labarum

[lab-er-uhm]

noun

plural

labara 

1. an ecclesiastical standard or banner, as for carrying in procession.

2. the military standard of Constantine the Great and later Christian emperors of Rome, bearing Christian symbols.

labarum

/ ˈlæbərəm /

noun

1. a standard or banner carried in Christian religious processions

2. the military standard bearing a Christian monogram used by Constantine the Great

Word History and Origins

Origin of labarum¹

From Late Latin, dating back to 1650–60, of obscure origin

Word History and Origins

Origin of labarum¹

C17: from Late Latin, of obscure origin

Example Sentences

Even Constantine’s labarum, under which sign his vision was to conquer, was not a cross; it was the Chi-Rho.

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At the end, is appropriately placed an ancient marble statue of Constantine, who is in the dress of a Roman warrior, bearing the labarum, or standard of the cross, which is here represented as a lance surmounted by the monogram of Christ.

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The labarum of the emperors was similar in form, and frequently bore upon it a representation of the emperor, sometimes by himself and sometimes accompanied by the heads of members of his family.

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The original form was some fixed object such as we have seen on the Egyptian and Roman examples, and the vexillum and labarum were transitional forms.

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The banners which Bede mentions as being carried by St. Augustine and his monks, when they entered Canterbury in procession, in the latter part of the sixth century, were probably in the form of the Roman labarum.

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