Oh, I agree completely - look at the sacred sword of Japan, etc. Maybe the trident?
Double-headed axes (labrys) used to be used for their symbolic meaning, way before swords, although there’s argument on whether as weapon of war or sacrificial tool. But given the association with the various Bull Cults (in Anatolia and Crete) and the impracticality of that shape in war, probably the latter.
So today’s pistol does indeed fill almost the exact same role as the sword did in yesteryear, in that it’s not a primary weapon- people use rifles and machine guns for that, but if the shit hits the fan bad enough, it’s something to use on bad guys in close.
Which probably explains why officers are often only armed with pistols- their job isn’t necessarily to do the fighting, so the wearing of a pistol is kind of a status symbol, much like wearing a sword once was.
Of course for soldiers who may actually use their pistols like say… Delta Force commandos, it’s a necessary tool, much like the sword of a Hoplite would have been.
The trident is an interesting one: it is the national symbol of Ukraine, albeit very stylized. No-one knows exactly why, but it is speculated it derived from the Greek symbol for the sea god, inherited from the Greek Black Sea colonies.
