Signum manipuli

Reenactment of Roman military with the signum manipuli carried by the aquilifer.

The signum manipuli (Latin for 'standard' of the maniple,latin: manipulus)was a standard for both the centuriae and the legion. The manipulus was a standard alternative to the vexillum and derives from the latin word 'manipulus'('handful' ) from a handful of straw (the original standard)^[1] suspended ontop of a pole and thus meant the soldiers belonging to the same group. There was only one signum manipuli for each of the manipulus group,i.e. , the maniple. At first the standards were the eagle(the Aquila), the wolf, the minotaur, the horse and the boar. In time there was only the eagle while the rest were abandoned.^[2]

Notes

1. Roman Battle Tactics 390-110 BC by Nic Fields at googlebooks
2. Regarding the standard from University of Pennsylvania