Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BAN'NER, n. [Fr. banniere; W. baner; It. bandiera; Sp. bandera; G. fahne and panier; D. vaan and vaandel; from Goth. fana, cloth; Sax. fana; L. pannus; Ir. fuan, cloth.]

1. A square flag; a military ensign; the principal standard of a prince or state. – Encyc.
2. A streamer borne at the end of a lance or elsewhere. – Johnson.
3. In botany, the upper petal of a papilionaceous corol. – Martyn.