Polish Banners at Tannenberg

Polish Banners at Tannenberg Page 2

Introduction

        The Polish Chronicler Jan Dlugosz described many of the Polish Banners at Tannenberg but does not give much detail. None of the Polish Banners nor paintings/drawings of them have survived. The drawings below are 'best guesses' based on Dlugosz' s descriptions, armorials of the time and other pictorial sources. I have used as my primary reference the following book

Banderia Apud Grunwald by A. Klien, N Sekunda and K. Czernielewski

published by Alexander books. This and the sister book on Teutonic Banners is available from Fleet International Books (based in the UK).

       This book is in Polish and English and illustrates over 50 Polish banners, giving the authors representations of them. The Book contains excellent illustrations and references to their source material.

       I have used their illustrations as a basis for my own, along with the sources that they recommend. There are differences between some of my drawings and theirs as I have attempted to make them useable for wargaming figures. The differences are however minor, mainly shapes of animals.  Unlike the Teutonic Banners page I have not given these Banners descriptions other than the name of the person or district that they belong. Much of the information for the Teutonic Banners was gathered from other sources, prior to my obtaining their book on the subject and so I have included the details. The information on the Polish Banners was much harder to find and so I would have had to rely on the above book for much of the information. Basically a long winded way of saying buy the book! (it is excellent)

Polish Banners at Tannenberg Page 2