gonfanon

American  

[gon-fuh-nuhn] / ˈgɒn fə nən /

noun

1. a gonfalon that hangs directly from a pole, especially from the shaft of a lance just below the lance head.

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Etymology

Origin of gonfanon

1250–1300; Middle English go ( u ) nfano ( u ) n < Old French gunfanun, gonfanon, Old Provençal gonfano < Germanic; compare Old High German gund ( Old English gūth ) battle, German Fahne flag

Example Sentences

A very early form, borne near the person of the commander-in-chief, was the Gonfanon.

From Project Gutenberg

Fr. gonfalon is for older gonfanon.

From Project Gutenberg

Over Heathland surge banners and lances, three armies; William the last, Clenching his mace; Rome’s gonfanon round him Rome’s majesty cast: O’er his Bretons Fergant, o’er the hireling squadrons Montgomery lords, Jerkin’d archers, and mail-clads, and horsemen with pennons and swords:—    —England, in threefold array,    Anchor, and hold them at bay, Firm set in your own wooden walls! and the wave Of high-crested Frenchmen will break on their grave.

From Project Gutenberg

Rome’s gonfanon; The consecrated banner, sent to William from Rome.

From Project Gutenberg

After a gallant resistance, the Norman prince was driven from the continent of Italy: a new duke of Apulia was invested by the pope and the emperor, each of whom held one end of the gonfanon, or flagstaff, as a token that they asserted their right, and suspended their quarrel.

From Project Gutenberg