Flabellum

A flabellum (plural flabella), in Christian liturgical use, is a fan made of metal, leather, silk, parchment or feathers, intended to keep away insects from the consecrated Body and Blood of Christ and from the priest,[1] as well as to show honour.

[2] The Apostolic Constitutions, a work of the fourth century, state (VIII, 12): "Let two of the deacons, on each side of the altar, hold a fan, made up of thin membranes, or of the feathers of the peacock, or of fine cloth, and let them silently drive away the small animals that fly about, that they may not come near to the cups".

Through the influence of Count Ditalmo di Brozza, the fans formerly used at the Vatican were presented by Pope Leo XIII in 1902 to Joseph Drexel's widow; in return, she replaced them with a more gorgeous and costly pair.

[6] The spread is formed of great ostrich plumes tipped with peacock feathers; on the palm (base of the fan) are the arms of the Holy See, worked in heavy gold on a crimson field, the tiara being studded with rubies and emeralds.

The flabellum of the thirteenth century in the Abbey of Kremsmünster in Upper Austria has the shape of a Greek cross and is ornamented with fretwork and the representation of the Resurrection of Christ.