: Martin may be right, as a passage from ROTK suggests, in
: describing the standard Aragorn unfurls on the Corsair
: flagship:

: "There flowered a White Tree, and that was for Gondor; but
: Seven Stars were about it, and a high crown above it, the signs
: of Elendil that no Lord had borne for years beyond count..."

: It seems -- logically -- that the Seven Stars and the crown
: were the common symbols of the House of Elendil, whether in its
: Northern or Southern branches. Martin's suggestion that the
: crown and stars were arrayed around his cypher is as likely as
: any in the absence of better evidence, which I hope someone can
: provide.

In Letter 211 Tolkien says that Gondor had a crown and Arnor had a diadem (for the kings, as the ancient Egyptian kingdoms had similar ornaments). So I believe the emblems in Aragorn's banner stand for the following:

1) The Seven Stars = The House of Elendil

2) The White Tree = Gondor

3) The Crown = the King (in this case, the High King, rather
than the King)

Aragorn was basically claiming the throne as Elendil's Heir, not as either Isildur's (a claim which had been rejected) or Anarion's (which claim, apparently, he could not assert because Gondor recognized only candidates descended of a male line).

: It also puts the political significance of Aragorn's act in a
: better light. That he had the right to claim the kingship of
: the defunct Kingdom of Arnor, and display its symbols, no one,
: not even Denethor, could have challenged; but by displaying the
: Tree, Stars and crown, he was specifically displaying only his
: claim to Gondor's throne. It was indeed a bold act, and one
: which could have generated great difficulties if Denethor had
: not committed suicide. Not that there was much to lose -- the
: Dunedain of the North had not the power or the base to
: reconstitute the Kingdom of Arnor save as an adjunct to a
: revived Gondor.

Aragorn would have confronted Denethor with a Gondorian army and a great victory to back up his claim to the throne. It would have weakened the West's resolve for there to be conflict between Aragorn and the Steward, however, so Denethor's suicide averted what could have been total disaster. What would have happened if Sauron did not feel the need to empty Mordor of his soldiers, but rather concentrated on finding the "spies" who were slinking around his realm?

: Of course, it appears that Aragorn intended Gondor's standard
: to be the symbol of the entire Reunited Realm after assuming
: the throne -- or at least there is no evidence to the contrary.

I believe this would have been perfectly acceptable. It would have been Aragorn's standard, previously unused in history.

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Parma Endorion: Essays On Middle-earth, Revised Edition