labarum
Sign in to savethumb|The Labarum of Constantine I, reconstructed from the depiction on a follis minted . The three dots represent "medallions" which are said to have shown portraits of Constantine and his sons. 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 (ρ). It was first used by the Roman emperor Constantine the Great.
~13 min read
Article
10 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- History
- Vision of Constantine
- Possible origins
- Eusebius' description of the labarum
- Iconographic career under Constantine
- Later usage
- See also
- Notes
- Bibliography
thumb|The Labarum of Constantine I, reconstructed from the depiction on a follis minted . The three dots represent "medallions" which are said to have shown portraits of Constantine and his sons. 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 (ρ). It was first used by the Roman emperor Constantine the Great.
Ancient sources draw an unambiguous distinction between the two terms "labarum" and "Chi-Rho", even though later usage sometimes regards the two as synonyms. The name labarum was applied both to the original standard used by Constantine the Great and to the many standards produced in imitation of it in the Late Antique world, and subsequently.