Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Banner \Ban"ner\, n. [OE. banere, OF. baniere, F. banni[`e]re,
   bandi[`e]re, 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} (Zo["o]l.), 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.