Fasces

Fasces - wikipedia.org
The traditional Roman fasces consisted of a bundle of birch rods tied together with a red ribbon as a cylinder around an axe. One interpretation of the symbolism suggests that despite the fragility of each independent single rod, as a bundle they exhibit strength.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasces
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Fasces - livius.org
The word fasces means "bundle" and refers to the fact that it is a bundle of rods, which surrounded an ax in the middle. In ancient Rome, the lictors carried fasces before consul, praetors and dictators, i.e., magistrates that held imperium (which means that they had the right to command and interpret the flight of the birds).
livius.org/fa-fn/fasces/fasces.html

Fasces - The Titi Tudorancea Learning Center
Believed to date from Etruscan times, the symbolism of the fasces at one level suggested strength through unity. The bundle of rods bound together symbolizes the strength which a single rod lacks. The axe symbolized the state's power and authority. The ribbons binding the rods together symbolized the state's obligation to exercise restraint in the exercising of that power.
tititudorancea.org/z/fasces.htm