According to Hugh Nibley, when Israel went to war, the people were rallied by such inscriptions [as in Alma 46-12-13] on the banners. The banner was called the nes, which the lexicon will tell you means "a pole, a flag, a standard, a signal, an assignment." "Title" (see Alma 46:13) is the best translation you could give that. It also says it gave them title to the land; the emphasis on the land is very important all the way through here. [Hugh W. Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 3, p. 37]
“Moroni Called It the Title of Liberty”
According to Thomas Valleta, first-time readers of the Book of Mormon are often surprised at the number of references to "freedom" and "liberty." Actually, "freedom" appears 26 times in the book of Alma, all between chapters 43 and 63. There are only three other direct references in the entire Book of Mormon. The term "liberty" or its derivative appears thirty-three times in these same Alma chapters, more than the rest of the Book of Mormon put together. . . . Both "freedom" and "liberty" (Hebrew: deror and hopsi) have their Hebrew roots in emancipation from slavery. As is true of Joseph as an individual and Israel as a nation, freedom and liberty came because of making and keeping covenants with God. [Thomas R. Valletta, "The Captain and the Covenant," in The Book of Mormon: Alma, The Testimony of The Word, pp. 236-237]
Alma 46:13 And he [Moroni] called it the title of liberty ([Illustration]): Captain Moroni Raises the Title of Liberty. Artist: Arnold Friberg. [The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Gospel Art, #312]
Note* In an interview with Margot Butler, Arnold Friberg, the artist who did the painting Captain Moroni Raises the Title of Liberty, had some interesting comments concerning it's creation:
[In Alma 46:12] we are reading the thought itself that Captain Moroni expressed on his banner. Now I am supposed to picture how he wrote it. He didn't write it in English. English was not yet invented. He wrote it in Hebrew. Mormon said he was engraving the plates in Reformed Egyptian because it takes less space. But if Moroni could write it in Hebrew it would be a lot clearer. . . . So I went to the Rabbi here [in Salt Lake City] and asked him to write the message in what would have been the common characters Lehi brought with him. It didn't look anything like present-day Jewish script. . . . [The ancient script is more correct] so I put it on the flag even though there were those who insisted that I letter it in English. [In another of my paintings, Mormon Bids Farewell to a Once Great Nation] you notice this flag [behind Moroni] is the same flag raised long ago by Captain Moroni when he rallied the Nephites to fight for freedom. I think they would have preserved . . . that flag of Captain Moroni's, the old Title of Liberty.
[Vern Swanson, "The Book of Mormon Art of Arnold Friberg: "Painter of Scripture," in Journal of Book of Mormon Studies , vol. 10, num. 1, 2001, pp. 34-35]
Alma 46:13 And he called it the title of liberty ([Illustration]): Title of Liberty [Gary E. Smith, Verse Markers, Book of Mormon, Vol. 1, p. 4]
Alma 46:13 And he called it the title of liberty ([Illustration]): Moroni and Title of Liberty [Paul Mann, Verse Markers, Book of Mormon, Vol. 1, p. 4]
Alma 46:13 And he [Moroni] called it the title of liberty ([Illustration]): Captain Moroni and the Title of Liberty. Moroni raises the title of liberty. Artist: Clark Kelley Price. [Thomas R. Valletta ed., The Book of Mormon for Latter-day Saint Families, 1999, p. 400]