THE ROYAL BANNER IN THE REIGN OF ISABEL 2ND FERNANDO TW t Cast i u-1 kit f i ag- It will "be observed that the flag of Castile (1) of 1350 was the royal flag of Spain (5) under Ferdinand and Isabella, but that it had become rectangular in shape, and the lions - were red instead of blue. Isabella, Queen of Castile and Leon, married Ferdinand, King of Aragon, (1469), and together they consolidated the kingdoms and lordships of that realm into a combined nation. Nothing from the flag of Aragon (2) was incorporated into the royal banner. Not alone did the Castilian flag become the flag of Spain but the Castilian Queen, Isabella, was the great sovereign in the consolidation of the new nation; not Ferdinand of Aragon, her husband and the King«*~and Castilian became the language of Spain in Europe and in the colonies in the Americas. It was this flag that Columbus carried as the royal banner on his voyage of discovery, together with his per- (4) sonal banner/ given to him by Queen Isabella? and that was carried in the early American conquests together with the personal banners of the nobles and the adventurers that led those conquests and explorations. J The Royal ,Banner as shown in illustration 5 is according to rft- the book, "Famous Flags of America," by N.R.Hughes, now in the ^ Library of Congress. In the Flag Number of the Geographic Magazine, October 1917, • J p 338, No. 359, (copy in San Antonio Library), this..Royal Flag is shown with the lions on a silver field instead of the white v field, and with gold crowns over the heads of the lions. Castile and Leon translated, mean castle and Lion-—the " Kingdom of Castles and the Kingdom of Lions combined under the sovereignty of Castile.