Please Help!!! Maybe you have the answer!!!?

Question

When and how did the first Roman flags appear? What is the history of the Roman flags? Please help me find a wesite for the answers, since i can not find anything about the Roman flags. Thank You all!!!

Answer 1

Not sure if this is what you need but take a look
good luck

http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/it_rome.html

Answer 2

The ancient Roman legions carried banners called vexilla
most often red and were the same as say our Civil War in the US. One does not allow the enemy to even touch it.

How doe we know (I) from all the art that survived, simple. I read that only one Roman Standard survived intact into our times.

"The flag was always the proper and only ensign of the Roman cavalry. In very early times it was also used by the infantry (Liv. viii. 8." A Dictionary of Roman and Greek Antiquities with Nearly 2000 Engravings on Wood from Ancient... by Anthony Rich - 1893

What some here are saying is "National Flag" versus a flag, a smaller flag without the national image, is called a banner or an ensign. Simple.

I am not a flag expert but suspect they came in with such as the Moslems or such, family and Religious stuff.


So search with banners, ensign, standards and you will find more, if you are in a bind, ask more.

The banners were hung on "cross trees" sort of like a garden rake, not on a pole. Ever try to ride a charging horse with a flag? Only in Hollywood.

Answer 3

There was no such thing as an Ancient Roman Flag. What the Romans used instead of a flag were battle standards of various sorts and forms. Many public buildings had inscriptions on their facades. The letters S.P.Q.R. Senatus Populus Que Romanus for example.

Ships used no flag either and given the relative similarity of the vessels of different cultures such as Roman, Greek and Carthaginian distinction between them was by means of a statue at the front or up on the mast.

Answer 4

Teacup is right, so award her full points. Throughout history, from Rome to Napoleon Bonaparte, the emblems have been known as standards. In Roman times, they were poles bearing plaques of Roman totems. These identified the particular Roman legions. Interestingly, Roman legions had feminine names, maybe because "legio" was a feminine fourth declension noun. So one was called Claudia rather than Claudius. Later, in the time of Napoleon, French standards were flags. But in each era, standards were important for soldiers to find their units in the heat of battle. The standard bearer was a heroic figure in Roman and Napoleonic times. Enemies scored big if they could capture Roman standards. Napoleon ordered his own standards burned as he retreated from Russia.