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I have literally been looking at images of this banner ("of Las Navas"), thought to have been captured by King Ferdinand III or his grandfather Alfonso VIII from the Almohads in the early 13th c., for over a decade. I've seen it in person. Today I finally saw something I'd missed
I'd read in various places, including al-Qantara ( https://www.qantara-med.org/public/show_document.php?do_id=222&lang=en#) that there was an inscription in the central medallion that read al-mulk, sovereignty. Today I realized the whole big 8 pointed star at the center is made up of the calligraphy of that word, repeated.
Isn't it spectacular? Made of silk, with gold wrapped animal substrate to make that glitter. The four panels of naskhi (cursive) inscriptions around the border are ayahs 10-12 of Surah 61, al-Ṣaff, “The Ranks,” which call on believers to struggle in God's path and be rewarded.
You may notice the two inscriptions on the sides are mirrored and hard to read. The back of the banner is inaccessible since it was mounted on canvas for conservation. I would love to know if they are legible from the reverse.
That would suggest that as the banner was being carried at the front of an army, the inscription would have been legible both to the enemy and to the soldiers behind it, who are reminded to "fight in the path of God" and promised heaven as they set out to battle.
One more update, courtesy of @nasserrabbat: the star is actually made up of the phrase الملك لله, sovereignty belongs to God. Tricky to see but some really virtuosic calligraphy. https://twitter.com/nasserrabbat/status/1275555561053061126?s=21 https://twitter.com/nasserrabbat/status/1275555561053061126
