Staff of office

Staff of office is a staff and carrying it often denotes social rank or prestige.

Church sidesmen[?] or dodsmen[?] bear sticks or wands[?] of office; bishops may wield their croziers[?] or crooks[?]; monarchs often flaunt sceptres. A gold- or silver-topped cane[?] can express social standing (or dandyism). Military officers carry a residual threat of physical punishment in their swagger sticks[?], and the conductors of orchestras have in their batons symbols of authority as well as tools of their trade.

Compare coporate bodies' use of maces. And note Sigmund Freud's views on phallic symbolism[?].