Palaiologos - Emblems

Emblems

See also: Byzantine heraldry

  • Flag of the Palaiologos dynasty. The four Bs, or pyrekvola, represent the initials of the family's motto.

  • The double-headed eagle, the most recognized emblem of the Byzantine Empire, with the dynastic cypher of the Palaiologoi in the center.

  • Variant of the imperial flag from the Libro del Conoscimiento (ca. 1350) for the "Empire of Constantinople", featuring the cross of St George and the tetragrammic cross.

The ensign of the Empire under the Palaiologoi, attested in several sources of the 14th and 15th centuries, comprises the so-called "tetragrammatic cross", which is a cross between four firesteels (Greek: πυρέκβολα) each resembling a B. The firesteels have been interpreted as the initials of the imperial motto Βασιλεὺς Βασιλέων Βασιλεύων Βασιλευόντων (Basileus Basileon Basileuon Basileuonton) or Βασιλεὺς Βασιλέων Βασιλεύων Βασιλεῦσι (Basileus Basileon Basileuon Basileusi), translated as "king of kings, ruling over rulers". Another common emblem used by the Palaiologoi as a purely dynastic symbol was the double-headed eagle, occasionally displayed bearing the family's sympilema, or dynastic cypher, on the breast.

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