STAM

full title: Battle standard of the Ghent civic militia emblazoned with the Maid of Ghent
maker: Agnes vanden Bossche (attributed to)
date: ca. 1482

The standard is emblazoned with an image of the Maid of Ghent, the emblem the people of Ghent took as their town arms in the 14th century. This striking device, in which the Maid acts as a symbol of the city and the lion rampant expresses the Ghenters’ readiness to fight, takes precedence on the shield with the white lion placed on a sable field. The lion was originally silver. Only microscopic traces of the layer of silver leaf now remain.

Ghent, STAM, Inv. 787