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Flags in the Bible

One of the names of God (used by Moses) in the Old Testament is "Jehovah Nissi" which means in English "the Lord our Banner" (Exodus 17:15).

In the New International Version (modern English translation) of the Bible, the word "banner" or "banners" appears 18 times, and the word "flagstaff" appears in Isaiah 30:17. In the King James Version (ancient English translation), "flag" is used in the sense of the plant, but the word "banner" appears 6 times. I haven't checked other translations, but the idea of a cloth object as a means of inspiration and cultural cohesiveness appears throughout the Old Testament.
Michael Wilson, 4 August 2004

In any way, it seems certain that some kind of objects that served as identification and gathering point were already present, at least in the time of the Exodus. Regarding the flag in the sense of piece of cloth on a staff, I don't think that there is a clear reference to such an object in the entire Old Testament, and possibly not even in the New one. Our concept of flag in the widest sense did not come up until much latter the the final compilation of the either of the two. On the other hand, evidence of vexilloids could be traced back in history 5000 years, to approximately a millennium before the Exodus.
Zeljko Heimer, 5 August 2004

The objects in question might not have been cloth, but rather some form of solid vexilloid.
Nathan Lamm, 5 August 2004

"Standard" is used 18 times in the King James Version (KJV). In the KJV it refers to standards in the Vexi sense -- other translations also use "standard" in the sense of "standard measurements".