_The Pennon-- The Banner-- The Standard-- The Royal Standard-- The Union Jack-- Ensigns-- Military Standards and Colours-- Blazoning-- Hoisting and Displaying Flags._ “Many a beautiful Pennon fixed to a lance, And many a Banner displayed.” --SIEGE OF CARLAVEROCK, A.D. 1300. “Prosper our Colours!” --SHAKESPEARE, _Henry VI._, _Part 3_. Admirably adapted for all purposes of heraldic display, rich in glowing colours, and peculiarly graceful in their free movement in the wind, FLAGS are inseparably associated with spirit-stirring memories, and in all ages and with every people they enjoy an enthusiastic popularity peculiar to themselves. In the Middle Ages, in England, three distinct classes of heraldic Flags appear to have been in general use, each class having a distinct and well-defined signification. 1. First, the PENNON, small in size, of elongated form, and either pointed or swallow-tailed at the extremity, is charged with the Badge or some other armorial ensign of the owner, and by him displayed upon his own lance, as his personal ensign. The Pennon of Sir JOHN D’ABERNOUN, No. 286, fringed and pointed, A.D. 1277, bears his arms--_Az., a chevron or_: and No. 411, another example of the pointed form of Pennon, is from the Painted Chamber, Westminster, about A.D. 1275. No. 412, a long swallow-tailed Pennon, charged with the Percy crescent Badge, is from the Seal of HENRY DE PERCI, first Earl of NORTHUMBERLAND. Before the true heraldic era, _Lance-Flags_ with various decorative devices, but without any blazonry having a definite signification, were in use: See Nos. 5, 6. The _Pennoncelle_ was a modification of the Pennon. [Illustration: No. 411.--Pennon, from the Painted Chamber.] [Illustration: No. 412.--Pennon of Percy; A.D. 1400.] 2. Second, the BANNER, square or oblong in form, and of a larger size than the Pennon, bears the entire Coat of Arms of the owner blazoned over its whole surface, precisely as the same composition is blazoned upon a Shield: No. 162. The Banner has been described as the ensign of the Sovereign, or of a Prince, a Noble, or a Knight who had been advanced to the higher rank or degree of a “Banneret”; but it would seem almost certain that the display of Arms upon a Banner was never confined to a Banneret. Two Banners are represented in each of the Hungerford Seals, Nos. 391, 392. A small group of oblong Banners, with two pointed Pennons, is represented in No. 413, from the Painted Chamber. [Illustration: No. 413.--Oblong Banners and Pointed Pennons, from the Painted Chamber.]