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Description

Made of black cloth, two-sided, with a vertical panel with a toothed lower edge and a horizontal flap for attachment to a pole, along the top edge. At the center of the banner's field is a vertical rectangular frame in the form of a garland of winding floral-ornament elements, embroidered in beige silk. Within the frame can be made out the place where an image of Jesus Christ or the Mother of God was once mounted, machine-stitched to the cloth base. All the edges of the banner are bound with braid bearing a geometric ornament. The lower, toothed edge is decorated with fringe.

The object entered the museum's holdings in 1949. It was used in the Catholic Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Kharkiv.

Note: a Catholic banner (or gonfalon) is a sacred religious standard on a tall pole, bearing an image of Christ, the Mother of God, or saints, used during liturgical services, feasts, and pilgrimages. It symbolizes the victory of life over death and the unity of the faithful before God.