Chronicles of Narnia (books) (original) (raw)

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Narnia

The book gives the Narnian flag as a red lion on a green field (an illustration shows the lion springing).
Nathan Augustine, 15 November 1995

I do not remember there being a description of a flag of Narnia in the Chronicles of Narnia series. I do remember a flag of Aslan, the Great Lion, being described in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. If a flag of Narnia was described please let me know where in the series.
Peter Klumpenhower, 7 June 2007

Is it possible that the flag described by Nathan is simply Aslan ?
Nathan Augustine, 9 June 2007

While I only read one of the books, and remember no mention of flags in it, the commercials for the recent movie adaptation showed *red* flags with a lion.
Eugene Ipavec, 11 June 2007

It's possible that the flag is only Aslan, but I've noted more people assuming there's a flag of Narnia. I can't recall such a flag either, but it's been a while. <> I did some searching on the net, and it's generally assumed there is a red flag for Aslan; this may be something from the film, though. I did come across this E-bay offer with a photograph (auction closed), but neither the yellow pennants nor the red flags are very clear. Anyone who has the books or the film?
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 4 March 2008

After seeing the Prince Caspian movie, which contains a number of flags for the Telmarines as well as the red lion on gold for Narnia seen in the first movie, I did a little checking in the books to see just what C.S. Lewis said about Narnian flags.

The answer is not much.

The following are all of the quotes where he actually describes the flags, rather than just mentioning that they are there. I did not include page numbers since these would change with each edition.

Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe Chapter 12 :

and high above it on a pole a banner which bore a red rampant lion fluttering in the breeze which was blowing in their faces from the far-off sea.

Voyage of the Dawn Treader Chapter 4 :

He had not then known it was the King's ship for there was not wind enough to spread the flag out and make the golden lion visible, so he had waited further developments.

Silver Chair Chapter 16 :

Then she heard a rustling and flapping noise up above the castle; when she looked she saw that the great banner with the golden Lion on it was being brought down to half-mast.

The Horse and His Boy Chapter 12 :

First came the Lord Peridan on a bay horse carrying the great banner of Narnia - a red lion on a green ground.

The Horse and His Boy Chapter 13 :

Aha! I've seen the banner now. Narnia, Narnia! It's the red lion.

So, the only time that more than just the figure on the flag is described is in the Horse and His Boy where they mention the color of the field. There is a black and white illustration, the same one used in the first edition, at the beginning of Chapter 12 of the Horse and His Boy showing the army and the flag, with a springing lion, not a rampant one.

A possible interpretation is that the golden lion flag is the King's personal flag and the red lion on green flag is the national flag, or that the red on green is the flag of Narnia in King Peter's day while the golden lion flag is for King Caspian's day (1300 years later).
Nathan Augustine, 27 May 2008