Indian Epigraphy c11.t9.18

c11.t9.18

It appears that, in some cases, the emblem was an image fixed at the top of the banner-pole; but sometimes it may have been painted on the flag-cloth. That the dhvaja was often an image on a pole is suggested by the statement of Curtius that an image of Heracles (i.e. Vāsudeva-Kṛṣṇa) was being carried in front of the army of Porus (i.e. the Paurava king) as it advanced against the Greeks led by Alexander the Great.³ In this connection, it is interesting to note that some coins of the Imperial Guptas, who had the Garuḍa emblem on their dhvaja and seal, bear the representation of a standard surmounted by the figure of Garuḍa.⁴ The epic and Puranic literature suggests that the image of the individual emblems of particular archers were fixed at the top of their chariots. In an excellent survey of this evidence, Hopkins has shown that dhvaja is sometimes used as a synonym of ketu, but that sometimes the former means the whole arrangement including the staff and image or banner, while the latter means only the symbol or banner. Ketu is sometimes also synonymous with patākā or flag, while dhvaja is the metalic top-piece of the staff or that together with the staff. It has also been shown that the staff bore flags beneath the emblem.⁵