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oriflamme

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or⋅i⋅flamme

  [awr-uh-flam, or-]
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–noun
1. the red banner of St. Denis, near Paris, carried before the early kings of France as a military ensign.
2. any ensign, banner, or standard, esp. one that serves as a rallying point or symbol.
Origin:
1425–75; late ME oriflam < MF oriflamme, OF, equiv. to orie golden (< L aurea, fem. of aureus, deriv. of aurum gold) + flamme flame
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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or·i·flamme   (ôr'ə-flām', ŏr'-)   
n.  

  1. An inspiring standard or symbol.

  2. The red or orange-red flag of the Abbey of Saint Denis in France, used as a standard by the early kings of France.


[Middle English oriflamble, banner of St. Denis, from Old French, variant of oriflambe, possibly from Medieval Latin aurea flamma, auriflamma (Latin aurea, feminine of aureus, golden, from aurum, gold + Latin flamma, flame; see flame) or alteration of Old French *lorie flambe, from Late Latin laurea flammula, laureled standard (Latin laurea, feminine of laureus, of laurel; see laureate + Latin flammula, banner, diminutive of flamma, flame).]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

oriflamme 
sacred banner of St. Denis, 1475, from O.Fr. orie flame, from L. aurea flamma "golden flame." The ancient battle standard of the kings of France, it was of red or orange-red silk, with two or three points, and was given to the kings by the abbot of St. Denis on setting out to war. Cotgrave says it was "borne at first onely in warres made against Infidells; but afterwards vsed in all other warres; and at length vtterly lost in a battell against the Flemings." It is last mentioned in an abbey inventory of 1534.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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