Archaeology · Dacian world
Draco · the flying standard
Ancient Dacia · animal-headed military imagery
The exhibit
An animal-headed standard with a long, sinuous body gave Dacian military imagery one of its most memorable silhouettes.
A head rises above a pole; behind it trails a body that moves with the wind. Dacian draco standards appear in Roman representations of the Dacian wars. Modern reconstructions draw on these images, ancient descriptions and surviving comparative objects. The hybrid creature belongs to a wider ancient world of military standards, not to one people alone.