Tugh

A 19th century Ottoman tugh

The tugh or tuman tugh, also spelled tuk or tuq (Turkish: tuğ, [туг, tug] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)), was a pole adorned with yak or horse tails, used as a standard or banner by various Central Asian and Turkic peoples.

Mongolia

Genghis Khan proclaimed Khagan of all Mongols. White banners can be seen on the right

The original white banner disappeared early in history, but the black one survived as the repository of Genghis Khan's soul. The Mongols continued to honor the banner, and Zanabazar (1635–1723) built a monastery with the special mission of flying and protecting the black banner in the 17th century. Around 1937, the black banner disappeared amidst the great purges of the nationalists, monks and intellectuals, and the destruction of monasteries.

The Nine White banners came into renewed significance in Mongolia after democracy was adopted in the early 1990s as a symbol of the traditional Mongolian state, replacing the previous communist red flags.

White tug

The state banner flown by the Mongols, the "Yöson Khölt tsagaan tug" (Mongolian: Есөн хөлт цагаан туг) or the "Nine Base White Banners", is composed of nine flag poles decorated with white horse tail hairs hanging from a round surface with a flame or trident-like shape on the top. The Nine White Banners was a peacetime emblem used exclusively by the Khans in front of their yurt. The central banner is larger in size than the rest and is placed in the center of the other eight. The modern Mongolian nine white banners are kept in the Government Palace in Ulan Bator.

Black tug

The black banner

The Mongols besieging a city in the Middle East. The black banner can be seen behind the trebuchet, 13th century

The "Dörvön khölt khar sulde" (Mongolian: Дөрвөн хөлт хар сүлд) or the "Four base black banners" was used in wartime. It is made of black horse tail hairs and flown in the same fashion. According to the illustrated Japanese chronicle Mōko Shūrai Ekotoba, the banner of the Mongolian Yuan fleet that invaded Japan was black. The modern Mongolian black banners are kept in the Ministry of Defense.

Ottoman Empire

The best single source on tughs and their history is Zugulski' Art in the Service of the Ottoman Empire.

Tughs were quite ancient, used among Turkic and Mongolian peoples. In the early Ottoman period, the Ottoman Emir used 2 tughs, and all other field officers and Beys used 1.

Later, the Sultan used 7, the grand vizer 5, Beylerbey 2, Beys and Orta commanders 1.

See also

• Banner (Mongols)
• Bunchuk

Sources

• William Erskine. A history of India under the two first sovereigns of the house of Taimur, Báber and Humáyun. Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1854. Pg 265. [1]
• Web page about Tughs, with photos
• Mongol glossary