Latin Passiontide hymn by
Venantius Fortunatus, used as one of the
office hymns of
Palm Sunday, and also on
Good Friday. The work's treatment of the imagery of the
cross as a
triumphant banner is characteristic of
Christian works of the period, and a similar theme can be found in the author's other famous Passiontide work,
Pange Lingua Gloriosi Proelium Certaminis. The two commonest translations of this work into
English are '
The Royal Banners Forward Go' and '
Abroad the Regal Banners Fly'.
Dante alludes to this hymn in the
Inferno, where he uses the line '
Vexilla Regis Prodeunt Inferni' - '
The Banners of the King of Hell go Forth'.
Vexilla Regis prodeunt:
Fulget Crucis mysterium,
Qua vita mortem pertulit,
Et morte vitam protulit.
Quae vulnerata lanceae
Mucrone diro, criminum
Ut nos lavaret sordibus,
Manavit unda, et sanguine.
Impleta sunt quae concinit
David fideli carmine,
Dicendo nationibus:
Regnavit a ligno Deus.
Arbor decora et fulgida,
Ornata regis purpura,
Electa digno stipite
Tam sancta membra tangere.
Beata, cuius brachiis
Pretium pependit saeculi,
Statera facta corporis,
Tulitque praedam tartari.
O Crux ave spes unica,
Hoc passionis tempore
Piis adauge gratiam,
Reisque dele crimina.
Te, fons salutis Trinitas,
Collaudet omnis spiritus:
Quibus Crucis victoriam
Lariris, adde praemium.
Everything Hymnal