standard [ME] A standard, from Old French estendre ‘to extend’, was originally a flag raised on a pole as a rallying point for soldiers, and typically carrying the distinctive badge of a leader, nation, or city. The word appears first in English with reference to the Battle of the Standard in 1138, between the English and the Scots. The ‘standard’ in question was apparently the mast of a ship with flags at the top, mounted on a wagon brought on to the battlefield. In later use the idea of the royal flag or ‘standard’ came to represent a source of authority, the centre from which commands are issued, and of principles [M16th]. Use in connection with the setting of a fixed scale of weights and measures, and indeed of any established level of quality or quantity, is Late Middle English.