Historical: Moroni creates a banner as a means of super-communication with his people. This “super-communication” was a method by which a message could be easily proclaimed widely. We should remember that Moroni lived in a world devoid of our modern methods of communication, and he used a form of communication that had several advantages. It could be seen in addition to the oral message that came from the one carrying the banner, and the message could communicate without being able to hear the carrier of the banner. We must assume that what was written on the banner was sufficiently recognizable to enough people that the banner itself was an effective mode of communication. In addition, this banner quickly assumed the characteristics of other replicated banners – it became symbolic. Once the form had been replicated, it was not only able to say its message if people could read, it could present its message even when the individual could not read it directly. If he understood from others around him what the banner meant he could be inspired without being able to read it. We have a similar phenomenon in the most familiar of all banners, the flag. The flag is able to symbolize many messages simply because we can see it. The rapid proliferation of American flags in the wake of the September 11, 2001 tragedy is ample evidence that the banner can focus a common sentiment in a population.
Banners have a long tradition in both Asia and in Mesoamerica. Of the Asian banners, Nibley notes:
“Another Book of Mormon custom on which the discovery of the Scrolls has thrown brilliant light is what might be called the cult of the banner. A text designated by the modern title of “The Rule of Battle for the Sons of Light” shows that the Jews shared with other people of antiquity “a mystical conception of war,” according to which the carnage of the battlefield was “a sacred act” surrounded by definite ritual.
The document in question contains special instructions for the Children of the Covenant on the marshaling of the hosts for war:
“On the great ensign placed at the head of all the army shall be inscribed: ‘Army of God’ together with the name of the twelve tribes of Israel. On the ensign of the thousand group shall be inscribed: ’Wrath of God, full of anger, against Belial and all the people of his party, without any survivors.‘ On the ensign of the hundred group shall be inscribed ’From God comes the energy to fight against all sinful flesh.’ ” Other inscriptions are given for the other military units, all of them more or less lengthy and proclaiming some inspiring principle or program to guide the hosts, and there are special inscriptions for entering battle, engaging in battle, and returning from battle.
The flag is an Asiatic invention, fn and there is a very ancient legend of how in the beginning when Iran was under the rule of the serpent, a blacksmith named Kawe put his leather apron upon a pole, and “that was the flag of Iranian independence, which, under the name of dirafsh-i-kâwiyâni [Flag of Kawe], remained the national standard down to the time of the Arab conquest.” To lead the nation under its new flag of liberation, the hero Threataona was raised up in the mountains. This Threataona is a doublet of King Cyrus, founder of the Persian nation, who holds such a high and holy place in Jewish tradition that he is next to Solomon alone the holiest of kings. (Hugh Nibley, The Prophetic Book of Mormon [Salt Lake City and Provo: Deseret Book Co., Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1989], 93.)
Moroni did not invent the concept of the banner. It was well known in Mesoamerica by Moroni’s time. What Moroni did was adopt that known method of symbolic communication to a new need, a renewal of the fundamental commitment of the Nephite people to their way of life.
Variant: In the manuscripts and editions through 1911, the final phrase was “and he fastened it upon the end of a pole thereof.” The word “thereof” was deleted as redundant.