Flag of The Kingdom of Leon

By Crusader1307

Possibly one of the oldest continuous Banners used to represent a Kingdom or Nation, The Kingdom of Leon dates to 910 A.D. Situated on The Iberian Peninsula, Leon became the Capital of The Asturias Monarchy. The largest “County” of which was Portugal (who would break away in 1139 to become it's own Kingdom and eventual Country). The Leon Banner is of the Pennant Class. It measured roughly 6 feet long and was 2 foot wide (with even longer versions used). It's field entirety was light gray. At the far right end of the banner was a purple Griffen (mythological beast). The nature of the creature with relation to the banner is unclear. In 1230, Leon was absorbed into The Kingdom of Castile. Regaining it's “independence” in 1296, Leon redesigned it's Standard to a style similar to The Holy Roman War Flag, (using the same colors as prior, expect the Griffen was now red). This was the Standard used until 1833. The “Kingdom” was eventually absorbed into several other territories in 1978. It is now considered part of Spain.