Beauty's ensign yet

Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks,

And death's pale flag is not advanced there.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Romeo and Juliet, Act v. Sc. 3.

Th' imperial ensign, which full high advanc'd

Shone like a meteor, streaming to the wind.

John Milton (1608-1674): Paradise Lost. Book i. Line 536.

Ay, tear her tattered ensign down!

Long has it waved on high,

And many an eye has danced to see

That banner in the sky.

Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894): Old Ironsides.