“His banner over me is love”
He has brought me to the house of wine, and his banner over me is love. (Song of Songs 2:4 BSB)
What it sounds like today
A vague, sentimental image of a flag of love.
The cultural key
The word behind this sounds merely poetic to us, but a 'banner' (degel) was a concrete military term: the standard around which a division of an army mustered, the flag it marched under and fought beneath (the tribes of Israel each camped 'under his own banner,' Numbers 2:2). To raise a banner over someone was to declare allegiance, ownership, and protection, publicly signaling whose side they were on and that they were defended. So 'his banner over me is love' means the beloved is openly, unashamedly claimed: love is the flag flying over her, marking her as his and placing her under his protection and championing. It is a bold, public declaration, not a soft sentiment, the beloved planting his standard and announcing to all that she is his and he will defend her. Knowing the military sense turns a greeting-card line into a proud claim of belonging.
Recovered meaning
A 'banner' was an army's standard, a mark of allegiance and protection. 'His banner over me is love' means she is openly claimed and shielded under the flag of his love, a bold public declaration of belonging rather than a soft sentiment.