pennon

American  

[pen-uhn] / ˈpɛn ən /

noun

1. a distinctive flag in any of various forms, as tapering, triangular, or swallow-tailed, formerly one borne on the lance of a knight.

2. a pennant.

3. any flag or banner.

4. a wing or pinion.

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pennon British  

/ ˈpɛnən /

noun

1. a long flag, often tapering and rounded, divided, or pointed at the end, originally a knight's personal flag

2. a small tapering or triangular flag borne on a ship or boat

3. a poetic word for wing

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Other Word Forms

• pennoned adjective
• unpennoned adjective

Etymology

Origin of pennon

1325–75; Middle English penon < Middle French, augmentative of Old French pene < Latin penna or pinna feather. See pen ¹

Example Sentences

Sir Robert now stood before them, revealed not as a knight in glittering plate armor with pennon flying from his lance, but as what he had been all along: a grave, punctilious, honest lawyer.

From Slate • Mar. 25, 2019

They brought with them a gift for the Belgian Society of Napoleonic Studies: a pennon of the Imperial Guard, carried from the battlefield 138 years ago.

From Time Magazine Archive

We learn from the "Siege of Carlaverock" that a pennon hung out by the besieged was the signal for a parley.

From Flags: Some Account of their History and Uses. by Macgeorge, Andrew

The mitre and cross had no more scruple than the knightly pennon to be seen in the forefront of battle.

From A History of The Inquisition of The Middle Ages; volume I by Lea, Henry Charles

But in early times no knight displayed a pennon who had not followers to defend it—the mounting of this ensign being a matter of privilege, not of obligation.

From Flags: Some Account of their History and Uses. by Macgeorge, Andrew