The Cantabrian labarum ( Cantabrian: ''lábaru cántabru'' or ) is a modern interpretation of the ancient military standard known by the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

as '' Cantabrum''. It consists of a purple cloth on which there is what would be called in heraldry a "

saltire A saltire, also called Saint Andrew's Cross or the crux decussata, is a Heraldry, heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross. The word comes from the Middle French , Medieval Latin ("stirrup"). From its use as field sign, the saltire cam ...

voided" made up of curved lines, with knobs at the end of each line. The name and design of the flag is in the theory advocated by several authors of a relationship between the genesis of

labarum The labarum ( or λάβουρον) was a '' vexillum'' (military standard) that displayed the "Chi-Rho" symbol ☧, a christogram formed from the first two Greek letters of the word "Christ" (, or Χριστός) – '' Chi'' (χ) and ''Rho'' (� ...

and the military standard called ''Cantabrum'', thereby identifying both as a same thing; and the alleged relationship the

Codex Theodosianus The ''Codex Theodosianus'' ("Theodosian Code") is a compilation of the laws of the Roman Empire under the Christian emperors since 312. A commission was established by Emperor Theodosius II and his co-emperor Valentinian III on 26 March 429 an ...

established between the ''Labarum'' and the Cantabrarii, the school of Roman soldiers in charge of carrying the ''Cantabrum''. Additionally, and according to the definition of the Royal Academy of the Spanish language, labarum is the Roman standard (as in military ceremonial flag) on which, under Emperor Constantine's rule, the cross and the

Monogram A monogram is a motif (visual arts), motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbo ...

of Christ (

Chi-Rho The Chi Rho (☧, English pronunciation ; also known as ''chrismon'') is one of the earliest forms of the Christogram, formed by superimposing the first two (capital) letters—chi (letter), chi and rho (ΧΡ)—of the Greek (Romanization of ...

) was drawn. By association of ideas, labarum can refer just to the

monogram A monogram is a motif (visual arts), motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbo ...

itself, or even just the cross.

Etymologically Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...

, the word comes from ''(p)lab-'' which means ''to speak'' in a number of

Celtic languages The Celtic languages ( ) are a branch of the Indo-European language family, descended from the hypothetical Proto-Celtic language. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, following Paul-Yve ...

, many of which have derivatives. For example, in Welsh ' means "speech", "language", "voice". Ancient Cornish and

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally **Breton people **Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Gale ...

have ''lavar'', "word", and ancient Irish has ': "language", "speech". Estela 2

Legal status

The

plenary session A plenary session or plenum is a session of a conference or deliberative assembly in which all parties or members are present. Such a session may include a broad range of content, from keynotes to panel discussions, and is not necessarily r ...

of the

Parliament of Cantabria The Parliament of Cantabria is the unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Cantabria. It consists of 35 members called "deputies" which are freely elected by the citizens of the region. The Parliament convenes at the Saint Raphael H ...

, at its meeting of March 14 2016, approved a resolution as a result of the processing of the non-legislative proposal No. 9L/4300-0056 relative to the recognition of the Lábaro.Boletín Oficial del Parlamento de Cantabria, page 1978, 7 March 2016, No. 81
/ref> "The Parliament of Cantabria: 1. Recognizes the lábaro as a representative and identity symbol of the

Cantabrian people The Cantabrians ( Cantabrian and ) are the people who inhabit the autonomous community of Cantabria, in northern Spain."Even today, Cantabrians (the Pasiego included, Lebaniegos excluded), at the North of Spain, seem to be a genetically well diff ...

and the values they represent. 2. Urges the institutions and civil society of Cantabria to actively promote and participate in their knowledge and dissemination as an iconographic expression of the identity of the Cantabrian people. Keeping the official character of the flag of the Community of Cantabria and the rest of the institutional symbols of Cantabria."

References

Notes

External links

History of the Labaro
{{DEFAULTSORT:Labaru Cantabrian symbols Military symbols Flags of Spain Historical flags Red and yellow flags Military history of Cantabria

Legal status

See also

References

Notes

External links