C18: from French, from fanon maniple, of Germanic origin
fanion in American English
(ˈfænjən)
noun
a small flag, originally carried by military brigades, used by soldiers and surveyors as a positional marker
Word origin
[1700–10; ‹ F, dim. of fanonfanon]This word is first recorded in the period 1700–10. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: cirrus, cozy, emphatic, envelope, hump