Flag of Sardinia

After the kingdom of Sardinia was founded in 1326, it became part of the Crown of Aragon; these seals will come to closing documents of King James II (1326), Alfonso Benigno (1327–1336) and Peter I (1336–1387).

[clarify] The Four Moors begin to be used consistently as a symbol of the Kingdom of Sardinia during the time of the Catholic Monarchs, and especially from the time of the Emperor Charles V. In Sardinia, the first safe attestation of the coat of arms is on the cover of the Acts of the military arm of the Sardinian Parliament, the Capitols de Cort del Stament Militar de Serdenya printed in Cagliari in 1591.

[8] The Sardinian-Pisan tradition attributes the arms to a banner given by Pope Benedict VIII to the Pisans in aid of the Sardinians in a conflict with the Saracens of Musetto who were trying to conquer the Italian peninsula and Sardinia.

[9] Before the Kingdom of Sardinia was founded, the rulers of the island were known as archons (ἄρχοντες in Greek) or judges (iudices in Latin, judikes in Sardinian, giudici in Italian).

Christians won, but after that, the previous Sardinian kingdom was totally undermined and divided into four smaller judicates: Cagliari, Arborea, Gallura, and Torres or Logudoro; each one developed its own coat of arms.

According to some, the flag derives from Alcoraz's victory of 1096, is linked to the Crown of Aragon, and represents the Spanish Reconquista against the Moors who occupied most of the Iberian Peninsula.

It is composed of the cross of St. George, also a symbol of the Crusaders fighting at the same time in the Holy Land, and the four severed heads, representing four major victories in Spain by the Aragonese: the reconquest of Zaragoza, Valencia, Murcia, and the Balearic Islands.

According to others (Mario Valdes y Cocom),[10] the Moors represent the Egyptian Saint Maurice, martyred under Diocletian, and are shown in this manner, with the heads bandaged, in countless coats of arms in the Franco-German area.

Imperial heraldry under the reign of Charles V of Habsburg The four moors appear more frequently in prints, paintings, and artifacts both in Sardinia and in all publications heraldic vintage.

First testimony of the flag of Sardinia. Manuscript of Gelre, the second half of the fourteenth century, Folio 62r
Peter I of Aragon receiving a shield emblazoned with the Cross of Saint George . According to legend, George appeared on the field of battle at Alcoraz. The heads of four Moors found on the battlefield were added to George's familiar emblem, creating the Cross of Alcoraz.
Charles V and his Kingdoms' coats of arms
16th-century flag, from Procession and Funeral of Charles V
Apoteosis Heraldica 1681 Museum of the History of Barcelona . Sardinia's depiction of the Four Moors is different from those of Aragon: the former has only the bandage on his forehead, and the latter is crowned and bearded.
20th-century coat of arms adopted by the Brigata Sassari , the Sardinian soldier brigade during World War I
Coat of arms of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia, with eye-blinded bandage.