A draco was a Roman cavalry military standard borne by a draconarius

Draconarius

For the spider genus in the family Amaurobiidae, see : Draconarius .The draconarius was a type of signiferi who bore a cavalry standard known as a draco in the Roman army.- Name :...

. It was the standard of the cohort as the eagle was that of the legion.

In Europe, the dragon was originally a Dacian

Dacians

The Dacians were an Indo-European people, very close or part of the Thracians. Dacians were the ancient inhabitants of Dacia...

 emblem. It is believed that Romans adopted it from the Dacians, after their defeat or from the Parthians — according to Fiebiger.

Draco took the form of a gaping wolf's head and mouth formed from cast metal, to the end of which was attached a 'body' of cloth or silk fabric in the form of a windsock

Windsock

A windsock is a conical textile tube designed to indicate wind direction and relative wind speed. Windsocks typically are used at airports and at chemical plants where there is risk of gaseous leakage...

. When charging, the body would billow out behind the head. It is also thought that the draco was sometimes fitted with a whistle of some form, since there are descriptions of it making a howling sound when borne into battle.

External links

• The Draco, the Late Roman military standard