TITLES, badges, and flags have been in use amongst all nations, through all ages. Rulers adopt them in order to assert for themselves their own chicfship, and they have conceded them as distinguishine, desin.nations to the eminent of their subjects. rEven°31altomed carried the black flag of his tribe, although he in every manner opposed all attempts at music, poetry, and painting, and prohibited all representations of living things. Angels, he said, enter not into a house where is a dog or a picture ; but the khalif vicegerents who succeeded him were less strict, and Abdul Malik is said even to have decorated the doors of a mosque at Jerusalem with portraits of their great apostles. At the battle of Bedr in the 2d year of the Hijira, the white fla,g of the Beni- Aus was unfurled. A little later Mahomed's own black standard led the 3Iuslitns to the sack of Khaibar, and the Abbassi khalifs continued the use of the black flag throughout their rule.
Ancient Egypt had a system of heraldry. In the 14th and 15th centuries A.D. the Muham madans of Egypt had a system of henddry, but it was not hereditary, and died out. But the Crusaders adopted the use of armorial bearings from the Saracens, and the Turk, 3Iongol, and Manchu distinguish their tribes and clans by banners of different colours.
In Europe, where,—whether it be by a crown or a collar ; a star, a cross, or a chain ; a medal, a device, or a seal ; a spur of honour or a sword of honour ; a mantle,. a ribbon or scarf, or any of the standards designative of military or naval rank,—sovereigns recompense merit of every denomination without making the gifts burden some to their subjects, neither the treasure of the State nor the Civil Pension List being in any way affected by such royal benefactions.
In Great Britain there aro seen fifty-three titular insig,nia, besides nine or ten recognised Orders granted by allies, and the badges of the Orders of the Garter, the Bath, the Thistle, and St. Patrick are to be seen suspended by blue, green, red, and pale-blue ribbons. During the latter half of the 18th century, the fortunes of the British in India were much bound up with those of the Walajah family, nawabs of Arcot. Their ebiefship may be regarded as a type of the short-lived monarchies of India ; and Surgeon-Major Balfour in 1858 brought to the notice of the Government that from 1801 the 1Yalajah; princes had bestowed 890 titles on 704 persons, and bad given also a great number of badges.
_ _ The titles which the Walajahi family had granted for Muhammadans were nawab, jah, umra, pulk, dowlab, jung, bahadur, khan ; and for Hindus, maharaja, raja, raja-raian, rae-raian, bahadur, rae and wunt ; and the insignia bestowed com prised the palki and nalki palanquins, the chour whisk of feathers ; the chatri and aftab gni, sun shade and umbrellas ; inalbus-i-khas or royal robes, with the ali-band or full-dress belt ; the overcoat or nim-astin, the khilat or robe of honour, wit.h shawls and shawl-dresses, the do-shala,
rumal-shal, slial-jama, and the jama-i-durdaman or brocaded dress; and separate jewels were bestowed, or a complete set, the juahar sir-a-pa. To these had been added ensigns of royalty, stan dards, flags, and colours and equipage, with the siphar, shamshir, and pesh kahz, shield, scimitar, and dagger ; the ilam, the naobut and naciara were the standard, the royal and martial drum, with the canopy, gong, and throne, shamiana, gharial, and musnud, and the fel-ba-saz-i-tilai-wa-jarib, the elephant with gold trappings and measuring rod. The highest of all the insignia was the mahi maratib, or fish banner ; but the titular military commandants were munsubdars of 1000 to 5200, and in the civil executive were granted the ink stand complete, the Kalm-dan-ba-lacrazama.
The British in India were slow to assume the regal prerogative of coining money in their own name, and the equally sovereign duty of honouring their Indian subjects with titular dignities. Until 1835, the East India Company, although they were virtuallyindependent rulers, continued to coin their gold and silver moneys in the name of Shah Alarn, the titular emperor of India, and only in that year did the rupee bear the effigies of King William iv. Two years later, in 1837, the Order of British Inclia of two classes, and the Order of Merit of three classes, were established to reward the sepoy soldiery for services in the field. But in the years 1855-56, the deaths of the Bhonsla rajas of Nagpur and Tanjore, and of the nawab of the Outtalk, closed the line of three native dynasties, and Surgeon-Major Balfour, while settling the affairs of the last-named prince, snggested to the Government to assume the royal duties of be stowing on the people appellations of dignity. There were in his cffice seven ex-servants of the deceased nawab, holders of titles, viz. Raja Girdhari Lal, Kriatwunt Bahadur ; Raja Eshwara Das, Dyawunt Bahadur ; Raja Hulas Rae, Dya Ilahadur ; Raja Tej Bhan Bahadur ; Rae Ruttan Chum' ; Rae Futteh Chund ; Terazish Khan Bahadur.