STANX'IIION"
982
STANDARD
r\
Warborousrh, Oxford- shire.
Stanchion (old Fr. esttm^nn), the iipriirht iron bar liotweeii the mullidiis of a win- dow, screen, ete. ; they were fre- quently ornamented at the top with fleurs-de-lis, leaves, etc. The n|>riirht bars or railings around tombs may be called stan- chions, anil these were often very elaborately ornamented at \ ^\ /'"N / the top. The name is also Q_y / ■? \}lJ sometimes applied to the quar- ters or studs of wooden parti- tions, and is used in the North of England for the stone mul- lions alsf), — I'arker, Gloss, of Architect, s. v.
Standard (^5'il, <%f/, prop, the banner; while D3, ntf, w;ls prop, the fttijf; but the terms are used some- what indiscriminately). Standards and ensigns are to be regarded as efficient instruments for maintaining the ranks and tiles of lx)dies of troops; and in Numb, ii, 2 they are particularly noticed, the Israelites being not only enjoined to encamp "each by the standard of his tribe and the ensign of his fatlier's house," but, as the sense evidently implies, in orders or lines. It is clear, when this verse is considered in connection with the religious, military, and battle pictures on Egyptian moiuiments, that the Hebrews had ensigns of at least three kin<ls, namely, (1) the great standards of the tribes (rix uf a single tribe, 33^ of three tribes togeth- er), ser\Mng as rallying -signals for marching, ftirming in battle array, anil for emcamping; (2) the divi- sional stamlards (nnS'i'^, mishpa- cholh) of clans; and (3) those of houses or families (ri^N '^''?) ^^'^ alx'ilh ), which after the occupation of the Promised Land may gradu- ally have been applied more imme- ^ diatcly to corps and companies, when the tribes, as such, no longer regu- larly tiMik the tield. That there were several standards may be inferred frr)m the uniform practice of the East to this day; from their being useful in man<ruvres, as already explained, and as shown in the Egyptian paint- ings; and from l)eing absolutely nec- essary ; for had there been only one to each tribe, it would not have been sutliciently visible to crowds of people of all ages and both sexes, amounting in most cases to more than KMMMHI, exclusive of the en- cumbrance of their baggage. Whole bodies, therefore, each under the L'nidani-e of the |iariic'ular clan en- siu'ii. knew how to follow the tribal standard: and the families offered the Mame convenience to the small- er diviKions. It may be doubted whether these three were enough for the purpose; for if they were cjirrieil in the ranks of the armed Inxlies, it nni-.t have been diliicult for the lioiiMJiolds to keep near iheni; and if they were with the crowd, the ranks must have had others to enable litem to keep order, as we find that eveti in the Koman legions, thoroughly trained as they were, niiiiieroMs vexilla were stiil held to be tKcessary. That there were others might be inferred (Isa. xiii, 'J; Jer. li, 27; from the circum-
stance of their being planted on the summit of some high place, to mark the point where troops were to assem- ble ; these last, therefore, were not ensigns of particular bodies, but signals for an understood purpose, such as both the Greeks and Komans emploved when the gen- eral gave notice of his intention to engage, by hoisting alwve his tent a red tunic, or when Agamemnon recalled his troops in order to rally them, by the signal of a pur- ple veil. — Kitto.
'I'he invention of standards is attributed by ancient authors to the Egyptians, and this with great proba- bility, as they had the earliest organized military force of wliich we have any knowledge. We may therefore feel tolerably certain that the Hebrews had the idea of at least the use of ensigns from the Egyptians, for it is not at all likely that the small body of men which orig- inally went down into Egypt had any such articles, or any occasion for them. Diodorus informs us that the Egyptian standards consisted of the figure of an animal at the end of a spear. Among the Egyptian sculptures and paintings there also appear other standards, exam- ples of which are given in our engraving. These latter are attributed to the (irieco-Egyptians; but we are un- able to find any satisfactory data to show that they were other than varieties of most ancient Egyptian standards.
Among the ancient Assyrians standards were in reg- ular use, chiefly of two kinds — one a pole with a ball and a flag at the top ; the other having the flgure of a person, probably a divinitj', standing over one or two bulls and drawing a bow. The former kind are more
Ancient Egyptian Standards.
STANDARD
983
STANDARD
Assyrian Standards or Banners.
Fig. 1. From sculptures in the British Museum ; 2 and 3. From Botta.
likely to have been connected with religious than with military purposes, as they are found standing in front of an altar. The military banner appears to have been usually fixed on a long staff, and supported by a rest in front of the chariot, to which it was attached by a long rod or rope (Layard, Nineveh, ii, 267).
The early Greeks employed for a standard a piece of armor at the end of a spear; but Homer makes Aga- memnon use a purple veil with wliich to rally his men. The Athenians afterwards, in the natural progress which we observe in the history of ensigns, adopted the olive and the owl ; and the other Greek nations also displaj^- ed the effigies of their tutelary gods, or their particular symbols, at the end of a spear. Some of them had sim- ply the initial letter of their national name. The an- cient Persian standard is variously described. It seems properly to have been a golden eagle at the end of a spear fixed upon a carriage. They also employed the figure of the sun, at least on great occasions, when the king was present with his forces. Quintus Curtius men- tions the tigure of the sun, enclosed in crystal, which made a most splendid appearance above the royal tent. We therefore presume it was the grand standard, par- ticularly as even at this day, when INIoharamedanism lias eradicated most of the more peculiar usages of the Persians, the sun continues to partake with the lion the honor of appearing on the royal standard. Among the very ancient sculptures in Persia we discover specimens of other standards, as exhibited in our engraving. One sort consists of a staff terminating in a divided ring, and having below a transverse bar from which two enor- mous tassels are suspended. The other consists of five globular forms on a cross-bar. They were doubtless of