Seal of the Lords

Adama shows Tigh his medallion while explaining his reasoning for entering the magnetic void (Lost Planet of the Gods, Part II).

Commander Adama normally wears a peculiar medallion with his commander's robes.

He explains to Colonel Tigh that the medallion is a symbol of the Colonial faith, as well as a symbol of authority. The medallions are passed to members of the Quorum of Twelve.

The medallion is also used in the sealing ceremony, where the master of ceremonies wraps the medallion's chains around the bride and groom's hands as each holds the other's hands, with the medallion itself on top.

On Kobol, in search of answers to the whereabouts of Earth, Commander Adama uses the medallion as a key that opens the tomb of the Ninth Lord of Kobol, as well as to circumvent the cage-trap in the corridor leading to the tomb. The diamond-shape of the medallion also served as a mirror to reflect light to photo-sensitive eyes of the animal-figures within the tomb, thus opening the actual resting place beneath the faux sarcophagus (Lost Planet of the Gods, Part II).

Notes

• Adama's medallion is analogous to the Arrow of Apollo in the Re-imagined Series story arc. As in "Lost Planet of the Gods," the new series' characters also search for the way to Earth by accessing another ancient tomb of a Lord of Kobol, where the Arrow is the key to the data in the episode, "Home, Part II."
• The prop of Adama's medallion appeared later in the Glen A. Larson television series "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" as the amulet to stop the Vorvon in the episode "Space Vampire."

Re-imagined Series definition: battlestar landing bay mechanism that arrests a landing Viper, Raptor or other small craft (TRS: "Final Cut")