白旄黄钺

Mandarin

Etymology

白旄 (a white banner with a yak tail on the top of the pole) + 黄钺 (a gilded battle-ax: symbolic of the power and authority of an emperor or high official)

Noun

白旄黄钺 (simplified, Pinyin báimáo huángyuè, traditional 白旄黃鉞)

1. (archaic) white banners and gilded axes (signifying the start of a military expedition)

References

• (Can we date this quote?) Guanzhong Luo, Annotated Romance of the Three Kingdoms/Chapter 5, page 70, note 15 (in Mandarin), ISBN 957911305X:
• "白旄黄钺" (in Mandarin), Guoyu Cidian On-line Mandarin Dictionary (國語辭典). URL accessed on 2008-02-17.