vexillum

A modern re-enactor holding a vexillum with a scorpion, the sign of the Praetorians which was used to honor the Emperor Tiberius for building the Praetorian Camp in Rome. Tiberius' Astrological sign was scorpio.
Photo: Associazione Culturale Cisalpina - Cohors III Praetoria.

This article is part of the series on: Military of ancient Rome (portal) 753 BC – AD 476
Structural history
Roman army (unit types and ranks, legions, auxiliaries, generals)
Roman navy (fleets, admirals)
Campaign history
Lists of wars and battles
Decorations and punishments
Technological history
Military engineering (castra, siege engines, arches, roads)
Personal equipment
Political history
Strategy and tactics
Infantry tactics
Frontiers and fortifications (limes, Hadrian's Wall)
This box: view • talk • edit

The vexillum (plural vexilla) was a flag-like object used in the Classical Era of the Roman Empire. The word is itself a diminutive for the Latin word, velum, sail, which confirms the historical evidence (from coins and sculpture) that vexilla were literally "little sails" i.e. flag-like standards. In the vexillum the cloth was draped from a horizontal crossbar suspended from the staff; this is unlike most modern flags in which the 'hoist' of the cloth is attached directly to the vertical staff. The bearer of a vexillum was known as a vexillarius. Just as in the case of the regimental colors or flag of Western regiments, the vexillum was a treasured symbol of the military unit that it represented and it was closely defended in combat.^[1]

Nearly all of the present-day regions of Italy preserve the use of vexilla. Many Christian processional banners are in the vexillum form; usually these banners are termed labara after the standard adopted by the first Christian Roman emperor Constantine I.

See also

Military of ancient Rome portal

• Vexillology, or the study of flags, which derives its name from this word.
• Vexilla Regis, early Christian hymn whose first line uses this word.
• Vexillum, a genus of snails in the family Costellariidae

References

External links

• Worldwide supplier of Flags and Flagpoles.
• The Cisalpina Historical Reenactment Group Web Site.
• The Roman Hideout
• http://www.redrampant.com/roma/vexillum.html The Roman Vexilla
• http://flagspot.net/flags/xf-etym.html#vex Vexillium

This flag-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e