Joan of Arc’s famous standard was painted on linen.
The standard carried religious imagery and inscriptions associated with Joan’s mission. Accounts from her trials and later testimonies describe a white banner decorated with images including Christ and saints. It was a military standard, but Joan’s use of it also expressed the religious purpose she attributed to her campaign.
The material is often overlooked because popular illustrations focus on the banner’s design rather than its construction. Linen was a practical textile in medieval Europe and could serve as a surface for painted devotional and heraldic imagery.
Joan’s standard should not be confused with her small pennon, another banner used by her household or military group. Modern films and paintings also vary widely in color and design, so not every image represents the historically described object. The surviving evidence comes chiefly from testimony and trial records, not from the original standard itself.