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Hiya guys. does anyone know of there being an official imperial flag? i heavily doubt there would be one, but if there were one what do you think it may look like? we all know it would have a giant great aquila on it but other than that what features do you think it would carry?

None. At least not for an Imperial banner. Simplicity wins.

Well, aside from any purity seals and similar small decoration that may show up there in addition to the simple stylized Aquila.

That said, the Imperium's forces universally seem to employ their own standards rather than those of the IoM, though there is always a visible connection.

I figured the back of the regimental banner that Krell carries would do; it's Cadian on the front but the rear is a simple black flag with a white Aquila.

There isn't an official one that I'm aware of, but Henners is prolly right, a mono color field with an Aquila on it would probably be correct.

:/ thats rather dull. what are the symbols of the imperium other than the aquila?

Black Bear wrote::/ thats rather dull. what are the symbols of the imperium other than the aquila?

Skulls... i wish i was kidding...

Skulls. A fair few of them.




The Ecclessiarchy sports the fluer-de-lys as well. That's the basic recipe.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ninja'd, Emperor damn it!

The Aquila is the official symbol of the Imperium. Originally it was the Emperor's personal heraldry, only carried by the Custodes and the Emperor's Children.

Prior to that, the Imperium's symbols were varied. the Fist clutching a thunderbolt was the Emperor's original hereldry when he united Terra and the symbol remained on the suits of the earlier marks of PA worn by the first Astartes.

the Winged Skull is another popular symbol.

Calling the Aquila boring is HERESY.

I don't think that the IoM has a flag, I think that they just generally assume that if you're human your part of the Empire. If there was more then one human faction , they might need a flag.

The Imperium is the Imperium.

you see skulls, aquilas, more skulls, skulls with wings, skulls with typewriters and wings... its the Imperium.

In a place as big as the Imperium it'd be hard to have one flag without a lot of planets or systems having slightly different ones. As long as they have an aquila and at least 10 skulls you're good.

Adding skulls to your planet's aquila flag is like adding extra flair... you don't just want to have the minimum number of skulls, do you?

lol

I can see an Administratum agent arriving on a new planet and admonishing them because they didn't put enough skulls on the official government buildings and the planetary flag

The Romans only needed an Eagle for their flag, too, why should the Imperium be different? Especially given that GW has taken a lot of influence from the Roman Empire there. Variations may of course exist, but - though this is just my opinion - it wouldn't extend beyond subtle changes to the shape of the Aquila (and we have seen several different versions in existence) or at maximum toying around a bit with the basic colours (black on white, white on black, gold on red, ...). More variation can likely be found on the banners of local governments or military forces (etc), though, which are intended to signify the respective unit first and the Imperium second.

That said, another popular icon would be the "I" which is then modified slightly to be the official symbol of the various Imperial Adepta. The Ecclesiarchy adds a skull with a halo to it, the Arbites a pair of scales, the Inquisition three bars, the Sisterhood a pair of wings, etc.

I don't think you ever see a lone "I" without any Adepta markings on a flag, but it does occasionally show up as ornamentation, such as the head of a Missionary's staff.

As for a skull with wings, wasn't that the Adeptus Astartes symbol?

It's pretty much this:



It's certainly the de facto symbol of the Imperium, seen everywhere and used extensively on banners. Basically fulfills the requirements of a flag.

I believe one head represents the Adeptus Terra and the other the Mechanicus.

Lynata wrote:

As for a skull with wings, wasn't that the Adeptus Astartes symbol?

No.

Imperial Army / Guard

My profile picture could be good Imperium official flag...

1hadhq wrote:

Lynata wrote:

As for a skull with wings, wasn't that the Adeptus Astartes symbol?

No.

Imperial Army / Guard

Hm, I must have confused it with the Imperialis that you often see on Marine power armour. I do recall the IG version to be far more stylized and "angular" though.

Good 'ole aquila...and some skulls.

If you wanted something different from a plain aquila, you could use the Emperor's old 'personal' badge: the lightning-bolt symbol which marked his warriors in the unification wars.

Or, you could just have a big picture of the saint and martyr Ollanius Pius.

The flags of the Imperium are varied an unique, owing to it's decentralized nature. At least that's how I spun it. The Aquila(and other related imagery) is simply a unifying symbol. My personal belief is that the two heads represent past and future. The one facing right represents the future, and is blind, representing fear of the unknown. The right head represents the past, and it's eyes are open, representing man's fallen glory.

Now that's depressing.

Well in HH they say it's the other way around. The sighted eagle looks to their utopian future the other blind to the past, especially the ages of superstition and religion.
...it's one of those ironic things.

Lynata wrote:

1hadhq wrote:

Lynata wrote:

As for a skull with wings, wasn't that the Adeptus Astartes symbol?

No.

Imperial Army / Guard

Hm, I must have confused it with the Imperialis that you often see on Marine power armour. I do recall the IG version to be far more stylized and "angular" though.

It surely began as a campaign badge in the Heresy and serves as a symbol of righteous victory in the "present" of 40k too. (insignium astartes)
So space marines may use it, but generally it is so common with IG ( plastic bit in kits, decals , on minis ) its hard to tell if the IG "claimed it"
or if the marines lack any significant amount of righteous victories to be entitled to sport it as often as guard does.
did I say that?
Maybe a common symbol that got more use in the guard and marines already have their Legion/chapter badge and other markings so it made sense to split it into the different designs we know.

hmmmm skulls and aquilas dosent give you much to work with really, would you say wreath's are in some way a threat to the emperors man hood and therefore heresy?