. A white pennant with red border, carried: (a) Forward on all vessels on convoy duty. (b) Alone by a senior officer present during evolutions or drills, when it commands “Silence.” (c) Over a signal number, when it refers to the signal number of an officer in the Annual Navy Register. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]
n. [ OE. penon, penoun, pynoun, OF. penon, F. pennon, fr. L. penna feather. See Pen a feather, and cf. Pennon, Pinion. ] (Naut.) (a) A small flag; a pennon. The narrow pennant, orlong pennant (called also whip or coach whip) is a long, narrow piece of bunting, carried at the masthead of a government vessel in commission. The board pennant is an oblong, nearly square flag, carried at the masthead of a commodore's vessel. “With flags and pennants trimmed.” Drayton. (b) A rope or strap to which a purchase is hooked. [ 1913 Webster ]