Virge

For the graphics accelerator, see S3 ViRGE.

A virge or verge (from Latin virga) is a type of rod, made of wood.

Traditional virge with brass ball and small cross on top

Etymology

Originally it was one or more branches (the French often use verges, the plural of its equivalent, as the normal word for a rod, the rarer singular verge rather indicates a switch) used as an instrument for corporal punishment, or as a riding crop. It later became a symbol of civil office, used in ceremonies of swearing fealty (from which the legal term tenant by the verge is derived). Further deriving from this use is the sense of a measurement, and so boundary or border, of land, or generally a margin of space.^[1]

Modern practice

In modern times it is best known as the ceremonial staff of the Anglican and Episcopal lay church officers known as vergers (or originally virger – the title derives from virge), who originally used it as a 'weapon' to make way for the ecclesiastical procession (compare the Catholic Swiss Guard), and occasionally to chastise unruly choristers.