Ban"ner (?), n. [OE. banere, OF. baniere, F. banniere, bandiere, fr. LL. baniera, banderia, fr. bandum banner, fr. OHG. bant band, strip of cloth; cf. bindan to bind, Goth. bandwa, bandwo, a sign. See Band, n.]
1.
A kind of flag attached to a spear or pike by a crosspiece, and used by a chief as his standard in battle.
Hang out our banners on the outward walls.
Shak.
2.
A large piece of silk or other cloth, with a device or motto, extended on a crosspiece, and borne in a procession, or suspended in some conspicuous place.
3.
Any flag or standard; as, the star-spangled banner.
Banner fish Zool., a large fish of the genus Histiophorus, of the Swordfish family, having a broad bannerlike dorsal fin; the sailfish. One species (H. Americanus) inhabits the North Atlantic.
© Webster 1913.