I bought this flannel/wool-type red banner-thing for .50 at an antique store with what was later identified as an Austrian arms in the center. It has a decorative border and ...
I bought this flannel/wool-type red banner-thing for .50 at an antique store with what was later identified as an Austrian arms in the center. It has a decorative border and in each corner a different small shield. It has no holes or anywhere to run a pole through, it is just solid fabric. I had thought it might be a souvenir of some type, it is not very big, but I was told that it would be unusual as a souvenir by the same person who identified it as Austrian arms.
Does anyone recognize exactly what it is?
I’m sorry the picture is small. Flickr would not let me copy/paste my own picture saying it was copyrighted! That is a piece of red tape on it that wouldn’t come off without leaving residue, I know idea how i'll scrape that off...
I can post pictures of each shield that is the corners if that would help. I had a terrible time taking pictures with a borrowed camera, the slightest movement blurred the picture so I had to prop my elbows on a chair to hold it still and could not get the whole thing in the picture.
I have more information, it may be also be Hapsburg related and appearantly matches the arms of Franz Josef, Emperor of Austria 1848-1916. An illustration was found of this particular arms in a 19th century book, but no credit was given to it.
The middle bar appearently represents Austria and the 'red lion on the gold field' and the 'red band with fluers-de-lys on a gold field' represent other holdings. The collar encircling the sheild has a Badge of the Golden Fleece hanging from it.
Still however, no one knows what the purpose of the textile is or exactly what it is supposed to be. So has anyone seen anything like this before?
I said before that I thought that maybe it some older souvenir type thing, but I was told that it was unlikely that someone would make something with the shield on it.
The textile in question is a "premium" or give-away that were included in boxes of tobacco products, usually cigar boxes, in the early 20th century. I believe WW I brought an end to these large felt "blankets" tho' smaller "tobacco silks" were common between the wars.
Yes! That's exactly what it turned out to be. I visited the National WW1 Museum in Kansas City MO, and much to my surprise I looked down and saw my Austrian fabric square thing. The only difference is that this one had extra badges on the birds wings also, otherwise it identical. It was in a quilt sewn up of WW1 era tabacco flannels.
So I was just coming back to update but you beat me to it (by a lot)!
I took pictures of the quilt that I can post up, there were small and large flannels of many many countries, because flags of the world were popular during that time.
Yes, it is! Do you happen to have any idea of why mine is missing the extra badges on the wings, and the legs on mine are grey? In fact now that I look closer, there are actually a lot of differences between those Austria flannels and mine, like the tail is completely different for instance. I guess different versions were printed?
The arms with the two headed eagle and badges on the wings are those of Russia. The two heads look toward the Tsar's empire that spread from Europe to Asia.
Nick A
Oh, I see that now. I really must not have been paying much attention at the museum, I thought they both said Austria on them the whole time. I was taking pictures and I had two other people with me, and here I kept going on about 'Austria' no one even corrected me, surely they saw it said Russia, haha wow.
Unrelated to the flannels, is there a reason Austria's and Russia's arms are so similar?
I notice eastern European (Slavic?) countries like Poland have a similar 'two-headed eagle' arms as well, while Germanic countries did not. I'm assume it being Austro-Hungarian and Hapsburg has to do with it? Though Hungary is not Slavic, the empire contained Slavic countries? I really don't know that much about it at all that is just my very limited and simple observation.
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Austrian arms banner (with picture(s)?
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