To bear a company's standard into war is among the highest honours a Space Marine can be granted, and the warrior charged with it is called the Ancient. Chosen from the most steadfast and courageous veterans, the Ancient carries aloft a banner heavy with the accumulated glory of his brothers, each battle-honour and campaign badge a thread in a tapestry of the company's history.
The standard is far more than cloth and thread. It is a rallying point amid the chaos and din of battle, a visible promise that the company stands unbroken. Astartes who fight in its shadow are lifted to greater feats of courage, their resolve hardening at the sight of it held high against the smoke and fire. For that reason the enemy strives above all to bring it down, and the Ancient must be a warrior of exceptional might as well as devotion.
Should the Ancient fall, another must take up the banner before it touches the ground, for to let a company's colours be lost is a shame beyond enduring. Grim and unyielding, the Ancient wades into the fiercest fighting, holding the standard aloft as both a beacon to his brothers and a defiance hurled into the teeth of the foe.
Order of battle
