THE WORLD’S FIRST FLAGS
No one knows when, or by whom, the flag in the history was raised. It is doubtful if any one person was in fact responsible, for flags seem to have been developed by various people all over the world at a time when contact between them was unlikely.
Just as they discovered fire, our distant ancestors may have realized that by fastening a piece of animal fur to a stick they could make an effective means of signaling. Centuries later, at the sea battle of Salamis in 480BC, the Greek commander Themistocles is said to hoisted a red cloak, on an oar and so rallied his forces that they won a great victory over the Persian fleet.
But even before then the great civilizations of Asia had devised various kinds of standards, called VEXILLOIDS, in wood, metal, leather and other materials and generally consisting of a staff with emblems attached to it. The emblems were devised to represent the gods, whose spiritual power entered the standards and, when carried into battle, guaranteed protection and victory.
Flags as we know them today-pieces of cloth attached laterally to a staff-were created by the Chinese as early as 3000BC. these Chinese flags were made of silk as else where were, used for military and religious purposes .
Like earlier peoples, the Romans regarded their standards as sacred objects. At first their army used various designs portraying animals, but after 104 BC carried the eagle standard, or aquila, and the cloth vexillum.
To impress conquered peoples with the power of Rome, portraits of the emperor were added to later standards. In this way, the religious and political symbolism of the standards was reinforced. The labarum which the emperor Constantine created in AD 312 to commemorate his conversion to Christianity not only displayed his portrait but also, on the staff, the X and P symbols of Christ. Religious and earthly authority were thus united in this powerful political flag.
In the 6th century a new religious force in the form of Islam appeared in Arabia .the green turban and black and white banners which its founder, Muhammad, is said to have used, influenced the colours of the flags adopted by his successor. As Islam spread over the middle east and north Africa, specific colours came to be associated with the most powerful ruling families. Red, white, black and, of course, green predominated. balanced of complex designs also appeared, often in corporating Arabic inscriptions into ornate abstract partners of great beauty.
