United Kingdom
In Thomas Venn's 1672 Military and Maritime Discipline in Three Books the duties of Ensigns are to include not only carrying the colour but assisting the Captain and Lieutenant of a company and in their absence, have their authority.
Until 1871, when it was replaced by second lieutenant, ensign was the lowest rank of commissioned officer in infantry regiments of the British Army (except fusilier and rifle regiments, which always used second lieutenant). It was the duty of officers of this rank to carry the colours of the regiment. In the 16th century "ensign" was corrupted into "ancient", and was used in the two senses of a banner and the bearer of the banner. Today, the term "ensign" is still used by the Foot Guards regiments, for instance during the ceremony of trooping the colour. The equivalent cavalry rank was cornet, also being derived from the name of a banner.
Read more about this topic: Ensign (rank)
Famous quotes containing the words united and/or kingdom:
“All comes united to th’ admiring eyes;”
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744)
“In the whole vast dome of living nature there reigns an open violence, a kind of prescriptive fury which arms all the creatures to their common doom: as soon as you leave the inanimate kingdom you find the decree of violent death inscribed on the very frontiers of life.”
—Joseph De Maistre (1753–1821)