banneret

Noun

banneret (plural bannerets)

1. A small banner.
   • […] yet the scarfs and the bannerets about thee did manifoldly dissuade me from believing thee a vessel of too great a burthen.c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
   • His armor and his horse were black; there was no device on his shield and no banneret on his spear.1953, C. S. Lewis, chapter 6, in The Silver Chair, Collins, published 1998
2. (historical) A proposed but unadopted senior commissioned rank of the Royal Air Force equivalent to group captain.
   • A list of new titles was manufactured as follows: Ensign, Lieutenant, Flight-Leader, Squadron-Leader, Reeve, Banneret, Fourth-Ardian, Third-Ardian, Second-Ardian, Ardian, Air Marshal. […O]ne may regret “Banneret”, which has a flavour and associations, more especially as the leader of a formation in...1936, The Periodical, volumes 21-22, Oxford University Press, page 67
3. A civil officer in some Swiss cantons.