Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1873-09-25
Flags and Banners.

|
having some prominent object for & sig
nal, or railying- point, or special token
The first expression of this was a spear,
ornamented to distinguish it. The Egyp-
tian princes carried one covered with
silver, and surmounted with gold ball;
and they set the example of using some
peculiar mark for each tribe.
| When the Hebrew host was numbered,
every man was commanded to pitch his
tent by his own camp and his own
standard, with the ensign of his fathers
house. By ensign" is supposed to have
been meant the banner of his tribe, which
was, in It's groundwork, of the color of
the corresponding stone in the breast
plate, and had, painted or embroidered
on the field the mathematical figure, which
| all could UNDERSTANDINGS that of Issachar,
the picture of an ass bowed by his bur
den; that of Cad, troop of horse. The
word itself suggests something which
should be a token-it was sign, answer
| ing for body of men the same purpose
which the device did for the individual.
The earliest used by the Romans was a
bundle Of straw. borne aloft on the point
of the spear; then, the dragon, red or
purple; next, the eagle, in silver or gold,
with wings outspread-the famous Roman
eagle, under which their arms were vic
torious in SO many lands, known near and
far sign of conouest-and this was
| their military standard until Constantine
| the Great, in cOmmemOration of his vision
and the words ne heard, "In this over
come" changed It to the laba79im, or
standard of the cross.
Every national symbol has its history.
The crescent, which has been set against
| the cross on so many Eastern battle-felds,
representing the opposing force of Mo-
hammedanism, had its origin in the sim
! pie circumstance that the ancient city of
| ByZantium was saved from falling into
the hands of Philip and his army, be-
cause their approach was betrayed to the
| inhabitants by the light of the moon and,
IN consequence, they adopted the cres-
cent, which the Turks, when the place
came into their possession, retained, be-
lieving it to be Of good omen; and proba-
bly, in its meaning they saw a promise of
increasing power
MY powers crescent and my auguring hope
Says it will come to the full
Hardly less famed in history than the
labarum has been the oritlanune of France
("the standard of golden fiames''), a spear
of gold, and silk of the color of gold and
fire, gashed in five points, each finished
with a green silk tassel. The royal stand
ard was a gilded staff, and white silk
streWed with feurs delis. The orit1amme
was the consecrated banner, tabled to have
been brought by an angel to st. Denis,
whose name was on it. 1t was sacred to
him, and was suspended over his tomb in
the ancient abbey of st. Denis, and was
never taken down except on extraordinary
occasions, to be carried against heretics,
or when the crown was in danger. Then,
with its flaming folds above
them, shouting the war-cry, For
God and St. Denisr the knights
rushed with confidence into the fight.
1t was borne against the Flemings in
the battle in which Philip Won Arteveldt
most excellent banner, and had been sent
from heaven with great mystery. 1t is a
sort Of gd1tdn01a, and is of much comfort
in the day of battle to those who see it.
Proof was made of its virtues at this time;
for all the morning there was so thick
fog that with difficulty could they see
each other, but the moment the knight
had displayed it, and raised his lance in
the air, the fog instantly dispersed"
Ganfanon, which Chaucer uses, or gon-
talon, which Milton took directly from
the Italian, was properly sacred banner,
carried in religious professions
The words colors, flag, standard, ban
ner, pennon, and others, are often en-
ployed without discrimination. The first
may perhaps in general terms, stand for
all the rest.
advance our waving colors on the walls
Shakespeare there means the flag. But,
| originally, colors distinguished the indi-
vidual; and he was known in tt at way,
as we'll as by the device on his shield.
Those of the Tudors were green and
white. All of the insignia of the house of
Orange and its followers was of the gor-
geous hue of the family name. The Cid
of Spanish story had green
There were knights five hundred went armed
before
And Bermudez the Cid's green standard BORE
The meaning of standard would seem
| to be plain enough from the derivation
and ordinary use Of the word. The
standard might or it might not have
banner attached to it. The labarum had
one of silk, on which were embroidered
| the pictures of Constantine and his chill
dren. Although, by custom the two
| words are used without distinction, it is
nevertheless true that, though there might
| be thousand banners on the field, there
could be but one standard Of the king.
FZaq is said to be derived from the
AM lo-Saxon word meaning ''to fly be-
ca use the light material of which it is
made is lifted or tioated by every breeze.
In colloquial usage, it comprehends all
the others.
The difference between pennon and a
banner seems anciently to have been that
the former was long, the latter square, ex-
cept when belonging to prince. Frois-
sart who understood all about these
things, is particular about the use Of the
words, under the pennon OF st. George,
and attached to the banner of Sir John
| Chandos, were the free companions, who
had in the whole number twelve hundred
strednaerS."
The streamers were the little flags, of
which each knight carried one on his
lance, called variously penfa0nceaur, pen
sails, remnants, bdnder0les, and, by Spenser,
banneralls. This pennant was in the form
of a swallows tail; and, when the points
were cut off, it became banner, and the
rank of the one who bore it was advanced
he became leader of knights as well
as squircs Froissart describes the cere-
mony of creating the knight anneret, the
most honorable of all the orders, which
was always performed on the battlefield.
The word banner belongs to chivalry.
| 1t has been claimed from bdnp, to sum-
mon the vassals to appear in arms; from
ban, field, because none but landed men
could have one; and from banduna, the
band of union, the latter being the
| favorite explanation, and one dear to the
brotherhood.-A. B. Harris, IN Appletons