I have now had time to look at the word "pataka".
It is quite an interesting word.
It exists in Old Javanese, the form of Javanese that was in use prior to the establishment of the Second Kingdom of Mataram in the late 16th century. In Old Javanese the word "Petaka" can be understood in three ways, only two of which have a relationship to the name of a banner shaft finial. Dependent upon context, the word "Pataka" can mean:-
the top part of a house roof; a flag, a banner, a standard, a pennant, a sign, a symbol, an emblem, a badge, a war decoration, an insignia, a token, a mark, a signal, a decorative item, a coat-of-arms.
The unrelated meaning of the word relates to sin and evil doing. In BI there is a fairly common word that comes from the same root:- "malapetaka" = a disaster or great misfortune.
Pataka comes from the Sanscrit, where it has +20 ways of being understood, most of which relate to sin and evil doing, I can only find one word in Sanscrit that has a vague relationship to flags & etc:- "utpataka", which probably can be understood as "flying upwards".
It is really quite wonderful that this word has come from Sanscrit>Kawi>Old Javanese into Modern Javanese>Bahasa Indonesia, where in Modern Javanese and BI it is understood as flag, banner, standard, and apparently by those with an interest in tosan aji, as a banner shaft finial.
It is interesting to note that during the Majapahit era, banners were counted as weapons of war (Quaritch-Wales).
Some readers of this may be aware that for many years one of my pet hatreds has been the "Name Game". I have found that in order to avoid the heated idiocy that sometimes finds itself attached to debate or even discussion about "correct names", it is a very worthwhile exercise to explore the etymology of a word.
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