oriflammen.
/ˈɒrᵻflam/, U.S. /ˈɔrəˌflæm/ 1. The sacred banner of St Denis, of red or orange-red silk, which from the 12th to the 15th centuries the kings of France used to receive from the abbot of Saint-Denis (north of Paris) on setting out for war. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > insignia > standard > [noun] > banner > specific banner
oriflammec1475
red banner1797
c1475 (?c1451) Bk. Noblesse (Royal) (1860) 13 Ser Geffrey Channy that bare the baner of the oriflamble.
1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) xx. 452 Whan Reynawd sawe the oryflame of fraunce com.
a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) I. lxxxxviii. f. xxxviiiv Whan this precyous Relyke or Aurisflambe was borne agayne Cristen Princes the vertue therof seasyd and lastly was lost, but yet the lyke therof is kept at seynt Denys.
a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) II. f. cxi Sir Reynolde Camyaun baneret..bare the Oryflambe a speciall relyke that the Frenshe kynges vse, to bere before them in all Battaylles.
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. ccccxii. 720 It is nedefull that we..apoynt..who shall beare the Oriflambe of France.
a1586 Lindsay MS f. 14, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Oriflambe The oriflambe quhilk he displayit at the battale.
1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. ix. xii. 578/1 An hallowed Banner of red silke, whereof the French had a wonderfull high conceit, as of that which was sent from heauen, and called Oreflame or Auriflames.
1738 J. Breval Remarks Several Parts of Europe: Tours since 1723 II. 276 The same Monarch is seen delivering the Oriflamme to an arm'd Person.
1788 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall VI. lix. 81 The vanguard..bore the royal banner and the oriflamme of St. Denys.
1828 K. H. Digby Broad Stone of Honour: Tancredus vi. 63 The Oriflamme..was the banner of the Abbey [of Saint-Denis]. The last that we hear of it is in the inventory of the treasury of this Church in 1534.
1872 H. W. Longfellow Baron St. Castine in Three Bks. Song i. 93 The Curate..draws from the pocket of his gown A handkerchief like an oriflamb.
1922 Amer. Hist. Rev. 28 90 Imagine..Joan of Arc with an aureole but no oriflamme, a conventional saint whose title to immortality rests..upon having saved the Faith!
1970 R. Barber Knight & Chivalry ii. ix. 154 He..had been standard bearer of the oriflamme of France.
1991 Jrnl. Interdisciplinary Hist. 21 675 The oriflamme, standard of the monarchy and of the nation at war.
2. An object, principle, or ideal that serves as a rallying point in a struggle.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > insignia > standard > [noun] > banner
seineOE
bannerc1305
banner-cloth1552
labarum1563
oriflamme1602
1602 W. Watson Decacordon Ten Quodlibeticall Questions A iij b Did not then the primitives of the East Church..carry away the auriflambe of all religious zeale.
1824 T. B. Macaulay Ivry 30 And be your oriflamme to-day the helmet of Navarre!
1864 Sat. Rev. 14 Sept. 262 The North has not hoisted for its oriflamme the Sacred Symbol of Justice to the negro.
1925 Amer. Mercury Aug. 484/1 Down the slope flutters the wash of some surviving artist, and it flutters in the salt breeze like defiant oriflambs.
1959 New Yorker 12 Dec. 213/2 I bought a copy of ‘Ulysses’, whose light-blue-and-white cover was then an oriflamme for such as me.
1974 A. Dillard Tickets for Prayer Wheel iii. 125 Time, that lorn and furling oriflamme.
2003 Times Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) (Nexis) 5 Jan. d9 My calendar had become an oriflamme, inspiring me to try out my new grasp of the language.
3. Chiefly poetic. Something resembling the oriflamme of St Denis in colour; (hence) a bright, conspicuous object.In early use chiefly with reference to the colours of a sunrise.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > [noun] > vivid colour
amel1605
oriflamme1853
Technicolor1939
the world > matter > light > intensity of light > [noun] > something bright
claritude1648
clarity1652
oriflamme1853
shiny1889
1853 S. H. Whitman Hours of Life 53 Flamy tulips, burning dim In the cool twilight, till they fold In sleep their oriflammes of gold.
1862 J. G. Whittier Waiting in Poet. Wks. (1894) 132 The golden spears uprise Beneath the oriflamme of day!
1868 ‘G. Eliot’ Spanish Gypsy i. 4 The new-bathed Day With oriflamme uplifted o'er the peaks.
1895 M. Blind Birds of Passage, Agnostic ii Spring's Oriflamme of flowers waves from the Sod.
1940 G. Barker Lament & Triumph 25 Time shall have..too many tombs for summer's banners To ornament with the oriflammes of its blossoms.
1990 Dict. National Biogr. 1981–85 105/1 His fair hair was an oriflamme.
1991 F. Cooper Jay Loves Lucy (BNC) 52 You're breathtaking, sparkling, your lovely hair is swept up to a glossy oriflamme.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.c1475