A small flag used by surveyors and military engineers to mark distances or positions in mapping and surveying work.
From French 'fanion,' a diminutive form derived from 'fanon' (cloth or banner), ultimately from Frankish origins. The term entered English through military and surveying professions in the 17th century.
Before GPS, surveyors used fanions in chain-measurements—each fanion marked exactly one 'chain' (66 feet), and this system was so accurate that many property boundaries today were still set by fanion-flags from the 1700s!
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