Vexillum

Military standard of the ancient Roman army The only extant Roman vexillum, 3rd Century AD. Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Russia. The vexillum (/vɛkˈsɪləm/; pl.: vexilla) was a flag-like object used as a military standard by units in the Roman army. A common vexillum displayed imagery of the Roman aquila on a reddish backdrop. Use in Roman armies Modern reproduction of a Roman cavalry vexillum The word vexillum is a diminutive analogue of the Latin word velum, meaning "a sail", which confirms the historical evidence (from coins and sculpture) that vexilla were literally "little sails": flag-like standards. In the vexillum, the cloth was draped from a horizontal crossbar suspended from a staff (unlike most modern flags, in which the "hoist" of the cloth is attached directly to a vertical staff). The bearer of a vexillum was known as a vexillarius or vexillifer. Just as in the case of the regimental colors or flags of early-modern Western regiments, the vexillum was a treasured symbol of the military unit that it represented and it was closely defended in combat. It was the main standard of some types of units, especially of cavalry; however, it was regarded as less important than