Flatbow
A bow with flat, wide limbs and a rectangular cross-section.
A flatbow is a type of bow whose limbs are flat, wide, and roughly rectangular in cross-section, and they do not curve away from the archer. Because the limbs are wide, the bow typically narrows and gets thicker at the handle, which is rounded and designed not to bend, making it easier to grip. This is different from a longbow, whose limbs are rounded—either circular or D-shaped in cross-section—and are usually widest right at the handle. A flatbow can be as long as a longbow, but it can also be much shorter. Typical lengths are around 68 to 70 inches for a flatbow, 70 to 72 inches for an English longbow, and 72 to 76 inches for a heavy warbow-style English longbow, though these ranges often overlap. Traditional flatbows are usually self bows made from a single piece of wood, but laminated and composite flatbows have existed in both ancient and modern times. Modern flatbows often use fiberglass.
The rectangular cross-section gives the flatbow an advantage: stress spreads more evenly across the limb compared to rounded designs. In any bending beam, material farther from the neutral axis (the line in the middle that is neither compressed nor stretched) experiences more stress. With a rounded limb, like a longbow’s, some material sticks out farther from that axis and takes on greater stress. A flatbow’s flat belly and back keep all the most-strained material at a uniform distance from the neutral axis, spreading the load across a wider limb. This reduces stress and makes it much less likely that weaker woods will fail—either by breaking or by taking a permanent bend and losing their spring. Only especially resilient timbers can make a powerful, effective wooden longbow.
In most parts of the world, common hardwoods can make excellent flatbows. Easily available timbers include elm (used in ancient Europe, as seen in bows recovered from bogs), maple, sycamore, hazel, and ash. The flatbow design also works well with very dense, strong woods like hickory and especially osage orange, a wood favored by many Native American tribes for bow making.
Compared to a narrow, rounded longbow, the flatbow has some drawbacks. The bowyer needs to start with a wider stave, spend more time shaping it to a roughly rectangular cross-section, and may have to cut through growth rings on the back of the bow.
- Typical length flatbow
- 68 - 70 in
- Typical length english longbow
- 70 - 72 in
- Typical length warbow weight english lon
- 72 - 76 in
- Materials
- elm, maple, sycamore, hazel, ash, hickory, osage orange, fiberglass (modern)
Lore & Background
Flatbows were used by Native American tribes such as the Hupa, Karok, and Wampanoag, prehistoric ancient Europeans, some Inuit tribes, Finno-Ugric nations, and a number of other pre-gunpowder societies for hunting and warfare. Unlike longbows, good flatbows can be made from a wide variety of timbers. Flatbows fell from favour in Europe after the Mesolithic, replaced with yew longbows. The trade of yew wood for English longbows depleted stocks of yew over a huge area. Flatbows are currently used by the Sentinelese tribes of the Andaman Islands. Flatbows survived in cold areas such as Finland, where yew does not grow naturally because of the unsuitable climate. The traditional Finnish flatbow is made either from ash, or as birch/pine laminate with siyahs made of hagberry and glued together with glue made by cooking descaled skins of perch. This kind of glue is not waterproof, and the bows were most often wrapped with thin strips of birch bark, protecting them against weather and moisture. Yew was available as an imported material for bows in Finland, but it was considered not suitable for serious use because it is fragile at cold temperatures and the season for hunting for furs is in January and February.
Reader's Guide
The flatbow design is significant because it allows weaker woods to be used effectively, as the rectangular cross-section spreads stress evenly across the limb, minimizing the risk of failure. This made bow-making accessible in regions where resilient timbers like yew were unavailable or unsuitable. The American longbow, developed in the 1930s from scientific investigation into the best cross-sectional shape for a bow limb, was a direct application of flatbow principles to the English longbow. Research showed that the best cross-section was a simple rectangle, not the D-section of the English longbow. The American longbow was popularised by Howard Hill and quickly displaced the English longbow as the preferred bow for target shooting at the time. Howard referred to it as a semi-longbow and later used fiberglass on the back and belly of his bows. The American longbow has narrow limbs and a handle of similar width, distinguishing it from the flatbow's wide limbs and narrow handle. Modern flatbows commonly use fiberglass. The legacy of the flatbow includes its continued use by the Sentinelese and its influence on modern bow designs.
Did You Know?
- A replica of the Holmegaard bow, a flatbow from the Mesolithic period, exists.
- The flatbow design is superior for almost all materials because stress is more evenly spread than with rounded limb sections.
- The traditional Finnish flatbow was often wrapped with thin strips of birch bark to protect against weather and moisture.
- The American longbow, sometimes incorrectly called the American flatbow, was developed in the 1930s.
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