The Pennon was a purely personal flag, pointed, borne below the lance-head by a knight-bachelor, and charged with the arms, or crest, and motto of the bearer. 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. The order of knight-bachelor was the most ancient and originally the sole order, being the degree conferred by one knight on another without the intervention of prince, noble, or churchman, and its privileges and duties approached nearly to those of the knight-errant.[8] [8] Sir Walter Scott, _Essay on Chivalry_, p. 79. The Penoncel, which was carried by the esquire, was the diminutive of the pennon, being one-half its breadth. It was borne at the end of a lance, and usually bore the cognizance or "avowrye" of the bearer. This flag was not carried by the esquire after the fight began, but was then either held by an inferior attendant, or put up by the owner's tent. BANNERS. The Banner was the flag of a troop, and was borne by knights, called after it bannerets, an order which held a middle rank between knights-bachelors and the barons or great feudatories of the crown. The flag of a knight-banneret was square at the end, but not an exact square on all the sides. The perfectly square banner was the flag of a baron, and of those of higher rank. It was only on the field of battle, and in presence of the royal standard, that a knight-banneret could be created. It was the custom for the commander of the host thus to reward the distinguished services of a knight-bachelor bearing a pennon, and he did so by tearing off the "fly," or outer part of that flag, and by so doing giving it a square form, thus making it a banner, and its bearer a knight-banneret. The ceremony is thus described by Blome.[9] "The king (or his general), at the head of the army, drawn up into battalia after a victory, under the royal standard displayed, attended with all the field-officers and nobles of the court, receives the knight led between two renowned knights or valiant men-at-arms, having his pennon or guydon of arms in his hand; and before them the heralds, who proclaim his valiant achievements, for which he deserves to be made a knight-banneret, and to display his banner in the field. Then the king (or general) says unto him _Advances toy, Bannaret_, and causes the point of his pennon to be rent off; and the new knight, having the trumpets before him sounding, the nobles and officers accompanying him, is remitted to his tent, where they are nobly entertained." [9] _Analogia Honoria_. London, 1637; p. 84.