Standard. In its widest sense, a standard is a flag or ensign under which men are united together for some common purpose. The use of the standard as a rallying-point in battle takes us back to remote ages. The Jewish army was marshaled with the aid of standards belonging to the four tribes of Judah, Reuben, Ephraim, and Dan; and the Egyptians had ensigns with representations of their favorite animals. The flag of Persia was white, and, according to Xenophon, bore in his time a golden eagle with expanded wings; it was fixed on a chariot, and thus conveyed to the field of battle. Æschylus, in enumerating the six chiefs who, headed by Polynices, set themselves in battle array against Thebes, describes the device on the standard of each. In the earliest era of Roman history, a bundle of hay or fern is said to have been used as a military standard, which was succeeded by bronze or silver figures of animals attached to a staff, of which Pliny enumerates five,—the eagle, the wolf, the minotaur, the horse, and the boar. In the second consulship of Marius, 104 B.C., the other animals were laid aside, and only the eagle retained, and down to the time of the later emperors, the eagle, often with a representation of the emperor’s head beneath it, continued to be carried with the legion. On the top of the staff was often a figure of Victory or Mars. Each cohort had also an ensign of its own, consisting of a serpent or dragon woven on a square piece of cloth, and elevated on a gilt staff with a cross-bar. Under the Christian emperors, the [Labarum] was substituted for the imperial standard. Standards or ensigns among the Greeks were of different kinds; some had the representations of different animals, bearing some relation to the cities they belonged to. Among the earlier Greeks the standard was a piece of armor at the end of a spear; though Agamemnon, in Homer, uses a purple vail to rally his men, etc. Afterwards the Athenians bore the olive and owl; the Thebans, a sphinx; the other nations, the effigies of their tutelary gods, or their particular symbols, at the end of a spear. The Corinthians carried a pegasus, the Messenians their initial Μ, and the Lacedæmonians Λ. But the most frequent ensign among the Greeks was a purple coat upon the top of a spear. The flag or standard elevated was a signal to begin the battle, and the standard depressed was a signal to desist. The Anglo-Saxon ensign was splendid. It had on it the white horse, the Danish being distinguished by the raven. Various standards of great celebrity occur in mediæval history, among which may be enumerated the [Flag of the Prophet] (which see); the standard taken from the Danes by Alfred of England; and the Oriflamme, originally belonging to the Abbey of St. Denis, and borne by the counts of Vexin, which eventually became the standard of the French kingdom. In the Middle Ages the ensigns of the army were the [banderols], [banners], [guidons], [pencels], and [pennons], for which see appropriate headings. In strict language, the term standard is applied exclusively to a particular kind of flag, long in proportion to its depth, tapering towards the fly, and, except when belonging to princes of the blood royal, slit at the end. Each baron, knight, or other commander in feudal times, had a recognized standard, which was distributed among his followers. The length of the standard varied according to the rank of the bearer. A king’s standard was from 8 to 9 yards in length; a duke’s, 7 yards; a marquis’s, 61⁄2 yards; an earl’s, 6 yards; a viscount’s, 51⁄2 yards; a baron’s, 5 yards; a banneret’s, 41⁄2 yards; and a knight’s, 4 yards. There was never a complete coat of arms on the standard; it generally exhibited the crest or supporter with a device or badge of the owner, and every English standard of the Tudor era had the cross of St. George at the head. Standards were registered by the heralds, and the charges on them selected and authorized by an officer-of-arms.
Standard, Battle of the. See [Northallerton].
Standard Hill. A hill in England, so called because William the Conqueror upon it set his standard, before he gave battle to Harold.
Standard-bearer. An officer of an army, company, or troop, who bears a standard; an ensign of infantry or a cornet of horse.
Standard-rule. See [Inspection of Cannon].
Standing. Settled, established, not temporary. Standing army, is an army which is kept up by a country, and is liable to every species of duty, without any limitations being fixed to its service.
Standing. Rank; condition. It likewise signifies length of time; as, such an officer is of very old standing in the army.
Stanford Bridge. In Yorkshire, England. In 1066, Tostig, brother of Harold II., rebelled against his brother, and joined the invading army of Harold Hardrada, king of Norway. They defeated the northern earls and took York, but were defeated at Stanford Bridge by Harold, September 25, and both were slain.
Stang-ball. A projectile consisting of two half-balls united by a bar; a bar-shot.
Stanislaus, Saint. A Polish order of knighthood, founded by Stanislaus, king of Poland, in 1765; renewed by the emperor Alexander in 1815.