BRITISH NATIONAL SYMBOLS
terms of continuity and independence.
The Romans, as far as we know, used two kinds of fabric flags, one with the image of the
goddess of victory painted on it, and the other the flammula, consisting of red streamers attached
to the spear, marking the presence of a general.
Another fabric flag used by the Christian Roman emperors was a `sacred' standard called
labarum, employed as early as 400 AD by the Roman Emperor Constantine. The labarum was a
Christian version of the Roman vexillum. It marked an evolution from the latter as it displayed a
portrait of the Emperor and his family or other government officials, and atop the staff, the
monogram of Christ.
The legend about its origin, as told by the 4th century historian Eusebius in Life of Constantine,
has it that the emperor before the victory over Maxentius in 312 had seen a sign of the cross in
the sky with the words In hoc signo vinces. Again we have to note that, although similar in some
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