{{Short description|Heraldic figure}} {{redirect|Maure}} {{Expand German|Mohr (Heraldik)|date=October 2018}} [[File:Corse Icône.svg|thumb|Moor's head from the [[Flag and coat of arms of Corsica|flag of Corsica]]]] A '''Moor's head''', also known as a '''Maure''', since the 11th century, is a [[symbol]] depicting the [[Human head|head]] of a black moor. The term [[Moors|moor]] came to define anyone who was African and Muslim.

==Origin== The precise origin of the Moor's head as a heraldic symbol is a subject of controversy. The most likely explanation is that it is derived from the heraldic war flag of the [[Reconquista]] depicting the [[Cross of Alcoraz]], symbolizing [[Peter I of Aragon and Pamplona]]'s victory over the "Moorish" kings of the [[Taifa of Zaragoza]] in the [[Battle of Alcoraz]] in [[1096]]. The headband may originally have been a blindfold.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/fr-co.html|title=Corsica (France, Traditional province)|website=www.crwflags.com}}</ref> Another theory claims that it represents the Egyptian [[Saint Maurice]] (3rd century AD).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.traghettiper-corsica.it/en/tp-magazine/flag-of-corsica/|title=Flag of Corsica|date=February 17, 2015|website=Traghetti Corsica EN}}</ref>

The earliest heraldic use of the Moor's head is first recorded in [[1281]], during the reign of [[Peter III of Aragon]] and represents the [[Cross of Alcoraz]], which the King adopted as his personal coat of arms.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=%22Moor%27s+head%22+Peter+aragon|title="Moor's head" Peter aragon - Google Search|website=www.google.com}}</ref> The [[Crown of Aragon]] had for a long time governed Sardinia and Corsica, having been granted the islands by the Pope, although they never really exercised formal control. The Moor's head became a symbol of the islands.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8pFxDwAAQBAJ&q=%22Moor%27s+head%22+Peter+aragon&pg=PA356|title=Encyclopedia of Blacks in European History and Culture [2 volumes]|first=Eric|last=Martone|date=December 8, 2008|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9780313344497|via=Google Books}}</ref>

== Flags, seals, and emblems == This symbol is used in [[heraldry]], [[vexillography]], and political imagery.

=== Coat of arms of Freising === The medieval [[Prince-Bishopric of Freising]] used a crowned Moor's head, usually with a red collar, as its coat of arms, which is continued by the modern [[Archdiocese of Munich and Freising]] and the [[Freising (district)|district of Freising]] (but not the city). [[Pope Benedict XVI]], who served as Archbishop of Munich and Freising, incorporated the device into his personal arms.

=== Flag of Corsica === [[File:Flag of Corsica.svg|thumb|Flag of Corsica]] The main [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] in the coat of arms in [[Corsica]] is a ''{{lang|co|U Moru}}'', [[Corsican language|Corsican]] for "The Moor". An early version is attested in the 14th-century [[Gelre Armorial]], where an unblindfolded Moor's head represents Corsica as a territory of the [[Crown of Aragon]]. Interestingly, the Moor's head is attached to his shoulders and upper body, and he is alive and smiling. In 1736, it was used by both sides during the struggle for independence.{{cn|date=July 2024}}

In 1760, General [[Pasquale Paoli]] ordered the necklace to be removed from the head and the blindfold raised. His reason, reported by his biographers, was ''"{{lang|fr|Les Corses veulent y voir clair. La liberté doit marcher au flambeau de la philosophie. Ne dirait-on pas que nous craignons la lumière ?}}"'' ({{langx|en|"The Corsicans want to see clearly. Freedom must walk by the torch of philosophy. Won't they say that we fear the light?"}}) The blindfold was thereafter changed to a headband.

The current [[flag of Corsica]] is the {{langx|co|label=none|Bandera testa Mora|lit=Flag with head of Moor}}, is male rather than female, and has a regular knot at the back of the head.

==== SC Bastia ==== The Moor's head appears on the logo for the Corsican football team [[SC Bastia]], who play in the French football system's [[Ligue 2]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Willis |first1=Craig |last2=Hughes |first2=Will |last3=Bober |first3=Sergiusz |title=ECMI Minorities Blog. National and Linguistic Minorities in the Context of Professional Football across Europe: Five Examples from Non-kin State Situations. |url=https://www.ecmi.de/infochannel/detail/ecmi-minorities-blognational-and-linguistic-minorities-in-the-context-of-professional-football-across-europe-five-examples-from-non-kin-state-situations |access-date=27 March 2023 |website=ECMI |publisher=ECMI}}</ref>

=== Flag of Sardinia === [[File:Flag of Sardinia.svg|thumb|Flag of Sardinia]] The [[flag of Sardinia]] is informally known as ''the Four Moors'' ({{langx|it|I quattro mori}}, {{langx|src|Sos Bator Moros}}, {{langx|sro|Is Cuatru Morus}}) and comprises four Moor heads.

=== African Unification Front === The "Maure" is the [[African Unification Front]]'s [[flag]] and [[emblem]]. The head is blindfolded representing the impartiality of justice, and the knot is tied into a stylized [[Adinkra symbols|Adinkra symbol]] for omnipotence ([[Gye Nyame (Adinkra)|Gye Nyame]]).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.africanfront.org/praetorium5.php |title=African Unification Front Flags & Emblems |publisher=Africanfront.org |access-date=2019-01-14 |archive-date=2021-09-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210911162252/http://www.africanfront.org/praetorium5.php |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Modern controversy== [[File:MohrenbraeuPaleAle.jpg|thumb|75px|Bottle of [[Mohrenbrauerei]]]] Critics in [[Switzerland]] have characterized the use of the Moor's head as racist, when used as a symbol by a workers guild.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/a-monument-to-debate_is-the-emblem-of-a-bern-guild-racist-/38740706|title=Is the emblem of a Bern guild racist?|website=SWI swissinfo.ch}}</ref>

In 2012, activists requested the brewing company [[Mohrenbrauerei]] to remove the "Moor's head" from its bottles; the company declined, saying the design was part of heraldry used by the family who started the brewery.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blackcentraleurope.com/sources/1989-today/racism-in-a-beer-logo-2012/|title=Racism in a beer logo (2012)|date=April 25, 2016}}</ref>

== See also == * [[Blackamoor (decorative arts)]] * [[Heads in heraldry]] * [[Turk head (heraldry)]] * [[Cross of Alcoraz]]

== References == {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== * {{cite web | access-date=July 19, 2020 | url=https://www.blackresearchcentral.com/articles/revisiting-the-symbology-of-europes-moorish-heraldry | title=Revisiting the Symbology of Europe's Moorish Heraldry | work=Black Research Central}} * {{cite journal |access-date=April 21, 2021 | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/25659647 | title=Decapitation of Christians and Muslims in the medieval Iberian Peninsula: Narrative, images, contemporary perceptions | journal=Comparative Literature Studies | author=Fierro, Maribel | year=2008 | volume=45 | issue=2 | pages=137–164 | doi=10.1353/cls.0.0020 | jstor=25659647 | s2cid=161217907 | url-access=subscription }} * {{cite web | access-date=April 22, 2005 | url=http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/da2b/23e51/ | title=Heart of Independent Sardinia | work=giampiero6's Orgosolo Page}} * {{citation | access-date=April 22, 2005 | url=http://www.sitos.regione.sardegna.it/4mori/4mori_sardo.htm | title=Sa Bandela de Sos Bator Moros | work=Sardinian Autonomous Region}} which in turn cites ** {{cite book | title=Lo stemma dei quattro mori, breve storia dell'emblema dei Sardi | author=B. Fois | publisher=(editor Carlo Delfino) Sassari | year=1990 }} * {{citation | access-date=April 22, 2005 | url=http://perso.wanadoo.fr/bludimare/maure.htm | title=L'Histoire d'U Moru | work=Extraits de l'Ouvrage: "Trois Etudes Sur Paoli"}} * {{citation | access-date=April 22, 2005 | url=http://perso.wanadoo.fr/bludimare/maurang.htm | title=U Moru (English translation) | work=Extracts from "Trois Etudes Sur Paoli"}}

==External links== * {{commons category-inline|Moor heads in heraldry}}

[[Category:Heraldic charges]] [[Category:Symbols]] [[Category:Black symbols]] [[Category:Black people in art]] [[Category:Heads in the arts]]