Song of Solomon 6:4 - "You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners."

In spite of all the problems that many people seem to attach to the national flag, there is still a moment for most of us when the sight of many flags flying in the sunlight brings a distinct catch of the breath, and an uplifting of the heart. There’s just no denying it - flags do have symbolic significance, whether, as many claim, that significance is outmoded, or whether it remains alive in our hearts. Still it is there.

The area in which I live is populated in large part by officers stationed at a nearby air base, and the flag flies proudly from many homes. Many a bereaved mother or widow or child cherishes the flag that was draped over the coffin of a dead patriot.

Most of us remember when the flags were remade to include Hawaii and Alaska. The flag manufacturers worked overtime then! But, even though there is no immediate prospect for again revising our flag to include new states, flag manufacturing is a thriving business.

And, in fact, it always has been. The use of flags or flag-like devices may be traced back as far as recorded history. But - not necessarily in the usage as we know it today. We almost always associate the flag in some way with war or military usage of one kind or another. However, strictly military use was not the primary design of the Hebrews. The only strictly military reference we have comes from the War Scroll found at Qumray and this comes from a different ideology altogether.

Actually, for the Hebrews, the word was used both literally and figuratively as a rallying point for God’s people. This is what was meant when God instructed Moses to have every man of Israel pitch his tent by his own tribal banners. This means that each tribe had a distinguishing banner, so that a straggler or newcomer could find his own people readily.

Nothing is known about the nature of these tribal standards, but the assumption is that they may have been animal standards raised on a pole or a spear. For example, we are reminded of the firey serpent standard which Moses erected on a pole. At any rate, each tribe’s was an individual, recognizable insignia, just as the flags of nations are distinguishable today.

It was the early significance of these animal standards that later led to trouble with Rome. The Romans, too, just like everyone else, used various symbols to top their banners, eventually ending with the representation of an eagle. That was all right, as long as they kept their banners in the field where they belonged. But when they brought them into the Temple, they were violating God’s restrictions against images and so trouble broke out - trouble which finally led to the destruction of Jerusalem the Beautiful.