Sashimono (little banner)
A small banner worn by Japanese medieval troops to help identification. The banner was fixed to the back of the armour by a waist line socket and a hinged bridge-piece with a ring at shoulder level of the armour. While this arrangement for fixing was common there were hundreds of styles of Sashimono normally of silk with leather corners. They were normally oblong in shape, although when the banner carried a crest or family name then its front had to have tabs on its edge through which the staff passed on its left side. The use of these banners in battle is spectacularly illustrated by Kurosawa's film Ran which is a must for any student of samurai warfare.
How to cite this article: Dugdale-Pointon, TDP. (10 March 2002), Sashimono (little banner), http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_sashimono.html