Christ Knights’ Order naval flags (Portugal)

Last modified: 2003-03-01 by antonio martins
Keywords: christ knights’ order | ordem dos cavaleiros de cristo | bandé | fascé | cross: offset (black) | cross (white) | canton: cross | stripes: diagonal |
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• Order cross on gyronny flag...
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Christ Order cross on green over silver gironny, from the map of Jorge Reinel, 1540 [jre40]. The original depiction shows the cross whole with black instead of silver, but this must be either an error or a tint alteration.
António Martins, 22 May 1997

Christ Order cross on silver over blue gironny, from the map of Fernăo Vaz Dourado, 1570 [fvd76].
António Martins, 22 May 1997

This flag was one of the flags used by the Knights of the Order of Christ on their ships. It began to be used in the middle of the 17th century until circa 1789. The 1669/70 manuscript [xxx69] shows the flag with three horizontal stripes red - white - blue, with a black cross surmounted by a “shortened” (alesee) white one: this design comes from the 1647 work of Cleirac [cle47] which describes the flag:

Les Portugais portent facé de gueulles, d’argent et d’azur, chargé de la croix de sable ou noir, et derechef brisé sur icelle une autre croix pleniere d’argent, les quelles croix sont la devise des Chavaliers de l’Ordre du Christ qui ont grandement travaillé et travaillent incessamment aux navigations de Portugal vers l’Indie Orientale

L’Ordre des Chevaliers de Jesus Christ... les chevaliers ont travaillé et travaillent encore aux navigations orientales et portent pour banniere le pavillon fascé de gueules, d’argent et d’azur, chargé d’une croix de sable et brisé sur icelle une autre croix d’argent.

This flag described as Portuguese in the first edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica (1768-71). The whole flag is covered in diagonal stripes running from upper hoist to lower fly at 45 degrees. Six white stripes separated by six stripes divided lengthways into red and blue. Thus the sequence from lower hoist to upper fly is double width white, red, blue, double width white, red, blue, etc.. On top of this background is a St. George’s cross of uncertain colour (probably not red or blue or green or yellow; perhaps black?) In the canton is another St. George’s cross probably white outlined in some way. (The reproduction is in black and white with no key, so I’ve guessed the colours by comparison with the shading used on known flags.)
David Prothero, 22 May 1997

A similar flag is illustrated in a flag chart reproduced in Whitney Smith’s [smi75b] - see page 204. The diagonal stripes appear to all be the same width, and the St George’s Cross is indeed shown to be black. The flag is labled «Pav. de Portugal particulier.» The chart appears to date from the early to mid 18th century.
Nick Artimovitch, 22 May 1997

The same colors and the same crosses, however, appear like this on many 18th century flag charts, suggesting that Cleirac [cle47] and whose who copied him, bad interpreted the true flag design.
Mario Fabretto, 25 May 1997

The 1669/70 manuscript [xxx69] shows the flag with three horizontal stripes red - white - blue, with a black cross surmounted by a “shortened” (alesee) white one: this design comes from the 1647 work of Cleirac [cle47] which describes the flag:

Les Portugais portent facé de gueulles, d’argent et d’azur, chargé de la croix de sable ou noir, et derechef brisé sur icelle une autre croix pleniere d’argent, les quelles croix sont la devise des Chavaliers de l’Ordre du Christ qui ont grandement travaillé et travaillent incessamment aux navigations de Portugal vers l’Indie Orientale

The Sketchbook (No. 21) gives a somewhat different (incorrect) drawing specified as «Dell’ ordine di Christo in Portogallo». There it is a red flag with a black cross, the horizontal arms of which have a white border, and superimposed on that the white couped cross. This may well indicate that the artist drew from nature, because the dark blue stripe at the bottom of a flying flag may, when lighted in a particular way, have made the impression of a dark red. Cleirac [cle47] (page 64/66) also mentions this flag. The other sources do not include it.
Dave Martucci, 31 Jul 1997, quoting [sie66]