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	This article is part of the series on:; Military of ancient Rome (portal); 753 BC – AD 476
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A modern re-enactor holding a vexillum with a scorpion, the sign of the Praetorians which was used to honor the Emperor Tiberius for building the Praetorian Camp in Rome. Tiberius' Astrological sign was scorpio.
Photo: Associazione Culturale Cisalpina - Cohors III Praetoria.

The vexillum (plural vexilla) was a flag-like object used in the Classical Era of the Roman Empire. The word is itself a diminutive for the Latin word, velum, sail, which confirms the historical evidence (from coins and sculpture) that vexilla were literally "little sails" i.e. flag-like standards. In the vexillum the cloth was draped from a horizontal crossbar suspended from the staff; this is unlike most modern flags in which the 'hoist' of the cloth is attached directly to the vertical staff. The bearer of a vexillum was known as a vexillarius. Just as in the case of the regimental colors or flag of Western regiments, the vexillum was a treasured symbol of the military unit that it represented and it was closely defended in combat.^[1]

Nearly all of the present-day regions of Italy preserve the use of vexilla. Many Christian processional banners are in the vexillum form; usually these banners are termed labara after the standard adopted by the first Christian Roman emperor Constantine I.