In heraldry and vexillology, a heraldic flag is any of several types of flags, containing coats of arms, heraldic badges, or other devices, used for personal identification.
Heraldic flags include banners, standards, pennons and their variants, gonfalons, guidons, and pinsels. Specifications governing heraldic flags vary from country to country, and have varied over time.
Rectangular personal, military, and national flags are sometimes referred to as "standards" or royal standards; these should be distinguished from the heraldic standard, which is a different, specific shape.
Famous quotes containing the words heraldic and/or flag:
“His ugliness was the stuff of legend. In an age of affordable beauty, there was something heraldic about his lack of it. The antique arm whined as he reached for another mug. It was a Russian military prosthesis, a seven-function force-feedback manipulator, cased in grubby pink plastic.”
—William Gibson (b. 1948)
“Up rose old Barbara Frietchie then,
Bowed with her fourscore years and ten;
Bravest of all in Frederick town,
She took up the flag the men hauled down;”
—John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892)