A pennon, also known as a pennant or pendant, is a long narrow flag which is larger at the hoist than at the fly. It can have several shapes, such as triangular, tapering (square tail) or triangular swallowtail (forked tail), etc. In maritime use, pennants are to be hung from the main truck.
Triangular pennant
Tapering pennant
Triangular swallowtail pennant
Pennon-style flags were one of the principal three varieties of flags carried during the Middle Ages (the other two were the banner and the standard).[1] The pennon is a flag resembling the guidon in shape, but only half the size. It does not contain any coat of arms, but only crests, mottos and heraldic and ornamental devices.
Pennoncell, streamer[2] and wimpel[3] are minor varieties of this style of flag (see variant types).
The pennon was sometimes pointed, but more generally forked or swallow-tailed at the end. In the 11th century, the pennon was generally square, the fly end being decorated with the addition of pointed tongues or streamers, somewhat similar to the oriflamme. During the reign of Henry III, the pennon acquired the distinctive swallow-tail, or the single-pointed shape. Another version of the single-pointed pennon was introduced in the 13th century. In shape this was a scalene triangle, obtained by cutting diagonally the vertically oblong banner.
Usage
The pennon of James Douglas, Earl of Douglas as used at the Battle of Otterburn.
In modern times, the flag of Ohio is specified as a swallowtail pennant (the only non-rectangular flag of a US state).
The pennon was a purely personal ensign. It was essentially the flag of the knight bachelor, as apart from the knight banneret, carried by him on his lance, displaying his personal armorial bearings, and set out so that they stood in correct position when he couched his lance for charging. A manuscript of the 16th century (Harl. 2358, "A paper Heraldical book in small Quarto") in the British Museum, which gives detailed particulars as to the size, shape and bearings of the standards, banners, pennons and pennoncells, says "a pennon must be two yards and a half long, made round at the end, and contain the arms of the owner," and warns that "from a standard or streamer a man may flee but not from his banner or pennon bearing his arms." A pennoncell (or penselle) was a diminutive pennon carried by the esquires.[1]
Pennons were also used for any special ceremonial occasion, and more particularly at state funerals. For instance, there were "XII doz. penselles" among the items that figured at the funeral of the Duke of Norfolk in 1554, and in the description of the lord mayor's procession in 1555, it reads "two goodly pennes (state barges) decked with flags and streamers, and a 1000 penselles." Among the items that ran the total cost of the funeral of Oliver Cromwell up to an enormous sum of money, there is the mention of 30 dozen of pennoncells a foot long and costing 20 shillings a dozen, and 20 dozen of the same kind of flags at 12 shillings a dozen.[7][8]
The streamer, so called in Tudor days but now better known as the pennant or pendant, was a long, tapering flag, which it was directed "shall stand in the top of a ship or in the forecastle, and therein be put no arms, but the man's cognisance or device, and may be of length 20, 30, 40 or 60 yards (55 m), and is slit as well as a guidon or standard".[9] Among the fittings of the ship that took Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, to France in the reign of Henry VII was a "great streamer for the ship 40 yards (37 m) in length [and] 8 yards (7.3 m) in breadth".[9]
Besides the white ensign, ships commissioned in the Royal Navy fly a long streamer from the maintopgallant masthead. This, which is called a pennant, is the sign of command, and is first hoisted when a captain commissions his ship. The pennant, which was really the old "pennoncell", was of three colours for the whole of its length, and towards the end left separate in two or three tails, and so continued until the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Now, however the pennant is a long white streamer with the St George's cross in the inner portion close to the mast. Pennants have been carried by men-of-war from the earliest times, prior to 1653 at the yard-arm, but since that date at the maintopgallant masthead.[10] There are other navies that also fly pennant in a similar manner (see commissioning pennant).
The commissioning pennant in ships may end in a point, but they can also be forked, in which case it is also called a banderole.[11]
Pennants are also associated with American sports teams, such as Major League Baseball and college sports teams. In Australian rules football, a pennant is awarded to the winner of major competitions. For many years, this was the only prize given. As a result, a League Championship is often referred to as a "pennant", as in, "The Giants win the Pennant!" And in Australian football, a premiership can also be referred to as a "flag".
A contemporary depiction of streamers (or pennoncells) on all four masts of the warship Mary Rose which sank in 1545. Here they have a cross of Saint George at the hoist and the white and green heraldic colours of the House of Tudor along the rest of its length. Illustration from the Anthony Roll.
In the Netherlands, an orange pennon is always used on the King's Day and several other national holidays related the House of Orange.[12] It is flown alongside the standard Dutch flag. The Dutch provinces each have a pennon as well.
^"1. A long narrow flag, with cleft end, flying from the mast-heads of ships, carried in battle, etc." (OED staff 2011)
^Poels, Jos (August 2011). "The Orange Pennant: The Dutch Response to a Flag Dilemma" (PDF). Proceedings of the 24th International Congress of Vexillology, Washington, D.C., USA: 888.
References
OED staff (September 2011). "banderol[e] | bandrol | bannerol, n.". Oxford English Dictionary (Second 1989; online version September 2011 ed.). Earlier version first published in New English Dictionary, 1885.
Rutt, John Towill, ed. (1828), "Cromwell's death and funeral order", Diary of Thomas Burton esq, volume 2: April 1657 – February 1658, Institute of Historical Research, pp. 516–530
Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Swinburne, H Lawrence (1911). "Flag". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 456–459.
July 07, 2023
pennon, pennon, also, known, pennant, pendant, long, narrow, flag, which, larger, hoist, than, have, several, shapes, such, triangular, tapering, square, tail, triangular, swallowtail, forked, tail, maritime, pennants, hung, from, main, truck, triangular, penn. A pennon also known as a pennant or pendant is a long narrow flag which is larger at the hoist than at the fly It can have several shapes such as triangular tapering square tail or triangular swallowtail forked tail etc In maritime use pennants are to be hung from the main truck Triangular pennant Tapering pennant Triangular swallowtail pennant Pennon style flags were one of the principal three varieties of flags carried during the Middle Ages the other two were the banner and the standard 1 The pennon is a flag resembling the guidon in shape but only half the size It does not contain any coat of arms but only crests mottos and heraldic and ornamental devices Pennoncell streamer 2 and wimpel 3 are minor varieties of this style of flag see variant types Contents 1 Etymology 2 Description 3 Usage 3 1 Sports 4 Variant types 5 The Dutch Pennon 6 See also 7 Notes 8 ReferencesEtymology EditPennon comes from the Latin penna meaning a wing or a feather Initially it was a term for a small pennant 4 Pennant have been used as a general and imprecise term for flags which are not strictly rectangular 5 Pendant is an obsolete spelling of pennant 6 Description EditThe pennon was sometimes pointed but more generally forked or swallow tailed at the end In the 11th century the pennon was generally square the fly end being decorated with the addition of pointed tongues or streamers somewhat similar to the oriflamme During the reign of Henry III the pennon acquired the distinctive swallow tail or the single pointed shape Another version of the single pointed pennon was introduced in the 13th century In shape this was a scalene triangle obtained by cutting diagonally the vertically oblong banner Usage Edit The pennon of James Douglas Earl of Douglas as used at the Battle of Otterburn In modern times the flag of Ohio is specified as a swallowtail pennant the only non rectangular flag of a US state The pennon was a purely personal ensign It was essentially the flag of the knight bachelor as apart from the knight banneret carried by him on his lance displaying his personal armorial bearings and set out so that they stood in correct position when he couched his lance for charging A manuscript of the 16th century Harl 2358 A paper Heraldical book in small Quarto in the British Museum which gives detailed particulars as to the size shape and bearings of the standards banners pennons and pennoncells says a pennon must be two yards and a half long made round at the end and contain the arms of the owner and warns that from a standard or streamer a man may flee but not from his banner or pennon bearing his arms A pennoncell or penselle was a diminutive pennon carried by the esquires 1 Pennons were also used for any special ceremonial occasion and more particularly at state funerals For instance there were XII doz penselles among the items that figured at the funeral of the Duke of Norfolk in 1554 and in the description of the lord mayor s procession in 1555 it reads two goodly pennes state barges decked with flags and streamers and a 1000 penselles Among the items that ran the total cost of the funeral of Oliver Cromwell up to an enormous sum of money there is the mention of 30 dozen of pennoncells a foot long and costing 20 shillings a dozen and 20 dozen of the same kind of flags at 12 shillings a dozen 7 8 Sports Edit Main article Pennant sports Pennons were also used in various sports Variant types EditThe streamer so called in Tudor days but now better known as the pennant or pendant was a long tapering flag which it was directed shall stand in the top of a ship or in the forecastle and therein be put no arms but the man s cognisance or device and may be of length 20 30 40 or 60 yards 55 m and is slit as well as a guidon or standard 9 Among the fittings of the ship that took Beauchamp Earl of Warwick to France in the reign of Henry VII was a great streamer for the ship 40 yards 37 m in length and 8 yards 7 3 m in breadth 9 Besides the white ensign ships commissioned in the Royal Navy fly a long streamer from the maintopgallant masthead This which is called a pennant is the sign of command and is first hoisted when a captain commissions his ship The pennant which was really the old pennoncell was of three colours for the whole of its length and towards the end left separate in two or three tails and so continued until the end of the Napoleonic Wars Now however the pennant is a long white streamer with the St George s cross in the inner portion close to the mast Pennants have been carried by men of war from the earliest times prior to 1653 at the yard arm but since that date at the maintopgallant masthead 10 There are other navies that also fly pennant in a similar manner see commissioning pennant The commissioning pennant in ships may end in a point but they can also be forked in which case it is also called a banderole 11 Pennants are also associated with American sports teams such as Major League Baseball and college sports teams In Australian rules football a pennant is awarded to the winner of major competitions For many years this was the only prize given As a result a League Championship is often referred to as a pennant as in The Giants win the Pennant And in Australian football a premiership can also be referred to as a flag A contemporary depiction of streamers or pennoncells on all four masts of the warship Mary Rose which sank in 1545 Here they have a cross of Saint George at the hoist and the white and green heraldic colours of the House of Tudor along the rest of its length Illustration from the Anthony Roll The pennon of Sir Henry Percy also known as Harry Hotspur The Royal Navy s commissioning pennant US Coast Guard s commissioning pennant The Dutch Pennon Edit Orange pennon In the Netherlands an orange pennon is always used on the King s Day and several other national holidays related the House of Orange 12 It is flown alongside the standard Dutch flag The Dutch provinces each have a pennon as well See also EditBaucans Burgee Campaign streamer Heraldic standard Household pennants of Finland Pennant church Pennant commissioning Notes Edit a b Swinburne 1911 p 456 Dictionary of Vexillology S Stella Stumpmast Dictionary of Vexillology W Whaling Flags Wyvern Dictionary of Vexillology P Peace Flag Pentagram Dictionary of Vexillology P Peace Flag Pentagram Dictionary of Vexillology P Peace Flag Pentagram Swinburne 1911 p 456 457 For the solemnization of the funeral no less than the sum of sixty thousand pounds was allotted to defray the expence Rutt 1828 pp 516 530 a b Swinburne 1911 p 458 Swinburne 1911 p 459 1 A long narrow flag with cleft end flying from the mast heads of ships carried in battle etc OED staff 2011 Poels Jos August 2011 The Orange Pennant The Dutch Response to a Flag Dilemma PDF Proceedings of the 24th International Congress of Vexillology Washington D C USA 888 References EditOED staff September 2011 banderol e bandrol bannerol n Oxford English Dictionary Second 1989 online version September 2011 ed Earlier version first published in New English Dictionary 1885 Rutt John Towill ed 1828 Cromwell s death and funeral order Diary of Thomas Burton esq volume 2 April 1657 February 1658 Institute of Historical Research pp 516 530Attribution This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain Swinburne H Lawrence 1911 Flag In Chisholm Hugh ed Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 10 11th ed Cambridge University Press pp 456 459 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Pennon amp oldid 1161926122, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
