guidon

[ gahyd-n ]
See synonyms for guidon on Thesaurus.com
nounMilitary.
  1. a small flag or streamer carried as a guide, for marking or signaling, or for identification.

  2. the soldier carrying it.

Origin of guidon

1
1540–50; <Middle French <Italian guidone, equivalent to guid(are) to guide + -one noun suffix

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use guidon in a sentence

  • With the regiment were two young boys, who carried the marking guidons, and Hyde ordered these to the rear.

  • Cavalry regiments, except hussars, carry guidons or standards for ceremonial purposes.

  • Ten thousand cavalrymen with guidons streaming from their lances!

    The Fall of a Nation | Thomas Dixon
  • With his staff he rode away—a leaf brown figure, looming large in the misty half light, against the red guidons of the east.

    The Long Roll | Mary Johnston
  • There seemed to be two or three of them—possibly they were guidons—and they moved too fast to be carried on foot.

    The Battle of Gettysburg | Frank Aretas Haskell

British Dictionary definitions for guidon

guidon

/ (ˈɡaɪdən) /


noun
  1. a small pennant, used as a marker or standard, esp by cavalry regiments

  2. the man or vehicle that carries this

Origin of guidon

1
C16: from French, from Old Provençal guidoo, from guida guide

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012