Labarum

is the name given to the old standard or flag of Christian nations. Its derivation is uncertain, but it has variously been considered as coming from λαβεῖν, λαίφη, λαφυρον, luboro, etc. Some, with Prudentius, pronounced both as short; others (Alt.helm, De laud. Viry.) considered the first as long. Sozomen has it λάβωρον; Chrysostom, λάβουρον. (Comp., on the etymology, Gretser, De Cruce, lib. iii.) We find this name already applied to the Roman standard in coins of the republic and of the first emperors, especially on those connected with the wars against the Germans, Sarmatians, and Armenians. The labarum obtained its Christian signification under the emperor Constantine the Great. who, after his conversion, placed the image of the cross on his standards, and caused it to be received at Rome as the σωτήριον τροπαῖον. Henceforth it was considered as σημεῖονπολεμικὸν τῶν ἄλλων τιμυώτερον. it was carried in advance of the other standards, looked upon as an object of adoration by the Christian soldiery, and was surrounded by a guard of fifty picked men. Eusebius, who describes it with great particularity (in Vita Constantin. li, cap. 30, 31; Baronius, Annales Ecclesiast. A.D. 312, No. 26), relates that Constantine was induced to place the Christian symbol on the Roman standard by having in vision seen a shining cross in the heavens. (This vision may be denied or variously explained from subjective causes; compare the article SEE CONSTANTINE, and Schaff, Ch. Hist. ii, § 2.) The Roman labarum consisted of a long gilt spear, crossed at the upper end, and a crown towards the top, made either of gold or of precious stones, and bearing the monogram of Christ (thus or ,) which the emperor afterwards wore also on his helmet. From the spear was suspended a square piece of silken veil, on which the likeness of Constantine and of his sons was embroidered with gold. According to Prudentius (in Symmachus, i, 486), the image of Christ was embroidered on it. During the reign of Julian the labarum was made in its original shape, and bore the image of the emperor, along with those of Jupiter, Mars, and Mercury, but the standard of Constantine was restored under Valentine and Gratian. The labarum remained the standard of Rome until the downfall of the Western Roman Empire, under the names of labarum, crux, and vexillum ecclesicsticuem. The standards at present in use in some ceremonies of the Roman Catholic Church still consist of a spear, with a cross-piece, to which is attached a cloth covered with embroidery or painting. The most renowned masterpiece of Christian art, Raphael's Madonna del Sisto, was originally made and used for this purpose. See Herzog, Real-Encyklop. vol. 8:s.v.; Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ii, 261 sq.; Martigny, Dict. des Antiquites, s.v.; Walcott, Sacred Archeology, s.v.; Voisin, Diss. crit. sur la Vision de Constantin (Paris, 1774). (J. H.W.)