Black Rod 1350 by royal letters patent, though the current title dates from 1522. The position was adopted by other members of the Commonwealth when they adopted the British Westminster system. The title is derived from the staff of office, an ebony staff topped with a golden lion, which is the main symbol of the office's authority. A ceremonial rod or staff is a common type of symbol indicating the authority of the office-holder. Depictions of ancient authority figures in many cultures include such a rod (alternatively called a sceptre). Another early example was the fasces (literally a bound bundle of rods)
Caduceus as a symbol of medicine documented mistakes, misunderstandings and confusion. Before the ancient Romans and Greeks (about 2612 BCE), older representations from Syria and India of sticks and animals looking like serpents or worms are interpreted as a direct representation of traditional treatment of "dracunculiasis", the Guinea worm disease. While there is ample historical evidence of the use of the caduceus, or herald's staff, to represent Hermes or Mercury (and by extension commerce and negotiation), early evidence of any symbolic association between the caduceus and medicine or medical practice is scarce and ambiguous. It is likely linked to the alchemical "universal solvent", Azoth, the symbol