bannern.[OE. banere, OF. baniere, F. bannire, bandire, fr. LL. baneria, 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 (Zol.), a large fish of the genus Histiophorus, of the Swordfish family, having a broad bannerlike dorsal fin; the sailfish. One species (Histiophorus Americanus) inhabits the North Atlantic.()