Bandum, Banderia, Med. Lat. A small banner. The French poets called it “ban,” a word probably of Celtic origin, signifying “exalted.” (Meyrick.)
Bankard, O. E. (Fr. banquier). A carpet or cloth covering for a table, form, or bench.
Fig. 59. The Royal Standard, or Banner.
Banner. In heraldry, a square, or narrow oblong flag, larger than the pennon (q.v.), charged with the coat of arms of the owner displayed over its entire surface, precisely as it is blazoned on a shield, as in the illustration of the Royal Standard, which should properly be styled the Royal Banner. (See Standard.) The Union Jack is also a banner, in which the blazonry of the two nations of England and Scotland are combined, not by “quartering,” but by an earlier process of “blending” the cross and the saltire in a single composition. The profusion of banners at tournaments, in feudal times, when each noble planted his own in the lists, was an element of picturesque effect. The term applies to all kinds of flags, or colours, proper to individuals, or corporations, &c., who display them. It does not appear that military banners were used by the ancients. The banners used in Roman Catholic countries bear the representation of patron saints, or symbols of religious mysteries.
Banner-cloth, Chr. A processional flag.
Banneret. A knight entitled to display a banner.
Baphium, Gr. and R. (βάπτω, to dye). A dyer’s workshop.
Fig. 60. Baptistery of St. Jean, Poitiers.