This religious banner known as a khorugv and created using the gold embroidery technique in the mid-17th century holds a special place among the examples of pictorial embroidery in the Uglich Museum. It originated from the Church of Saint Tsarevich Dmitry on Blood.
This embroidered icon was always carried in religious processions on the days of celebrating the memory of Saint Tsarevich Dmitry. Its obverse features the image of Archangel Michael clothed in a military outfit and holding a sword cast down in a peaceful way. However, the reverse of the khorugv is of more interest in respect of iconography. Saint Tsarevich Dmitry “with the scene of murder” at his feet is one of the most common images in local iconography. The saint is depicted praying, turned to the left in a three-quarter view. The laid embroidery was made using woven silver on crimson silk with blue-gray threads. The miniature faces are generalized and depicted without shadows using flesh-colored silk. The saint reaches his arms forth and raises his head slightly, facing the Savior who blesses the innocent child, the khorugv has a blood-red background — every detail of this thoughtfully arranged composition and every movement of its characters is imbued with the idea of self-sacrifice.
Often, the words “flag”, “banner”, and “khorugv” are mistakenly used to refer to one and the same item. However, there are fundamental differences between them. The main one of them is that flags are made of cheap fabric and mass-produced, while banners and khorugvs are designed individually and created using expensive fabric. Apart from that, there are certain rules regulating the production of flags and banners. A banner or a khorugv consists of two separate pieces of fabric sewn together along the perimeter and forming the obverse and reverse sides. They are decorated with additional elements such as edges, diagonal stripes, fringe, ribbons, and tassels. A banner or a khorugv can feature various inscriptions and images. Flags cannot have any additional decorations.
This embroidered icon was always carried in religious processions on the days of celebrating the memory of Saint Tsarevich Dmitry. Its obverse features the image of Archangel Michael clothed in a military outfit and holding a sword cast down in a peaceful way. However, the reverse of the khorugv is of more interest in respect of iconography. Saint Tsarevich Dmitry “with the scene of murder” at his feet is one of the most common images in local iconography. The saint is depicted praying, turned to the left in a three-quarter view. The laid embroidery was made using woven silver on crimson silk with blue-gray threads. The miniature faces are generalized and depicted without shadows using flesh-colored silk. The saint reaches his arms forth and raises his head slightly, facing the Savior who blesses the innocent child, the khorugv has a blood-red background — every detail of this thoughtfully arranged composition and every movement of its characters is imbued with the idea of self-sacrifice.
Often, the words “flag”, “banner”, and “khorugv” are mistakenly used to refer to one and the same item. However, there are fundamental differences between them. The main one of them is that flags are made of cheap fabric and mass-produced, while banners and khorugvs are designed individually and created using expensive fabric. Apart from that, there are certain rules regulating the production of flags and banners. A banner or a khorugv consists of two separate pieces of fabric sewn together along the perimeter and forming the obverse and reverse sides. They are decorated with additional elements such as edges, diagonal stripes, fringe, ribbons, and tassels. A banner or a khorugv can feature various inscriptions and images. Flags cannot have any additional decorations.
