An Edict of Obliteration, also known as a Damnatio Memoriae, a High Gothic phrase meaning "condemnation of memory," is the policy of the deliberate destruction of icons and other symbols or monuments pertaining to an individual, usually of the Imperial elite, who has been declared Excommunicate Traitoris by the Emperor of Mankind (before he was interred within the Golden Throne), the High Lords of Terra or the Inquisition. An Edict of Obliteration is a frequent component of major political or religious changes within the Imperium. The term encompasses the more specific destruction of images of a member of the Imperial elite after his death or overthrow. The result of an Edict of Obliteration is to have the offending individual effectively erased from Imperial history.