this post was submitted on 30 Jan 2026
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I mean, in Roman times (the Republic, you philistine) losing a flag/standard was a huge shame.
Later semaphores meant you could cut off communication by killing the flag bearer. Which would be beneficial in a battle
I don’t know if any of this is true though, just facts I learned from various places and Wikipedia articles. I wouldn’t trust me on this.
It's still a big shame to lose your flag. Granted, these days it's within the same military, generally the same brigade or lower. But there's still intra military respect/shame based on your flag and who's in possession of it.
Flags in later combat were used for the same reason (and with the same notions of honor and dishonor from losing it) as Roman standards. The flagbearers were around to KEEP THE COLORS HIGH, both to encourage the troops and to give them something recognizable to follow in the chaos of the battlefield. Lost your way? Look for the standard waving at the front of your unit, and follow them forward!
The flagbearers of the US Civil War were separate from the signaling corps, who used different flags and had to run them up and down as needed.
"A man who loses the King's Colours... loses the King's friendship."
https://youtu.be/CG7daMnrNuY
Still, shooting the flagbearer is Standard procedure 😏