BANDIERA, LITURGICAL use of the. - From the 10th century onward, b. were permitted as ornaments in sacred processions, where they precede the cortège or are carried before individual groups. The earliest representations of this kind are provided by a Troparion of Prüm (National Library of Paris) and by a fresco in the subterranean church of S. Clemente in Rome (11th century). At the same period they are mentioned in the testament of Leofric of Exeter (d. 1072) and in the decrees of
Lanfranco (1089; cf. PL 150, 450). As their number and size increased, so too did their decoration with paintings or embroidery, sometimes executed by great artists (Raffaello, Signorelli, etc.). According to current practice, no b. belonging to societies hostile to the Church, or bearing forbidden or condemned insignia or emblems, may be admitted into sacred places (Sacred Congregation of Rites, Decreta, 4390). Nothing is prescribed concerning the colour or material of b. The prayer of the Roman Ritual for the blessing of the b., for which special permission from the Ordinary must be requested, alludes to the ordered ranks of Christians, who glory in being under the banner of Christ, and who ask to be able to overcome all visible and invisible enemies and, after obtaining victory, to triumph in heaven. The b. are indeed a symbol of triumph and are therefore found as a distinguishing attribute in the hand of Christ rising again or descending into hell, and in the hand of the personified Church.