The flaming banners of our King

The flaming banners of our King. Venantius Fortunatus* (ca. 540- early 6th century), translated by John Webster Grant* (1919-2006). In The Hymnal 1982 Companion (Vol 3A, pp. 327-30), Grant traced alterations to the Latin text, ‘Vexilla Regis prodeunt’* up to modern Roman missals used as sources for 37 English translations published by 1907, as noted by JJ (pp. 1219ff), and described the circumstances of its composition. He described its effect through the ages: ‘Its strains…confirmed to the crusaders the conviction that they were called to holy warfare, while Jesuit missionaries intoned it in North American forests... While the use of banners and their incorporation into hymnody ultimately...