HISTORY OF FLAGES

During the Middle Ages, flags were used for a variety of purposes including: identification of members of nobility, guilds, cities, religious worship, and for use during battles. In battle, flags were used by military companies for identification on the field and relaying of strategic instructions. Though not always, flags could identify individual leaders: in Europe, monarchs and knights; in Japan, the samurai; in China, the generals under the imperial army; and in Mexico, the Aztec alliances.

he origin of modern flags lies in our remote prehistoric past. When people started to form large groups to live and hunt together, they appointed a leader to rule them and settle disputes. As a mark of office this leader would wear some sort of ceremonial head-dress and hold a long decorative staff, rod or spear, topped with an ornament or tribal emblem. The staff was also used as a visible sign to rally around, or to point out the direction of a march or attack. This prehistoric, or proto-flag, is known as a vexilloid. Later in Ancient China, a different tradition developed when silk was invented between 6000 and 3000 BC. This strong, light fabric was ideal for making banners, which were much easier to carry than the vexilloids that had been used earlier, and they were also easier to see from a distance. From Ancient China the use of fabric flags spread to Mongolia, Japan, India, Persia, Ancient Greece, and finally the Roman Empire and the rest of Europe.