Moor's head
A Moor's head, since the 11th century, is a symbol depicting the head of a black moor. The term moor came to define anyone who was Muslim or had black skin.
Origin
The precise origin of the Moor's head is a subject of controversy. The most likely explanation is that it is derived from the heraldic war flag of the Reconquista depicting the Cross of Alcoraz, symbolizing Peter I of Aragon and Pamplona's victory over the "Moorish" kings of the Taifa of Zaragoza in the Battle of Alcoraz in 1096. The blindfold may originally have been a headband.[1]
Another theory claims that it is the Nubian Saint Maurice (3rd century AD).[2]
The earliest heraldic use of the Moor's head is first recorded in 1281, during the reign of Peter III of Aragon and represents the Cross of Alcoraz, which the King adopted as his personal coat of arms.[3] The Crown of Aragon had for a long time governed Sardinia and Corsica, having been granted the islands by the Pope, although they never really exercised formal control. The Moor's head became a symbol of the islands.[4]
Flags, seals, and emblems
This symbol is used in heraldry, vexillography, and political imagery.
Flag of Corsica
The main charge in the coat of arms in Corsica is a U Moru, Corsican for "The Moor". An early version is attested in the 14th-century Gelre Armorial, where an unblindfolded Moor's head represents Corsica as a territory of the Crown of Aragon. Interestingly, the Moor's head is attached to his shoulders and upper body, and he is alive and smiling. In 1736, it was used by both sides during the struggle for independence.
In 1760, General Pasquale Paoli ordered the necklace to be removed from the head and the blindfold raised. His reason, reported by his biographers, was "Les Corses veulent y voir clair. La liberté doit marcher au flambeau de la philosophie. Ne dirait-on pas que nous craignons la lumière ?" (English: "The Corsicans want to see clearly. Freedom must walk by the torch of philosophy. Won't they say that we fear the light?") The blindfold was thereafter changed to a headband.
The current flag of Corsica is the Template:Lang-co, is male rather than female, and has a regular knot at the back of the head.
SC Bastia
The Moor's head appears on the logo for the Corsican football team SC Bastia, who play in the French football system's Ligue 2.[5]
Flag of Sardinia
The flag of Sardinia is informally known as the Four Moors (Italian: I quattro mori, Template:Lang-src, Template:Lang-sro) and comprises four Moor heads.
African Unification Front
The "Maure" is the African Unification Front's flag and emblem. The head is blindfolded representing the impartiality of justice, and the knot is tied into a stylized Adinkra symbol for omnipotence (Gye Nyame).[6]
Modern controversy
Critics in Switzerland have characterized the use of the Moor's head as racist, when used as a symbol by a workers guild.[7]
In 2012, activists requested the brewing company Mohrenbrauerei to remove the "Moor's head" from its bottles; the company declined, saying the design was part of heraldry used by the family who started the brewery.[8]
Gallery
Coat of arms of Benedict XVI
Gelre Armorial, Folio 62r, 14th century
Flag of Linkebeek, Belgium
Tucher von Simmelsdorf in Antwerp
Coat of arms of Alcanadre. La Rioja, Spain, depicting heads of slain Muslims after the Reconquista
Coat of Georg Gänswein during the Papacy of Benedict XVI
Coat of Avenches, Switzerland
Female Moor's head on the former coat of arms of the district of Möhringen in Stuttgart, Germany[9]
The Scottish crest badge of Clan MacLellan featuring the head of Black Morrow
The current coat of arms of Aragon features four heads of Moors.
The flag of Sardinia
The Sardinian Flag until 1999
The Flag and coat of arms of Corsica
The coat of arms of the Brotherhood of Blackheads
"A Blackamoor's Head" (Complete Guide to Heraldry, 1909)
Coat of the Kingdom of the Algarve, within Portugal
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See also
- Blackamoor (decorative arts)
- Heads in heraldry
- Turk head (heraldry)
- Cross of Alcoraz
References
- ↑ "Corsica (France, Traditional province)". https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/fr-co.html.
- ↑ "Flag of Corsica". February 17, 2015. https://www.traghettiper-corsica.it/en/tp-magazine/flag-of-corsica/.
- ↑ ""Moor's head" Peter aragon - Google Search". https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=%22Moor%27s+head%22+Peter+aragon.
- ↑ Martone, Eric (December 8, 2008). Encyclopedia of Blacks in European History and Culture [2 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9780313344497. https://books.google.com/books?id=8pFxDwAAQBAJ&q=%22Moor%27s+head%22+Peter+aragon&pg=PA356.
- ↑ Willis, Craig; Hughes, Will; Bober, Sergiusz. "ECMI Minorities Blog. National and Linguistic Minorities in the Context of Professional Football across Europe: Five Examples from Non-kin State Situations.". ECMI. https://www.ecmi.de/infochannel/detail/ecmi-minorities-blognational-and-linguistic-minorities-in-the-context-of-professional-football-across-europe-five-examples-from-non-kin-state-situations.
- ↑ "African Unification Front Flags & Emblems". Africanfront.org. http://www.africanfront.org/praetorium5.php.
- ↑ "Is the emblem of a Bern guild racist?". https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/a-monument-to-debate_is-the-emblem-of-a-bern-guild-racist-/38740706.
- ↑ "Racism in a beer logo (2012)". April 25, 2016. https://blackcentraleurope.com/sources/1989-today/racism-in-a-beer-logo-2012/.
- ↑ "Möhringen (Stuttgart) - Wappen von Möhringen (Stuttgart) (Coat of arms (crest) of Möhringen (Stuttgart))". 6 April 2023. http://www.ngw.nl/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Möhringen_(Stuttgart).
Further reading
- "Revisiting the Symbology of Europe's Moorish Heraldry". Black Research Central. https://www.blackresearchcentral.com/articles/revisiting-the-symbology-of-europes-moorish-heraldry.
- Fierro, Maribel (2008). "Decapitation of Christians and Muslims in the medieval Iberian Peninsula: Narrative, images, contemporary perceptions". Comparative Literature Studies 45 (2): 137–164. doi:10.1353/cls.0.0020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25659647. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
- "Heart of Independent Sardinia". giampiero6's Orgosolo Page. http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/da2b/23e51/.
- "Sa Bandela de Sos Bator Moros", Sardinian Autonomous Region, http://www.sitos.regione.sardegna.it/4mori/4mori_sardo.htm, retrieved April 22, 2005 which in turn cites
- B. Fois (1990). Lo stemma dei quattro mori, breve storia dell'emblema dei Sardi. (editor Carlo Delfino) Sassari.
- "L'Histoire d'U Moru", Extraits de l'Ouvrage: "Trois Etudes Sur Paoli", http://perso.wanadoo.fr/bludimare/maure.htm, retrieved April 22, 2005
- "U Moru (English translation)", Extracts from "Trois Etudes Sur Paoli", http://perso.wanadoo.fr/bludimare/maurang.htm, retrieved April 22, 2005
External links
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