17th Century Safavid Armenian Galleon Flags

Sheet showing several textured paper historical flags of a XVII century Armenian trader under the Safavid dynasty of Persia.

In 1604, the Persian forced a displacement of Armenians from the Julfa region (modern Nakhichevan) to a new town close to Isfahan, to create a no-man’s-land with the Ottoman Empire. As a compensation for the sufferings endured by those displaced, they would be granted special privileges that allowed them to practice their culture and religion, as well to continue their crafts and trade. Armenians managed to establish trade relations with and between every major player of the era. Armenian merchants even ran their own ships under their own flag sometimes. Such were seemingly the flags flown by the unfortunate Quedagh merchant when seized by the infamous William Kidd in 1698.

Sizes: ensign W12 x L18 mm, mast flags W8 x L12 mm, jack W6 x L9 mm, pennant W4 x L48 mm.