THE WHITE FLAG
Two hundred years after Christ, China’s Han Dynasty began its ruthless conquest of neighboring territories. During a particular battle, an enemy soldier, knowing he was defeated, stripped off part of his shirt and waved it in the air. It was an act of surrender – thus began the tradition of ending a battle by waving the white flag.
For the 1st-century Roman soldiers, their ‘white flag’ was their shield. When surrendering, a centurion would drop his sword and raised his shield above his head – an act of defenseless yielding. An act of surrender.