banners in churches
Preserved but no longer current.
These are suspended as thank offerings to God. Those in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, Henry VII's Chapel, Westminster, etc., are to indicate that the knight whose banner is hung up avows himself devoted to God's service.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “banners in churches” mean?
These are suspended as thank offerings to God. Those in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, Henry VII's Chapel, Westminster, etc., are to indicate that the knight whose banner is hung up avows himself devoted to God's service.
Is “banners in churches” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.