In art history a speech scroll (also called a banderole or phylactery) is an illustrative device denoting speech, song, or other types of sound.
Developed independently on two continents, the device was in use by artists within Mesoamerican cultures from as early as 650 BC until after the Spanish conquest in the 16th century, and 13th and 14th European painters. While European speech scrolls were drawn as if they were an actual unfurled scroll or strip of parchment, Mesoamerican speech scrolls are scroll-shaped, looking much like a question mark. It is used in heraldry for mottos or slogans and war-cries.
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