I note that Kennedy refers to Arab units in the Conquest period fighting under their tribal banners. Do we have any idea of what such flags looked like?
Yes. There's a page in one of the Ospreys. Not at my desk will give more details tomorrow.
Much appreciated, thank you.
There is a page here https://www.reddit.com/r/vexillology/comments/mkbfzl/flags_of_the_arab_tribes_and_muslim_cities/
If you do a Google search for 'banu flag' you get the names of the tribes.
Swampster beat me to it posting a link to a scan of the page I mentioned. It's from "Osprey - MAA 255 - Armies of the Muslim Conquest".
I have drawn some of these (the easier ones) and they will form part of a blog post in the future. I have a pdf (sized for 15 mm) if you're interested.
Thank you both that's very helpful.
I'd appreciate the pdf Martin it would be very useful indeed.
The Nicolle page is based on Martin Hinds' article "The Banners and Battle Cries of the Arabs at Siffin", available in his collection Studies in Early Islamic History.