moors to the Kingdom of Sardinia in the states of the Crown of Aragon. It is found in another Armorial perhaps from the Lorraine area (preserved in the National Library of France) and of uncertain date but certainly in the 15th century. In 1509, in another Portuguese Armorial Book (Livro do Armeiro-mor), Sardinia is represented only with the cross of St. George.[clarify]
The Four Moors begin to be used consistently as a symbol of the Kingdom of Sardinia during the time of the Catholic Monarchs, and especially from the time of the Emperor Charles V. In Sardinia, the first safe attestation of the coat of arms is on the cover of the Acts of the military arm of the Sardinian Parliament, the Capitols de Cort del Stament Militar de Serdenya printed in Cagliari in 1591. Throughout the period of the Iberian monarchies, the original design of the bandages on his forehead was respected.
The design with blindfolded Moors facing the left first appeared in 1800, after Sardinia passed to the House of Savoy. It was either due to a mistake of a copyist or, similarly to the flag of Corsica during the earlier period of French rule, a deliberate protest against the mainland rulers. It became the official flag of the region under a decree of 5 July 1952. In 1999, a special regional law changed the flag from the version adopted under Savoy rule to the original one.[7]
Legendary origin
20th-century coat of arms adopted by the Brigata Sassari, the Sardinian soldier brigade during World War I
There are separate Spanish and Sardinian traditions to explain the origin of the flag and there is no consensus among scholars as to which is correct. According to the Spanish tradition, it was a creation of King Peter I of Aragon, celebrating his victory at the Battle of Alcoraz in 1096. It was said that St. George miraculously appeared on the field of battle and there were four severed heads of Saracen kings at the end; thus the red cross and white background of the St George's Cross and the heads of four Moors.[8] The Sardinian-Pisan tradition attributes the arms to a banner given by Pope Benedict VIII to the Pisans in aid of the Sardinians in a conflict with the Saracens of Musetto who were trying to conquer the Italian peninsula and Sardinia. This flag, however, has inverted colors and no heads on it.[9]
Before the Kingdom of Sardinia was founded, the rulers of the island were known as archons (ἄρχοντες in Greek) or judges (iudices in Latin, judikes in Sardinian, giudici in Italian). The island was organized into one iudicatus from the 9th century on (see List of monarchs of Sardinia). After the Muslim conquest of Sicily in the 9th century, the Byzantines, who previously ruled Sardinia, couldn't manage to defend their far west province. Probably, a local noble family acceded to power, still identifying themselves as a vassal of the Byzantines, but independent "de facto", as communications with Constantinople were very difficult. At the beginning of the 11th century, an attempt to conquer the island was made by Spanish Muslims. Very little is known of that war, being recorded only by Pisan and Genoese chronicles. Christians won, but after that, the previous Sardinian kingdom was totally undermined and divided into four more little judicial: Cagliari, Arborea, Gallura, and Torres or Logudoro; each one developed its own coat of arms. When, with the appointment of the King of Aragon as King of Sardinia, the island again became one united kingdom, only the Judicatus of Arborea survived and fought for a century against the Kingdom of Sardinia for supremacy.
According to some, the flag derives from Alcoraz's victory of 1096, is linked to the Crown of Aragon, and represents the Spanish Reconquista against the Moors who occupied most of the Iberian Peninsula. It is composed of the cross of St. George, also a symbol of the Crusaders fighting at the same time in the Holy Land, and the four severed heads, representing four major victories in Spain by the Aragonese: the reconquest of Zaragoza, Valencia, Murcia, and the Balearic Islands. According to others (Mario Valdes y Cocom),[10] the Moors represent the Egyptian Saint Maurice, martyred under Diocletian, and are shown in this manner, with the heads bandaged, in countless coats of arms in the Franco-German area. Even Saint Victor of Marseilles, who was from the same Theban Legion commanded by Maurice and escaped the decimation, is represented by a blackamoor with a bandage on his forehead, as in the High Altar of St. Nicholas' Church of Tallinn,[11] now in the Art Museum of Estonia, Tallinn. The common tradition which links the stories of the two saints suggests that the symbol was designed between the St. Maurice AbbeyCanton of Valais (Switzerland) and the Abbey of St. Victor in Marseilles; each was built in the place of martyrdom of the respective saint. Between 1112 and 1166 the County of Provence was under the direct control of the kings of Aragon, and until 1245 ruled by descendants of the same dynasty. The abbey of St. Victor of Marseilles had extensive property and political influence in Sardinia, especially in the Judicatus (kingdom) of Cagliari, from the 11th to the 13th century. There are hagiographies of many "Saint Victors" related to the Theban Legion, such as Viktor of Xanten or Victor of Solothurn and to the persecutions of Diocletian and Maximinus II as Victor Maurus of Milan, Victor of Puigcerdà, Spain, probably inspired by the same martyr.
The four Moors became the symbol of the Kingdom of Sardinia at its foundation, with the Corsican flag dating back to the same era, and became in time the flag of the island and its people. In any case, the meaning of the symbols, either two holy warriors or Moor's heads cut off, makes it an emblem of warring Christianity, crusader in the broad sense of the term, originated in a historical period of bitter conflict between Islam and Christianity, in which Sardinia was fully involved.
Modern use
Coat of arms of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia, with eye-blinded bandage.
The symbol was adopted as the regional coat of arms already in 1950, with a decree of the President of the Republic. The flag, instead, became official only in 1999, by means of Regional Law n. 10.
Chronological gallery
Under the Crown of Aragon
The four moors already represent the Kingdom of Sardinia but no trace is found on the island.
Gelre Armorial, Folio 62r
Armorial from Lorraine region (France), 1450
Imperial heraldry under the reign of Charles V of Habsburg
The four moors appear more frequently in prints, paintings, and artifacts both in Sardinia and in all publications heraldic vintage.
1509, Portuguese armorial "Livro do armeiro-mor", Lisbon
1515 from the emperor Maximilian I Triumphal Arch by Albrecht Durer
Emperor Charles V and his Kingdoms' coats of arms
Imperial eagle of Charles V
1555 - Innsbruck, the peacock of the Habsburg dynasty
1555 Virgil Solis
1559 H. Cock-J. Doetichum-L. Doetichum, “La magnifique et somptueuse pompe funebre faite aus obseques et funerailles du tres grande et tres victorieus empereur Charles cinquieme”, Plantin, Anvers, The funeral cortège of Charles V in a printed book.
detail
The Genealogical Tree of the House of Habsburg, Robert Peril, 1540
Under the House of Hasburg (Spanish branch)
1590 F. Guarnerio, Capitols de cort del Stament Militar de Sardenya, Cagliari, first recorded use in Sardinia.
16th century, Sassari (Sardinia), Palazzo Ducale, coat of arms of Philip II of Spain
1573 I. Mainoldi Galerati, De titulis Philippi Austrii Regis Cattolici Liber, Bononia
H. De Bara, Le Blason des Armoires, Lyon
1585, portrait of Philipo II of Spain by Agostino Carracci
1607, coat of arms of the University of Cagliari
Frans Franken II (1581-1642), Abdication of the emperor Charles V, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
detail
1640 from a geographic map
1700, Descripciones de todos los reyes de España, Josè Delitala y Castelvì, conde de Villasalto
Portada de los Anales de la Corona de Aragón. The four moors became the coat of arms of Aragon as well, crowned and bearded.
Apoteosis Heraldica 1681 Museo de Historia de la Ciudad,Barcelona; the iconography of the 4 Sardinian Moors are clearly from the 4 Moors of Aragon, crowned and bearded.
Depictions made outside of Sardinia itself
16th century, "Libro de armas y blasones de diversos linajes y retratos", with inverted colours.
1635, Zurbaran and Velasquez, Buen Retiro Palace, Madrid, again inverted colors
"El Triunfo del Emperador Maximiliano I", 17th century? the four moors became three in a printed book from the Austrian area.
Under the House of Savoy
As the title of King of Sardinia was the only one who gave the ruling dynasty the coveted title, the coat of arms is enhanced and developed and overlaid with emblems of the other states ruled by the Savoy House
1773, I. G. Palietti, Pharmacopoea sardoa, Tipografia Regia, Cagliari
Civil Flag and Civil Ensign of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1816-1848)
Variant flag used as naval ensign in the late 18th or early 19th century[12]
Sardinian or Sard is a Romance language spoken by the Sardinians on the Western Mediterranean island of Sardinia.
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia and 16.45 km south of the French island of Corsica.
Archaeological evidence of prehistoric human settlement on the island of Sardinia is present in the form of nuraghes and other prehistoric monuments, which dot the land. The recorded history of Sardinia begins with its contacts with the various people who sought to dominate western Mediterranean trade in classical antiquity: Phoenicians, Punics and Romans. Initially under the political and economic alliance with the Phoenician cities, it was partly conquered by Carthage in the late 6th century BC and then entirely by Rome after the First Punic War. The island was included for centuries in the Roman province of Sardinia and Corsica, which would be incorporated into the diocese of Italia suburbicaria in 3rd and 7th centuries.
A Moor's head, also known as a Maure, since the 11th century, is a symbol depicting the head of a black moor. The term moor came to define anyone who was Muslim or had black skin.
The Judicate of Arborea or the Kingdom of Arborea was one of the four independent judicates into which the island of Sardinia was divided in the Middle Ages. It occupied the central-west portion of the island, wedged between Logudoro to the north and east, Cagliari to the south and east, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. To the northeast of Logudoro was Gallura, with which Arborea had far less interaction. Arborea outlasted her neighbours, surviving well into the 15th century. At its greatest territorial extent it occupied the entire island except the cities of Alghero and Cagliari. The earliest known judicial seat was Tharros, though Oristano served as capital for most of its existence.
The flag of Corsica was adopted by General of the Nation Pasquale Paoli in 1755 and was based on a traditional flag used previously. It portrays a Moor's head in black wearing a white bandana above his eyes on a white background. Previously, the bandana covered his eyes; Paoli wanted the bandana moved to above the eyes to symbolize the liberation of the Corsican people from the Genoese.
The coat of arms of Aragon was first chronicled in 1499 by Pablo Hurus. The coat displays Aragon through the years from its establishment to their monarchy and is made up of four shields:
The Kingdom of Sardinia, also referred to as the Kingdom ofSardinia-Piedmont, Sardegna and Corsica or Piedmont–Sardinia as a composite state during the Savoyard period, was a country in Southern Europe from the late 13th until the mid-19th century; officially 1297 to 1768 for the Corsican part of this kingdom.
The Sardinians, or Sards, are a Romance language-speaking ethnic group native to Sardinia, from which the western Mediterranean island and autonomous region of Italy derives its name.
The Perfect Fusion was the 1847 act of the Savoyard King Charles Albert of Sardinia which abolished the administrative differences between the mainland states and the island of Sardinia within the Kingdom of Sardinia, in a fashion similar to the Nueva Planta decrees between the Crown of Castile and the realms of the Crown of Aragon between 1707 and 1716 and the Acts of Union between Great Britain and Ireland in 1800.
Sardinian nationalism or also Sardism is a social, cultural and political movement in Sardinia calling for the self-determination of the Sardinian people in a context of national devolution, further autonomy in Italy, or even outright independence from the latter. It also promotes the protection of the island's environment and the preservation of its cultural heritage.
The literature of Sardinia is the literary production of Sardinian authors, as well as the literary production generally referring to Sardinia as an argument, written in various languages.
This article presents a history of Cagliari, an Italian municipality and the capital city of the island of Sardinia. The city has been continuously inhabited since at least the neo-lithic period. Due to its strategic location in the Mediterranean and natural harbor, the city was prized and highly sought after by a number of Mediterranean empires and cultures.
Sardinia's Day, also known as Sardinian people's Day, is a holiday in Sardinia commemorating the Sardinian Vespers occurring in 1794–96.
The Byzantine age in Sardinian history conventionally begins with the island's reconquest by Justinian I in 534. This ended the Vandal dominion of the island after about 80 years. There was still a substantial continuity with the Roman phase at this time.
The Sardinia national football team is the official football team of Sardinia. It is organised by the Sardinian National Sports Federation, founded in 2012. The team has been colloquially referred with the name Sa Natzionale.
The Cross of Alcoraz is the name given to a heraldic coat of arms and flag made up of the Cross of Saint George, or cross of gules on Argent, with a Maure, or Moor's head, in each quarter. The earliest documented evidence of these arms is in a rare lead-sealed decree from the chancery of Peter III of Aragon, circa 1281, most likely used as the King's Coat of arms, alluding to the spirit of the Crusades and his ancestral namesake, Peter I of Aragon. The arms also appear in the third quarter of the current Coat of arms of Aragon.
The Kingdom of Sardinia was a feudal state in Southern Europe created in the early 14th century and a possession of the Crown of Aragon first and then of the Spanish Empire until 1708, then of the Habsburgs until 1717, and then of the Spanish Empire again until 1720.
The Kingdom of Sardinia denotes the Savoyard state from 1720 until 1861, which united the island of Sardinia with the mainland possessions of the House of Savoy. Before 1847, only the island of Sardinia proper was part of the Kingdom of Sardinia, while the other mainland possessions were held by the Savoys in their own right, hence forming a composite monarchy and a personal union which was formally referred to as the "States of His Majesty the King of Sardinia". This situation was changed by the Perfect Fusion act of 1847, which created a unitary kingdom. Due to the fact that Piedmont was the seat of power and prominent part of the entity, the state is also referred to as Sardinia-Piedmont or Piedmont-Sardinia and sometimes erroneously as the Kingdom of Piedmont.
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