It has been suggested that prior to their (nominal) conversion to Christianity in 1386 a typical Lithuanian standard would have probably comprised a slain enemy’s head stuck on top of a spear. However, there is little real likelihood of this since the ‘Chronicon Dubicense’ records insignia Lithwanorum as early as 1351, while we know that the Teutonic Knights captured a Grand Ducal standard at the Battle of Rudau in 1370. Both references are probably to flags like 144a, depicting the so-called ‘columns of Gediminas’ (Gedimino stulpai), generally supposed to have been introduced under Grand Duke Gediminas (1315-41), even though it only first actually appears several decades after his death. Representing the gate and towers of a castle (and sometimes more accurately called the ‘gates of Gediminas’), this was yellow on a red field, and assumed a variety of forms. 144b is one such, being Jan Dlugosz’s representation of one of the 10 carried by Vytautas’ troops at Tannenberg.
The other principal Lithuanian flag was the Vytis, meaning ‘despatch rider’ or ‘knight’, deriving from the verb vyti, meaning to pursue or chase. Depicted in 144c, this was red with a gold fringe and bore the device of a silver-embroidered horseman mounted on a black horse and carrying a blue shield charged with a white Lithuanian two-armed cross. (The shield only first appeared in 1388, on the seal of Jogailo, and its introduction is therefore probably connected with the union with Poland in 1386 and Lithuania’s resultant
World History
