A rant on the Atreides standards: The standards are composed of green and black. The hawk symbol commonly used for them wasn't, from analysis of the original stories, actually used as their emblum. This rumor probably started by this quote in the first book, relating to possible futures envisioned by Paul: "The other path held long patches of grey obscurity except for peaks of violence. He had seen a warrior religion there, a fire spreading across the universe with the Atreides green and black banner waving at the head of fanatic legions drunk on spice liqour. Gurney Halleck and a few others of his father's men--a pitiful few--were among them, all marked by the hawk symbol from the shrine of his father's skull." This mark would have originated from the hawk-like facial appearence of the red duke (Leto 1) and thus would never have been used before his life. The original Atreides, and only consistant, standard is a "green and black banner with a water tube in its staff." His father's men, during the jihad, were envisioned to bear the hawk crest which was found on the shrine to Leto I Atreides. Pauls personal symbol, the symbol of Muad'dib, is a "moon symbol...a falling moon." It is possible to assume that with every change of the Duke, a new symbol would be used on the standard, as is common with mideval standards. But the colours are the consistancy.
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