It's possible the Chi Rho replaced the eagle as the predominant decorative mount on military banners. Unlike the eagle we actually do know this symbol was used very commonly to top military standards during the Christian era. This symbol being a monogram of the first two letter of the Greek name for Christ, О§ОЎО™ОЈО¤ОџОЈ (Christos). The eagle while still used for most of the Byzantine period, fell out of fashion in favor of another symbol when Constantine converted to Christianity. It's possible they were also still used on military standards, although there's not much definitive evidence to prove it. The eagle would like in Ancient Rome be used to symbolize strength and the power of the Empire. That being the single headed Imperial Eagle. The oldest of the Byzantine insignia actually goes back to before the Byzantine era, back to the Roman Republic actually. Now there were other symbols to identify with the Empire before this, but none of these were used in the way a flag is today and were by no means uniform.

However this banner did not come into use until the 14th Century, which is close to the end of the Empire's life cycle. The meaning of the four ОІ's is disputed, but the most commonly accepted one is that it is an acronym for ' О’О±ПѓО№О»ОµбЅєП‚ ОІО±ПѓО№О»ОП‰ОЅ ОІО±ПѓО№О»ОµПЌП‰ОЅ ОІО±ПѓО№О»ОµПЌОїП…ПѓО№ОЅ', in English 'King of Kings, ruling over the kings/rulers'. The cross was surrounded by four ОІ's (or Beta's if you will). The cross as far as we know didn't have much of a meaning or dedication other than the obvious christian symbolism. The flag was composed of a yellow cross on a red field (Red and yellow were traditional colors of Rome since antiquity, and continue to be the colors of the city of Rome today). As such the Byzantine Empire never really had a official state flag, the closest they got to a 'national flag' was the dynastic banner of the Palaiologos dynasty, also known as the Tetragrammic Cross, which is why you see it so often. Official national flags the way we know them today did not exist during most of the Middle Ages and Late Antiquity. Someone else asked this same question on this sub a few weeks ago, so I'll just X-post the answer I gave there with a few additions: Visit our vex wiki for related subreddits, previous flag contests, and more information about vexillology! Link Flair & Filters Link Flair Chart All types of flags Review Submission Rules, especially: - Don't Editorialize Titles - No memes or other fluff content - Add context in the comments - Mashups only on Mondays (UTC) User Flair Don't crosspost to meta/political subs 6.

Flag of the byzantine empire