Canonized Saint · Military Leader · Mystic
She carried the standard into the fight and kept the faith to the end.
A teenage peasant from Domrémy, Joan of Arc reported receiving a divine mission to aid France during the Hundred Years’ War. She took an active part in the campaign that lifted the siege of Orléans, was present at Charles VII’s coronation at Reims, and remained faithful through captivity, trial, and death.
Joan was born to a farming family in Domrémy. As a teenager, she reported that Saint Michael, Saint Catherine, and Saint Margaret called her to aid the French cause and help bring the Dauphin, Charles, to his coronation.
In 1429 she reached Charles after overcoming repeated obstacles. She was examined by theologians and churchmen at Poitiers before being allowed to accompany the French force moving toward the besieged city of Orléans.
On 6 May 1429, the eve of the assault on Les Tourelles, Joan’s chaplain Jean Pasquerel later testified that she told him the next day blood would leave her body ‘above the breast.’ A letter written on 22 April also reported beforehand that Joan said she would be wounded by a shaft at Orléans but would not die from it.
On 7 May, during the assault, an arrow struck Joan in the upper chest, above the breast, as Pasquerel described. She withdrew long enough for the wound to be treated, then returned to the fighting. The Tourelles fell that evening, and the English abandoned the siege the following day.
The lifting of the siege transformed the French campaign. Joan continued with the army through the Loire campaign and pressed for Charles to go to Reims for his coronation.
On 17 July 1429, Charles VII was crowned at Reims. Joan was present with her standard, one of the clearest images of her public mission brought to completion.
Joan was captured near Compiègne on 23 May 1430 and eventually transferred to English control. At Rouen she underwent an ecclesiastical trial presided over by church judges but conducted amid grave political opposition to her and her mission. She was condemned as a heretic.
She was burned at the stake on 30 May 1431. A later ecclesiastical Trial of Nullity declared the earlier condemnation null in 1456. Pope Benedict XV canonized Joan of Arc on 16 May 1920.
At a glance
Born at Domrémy in Lorraine.
Tells Jean Pasquerel that blood will leave her body above the breast the next day.
Wounded above the breast during the assault on Les Tourelles and returns to the fight.
The English abandon the siege of Orléans.
Charles VII is crowned at Reims; Joan is present with her standard.
Captured near Compiègne.
Executed at Rouen.
The Trial of Nullity declares the earlier condemnation null.
Canonized by Pope Benedict XV.
Watch the story
Watch the story of the young saint who carried her standard through Orléans, Reims, captivity, and martyrdom.
Sources & further reading
The design standard
Joan’s story joins mystical conviction to public duty. She did not remain a distant symbol. She entered a real political and military crisis, carried a visible standard, and accepted the cost of acting on the mission she believed God had entrusted to her.
The design belongs in the line because her courage cannot be separated from her Catholic faith. The battlefield matters, but so do prayer, the sacraments, the saints she invoked, and the fidelity she maintained when victory was gone and only witness remained.
Available September 10, 2026 · 7:00 PM ET
Saint Joan of Arc — The Maid of Orléans Women’s Semi-Fitted Tee