Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc) Antique Brooch from France

**PLEASE NOTE that the C clasp is temperamental. It needs to be worked down and out to unhinge the clasp although when incased in the "C," it moves freely. The pin itself swings freely when unhinged. Do let me know if you have any questions or concerns regarding this issue or regarding the brooch as a whole.

This very detailed, antique, C clasp brooch of Joan of Arc is of an unknown metal. It is unmarked so I do not believe it's silver or sterling silver. It is from France.

Measurements are approximately 1 1/8" x 3/4" (across the base).

This is an interesting explanation from https://www.jeanne-darc.info/biography/banner/ of the standard Joan is carrying:

The Banner of Jeanne d’Arc
By T.F. Mills. sep. 1998

Jeanne was not canonised until 1920, so there is no question of her flag being associated with sainthood, at least not officially. The white cross and fleurs-de-lis of France are attributed to her and Charles VII. She approached the King with her vision and plan for liberating France from the English, and thereafter led her troops in battle with a personal heraldic standard. She carried it personally and did not actually fight. After relieving the siege of Orléans in May 1429, she carried her standard at the coronation of King Charles at Reims. She was apparently carrying it when she was wounded at the St. Honoré gate of Paris in September 1429.

I am not sure how much of this is legend, or if anybody really knows what the standard looked like. (I have seen representations that were almost all white, and others that contained a lot of colour.) It allegedly contained the words Jesus, Maria and fleurs-de-lis, and perhaps other religious motifs like angels. The white cross (whether or not it was included on her standard) was intended to be a contradiction of the English red cross, meaning that England was subject to France and not vice versa, and the multiple fleurs-de-lis represented the unity of the disparate parts of France.

At her trial in 1431, Jeanne described the banner in her own words:

“I had a banner of which the field was sprinkled with lilies; the world was painted there, with an angel at each side; it was white of the white cloth called boccassin; there was written above it, I believe, JHESUS MARIA; it was fringed with silk.”

I don’t think any other reliable evidence of the banner survives, so it is pretty much up to artistic interpretation. Some of her relics were allegedly preserved, but what purported to be her banner was burned during the French Revolution.

**PLEASE NOTE that the C clasp is temperamental. It needs to be worked down and out to unhinge the clasp although when incased in the "C," it moves freely. The pin itself swings freely when unhinged. Do let me know if you have any questions or concerns regarding this issue or regarding the brooch as a whole.

Thank you for looking.