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| author | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-03-09 08:10:15 -0700 |
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| committer | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-03-09 08:10:15 -0700 |
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diff --git a/40113-0.txt b/40113-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..62d0b62 --- /dev/null +++ b/40113-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7528 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40113 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 40113-h.htm or 40113-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/40113/40113-h/40113-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/40113/40113-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + http://archive.org/details/flagsofworldthei00hulmiala + + +Transcriber's note: + + A few typographical errors have been corrected; they are + listed at the end of the text. + + To facilitate the use of the index, page numbers have + been included enclosed by curly brackets (example: {5}). + + + + + +THE FLAGS OF THE WORLD: + +Their History, Blazonry, and Associations. + +From the Banner of the Crusader to the Burgee of the Yachtsman; +Flags National, Colonial, Personal; +the Ensigns of Mighty Empires; +the Symbols of Lost Causes. + +by + +F. EDWARD HULME, F.L.S., F.S.A., + +Author of +"Familiar Wild Flowers," "History, Principles and Practice of Heraldry," +"Birth and Development of Ornament," &c., &c. + + + + + + + +London: +Frederick Warne & Co., +and New York +[All rights reserved.] + + + +{iii} + +TABLE OF CONTENTS. + + + +CHAPTER I. + +The necessity of some special Sign to distinguish Individuals, Tribes, and +Nations--the Standards of Antiquity--Egyptian, Assyrian, Persian, Greek, +and Roman--the Vexillum--the Labarum of Constantine--Invocation of +Religion--the Flags of the Enemy--Early Flags of Religious Character--Flags +of Saints at Funeral Obsequies--Company and Guild Flags of the Mediæval +Period--Political Colours--Various kinds of Flags--the Banner--Rolls of +Arms--Roll of Karlaverok--The Flag called the Royal Standard is really the +Royal Banner--Main-sail Banners--Trumpet Banners--Ladies embroidering +Banners for the Cause--Knights' Banneret--Form of Investiture--the +Standard--the Percy Badges and Motto--Arctic Sledge-flags--the Rank +governing the size of the Standard--Standards at State Funerals--the +Pennon--Knights' Pennonciers--the Pennoncelle--Mr. Rolt as Chief +Mourner--Lord Mayor's Show--the Pennant--the Streamer--Tudor Badges--Livery +Colours--the Guidon--Bunting--Flag Devising a Branch of Heraldry--Colours +chiefly used in Flags--Flags bearing Inscriptions--Significance of the Red +Flag--of the Yellow--of the White--of the Black--Dipping the Flag--the +Sovereignty of the Sea--Right of Salute insisted on--Political changes +rendering Flags obsolete 1 + +CHAPTER II. + +The Royal Standard--the Three Lions of England--the Lion Rampant of +Scotland--Scottish sensitiveness as to precedence--the Scottish +Tressure--the Harp of Ireland--Early Irish Flags--Brian Boru--the Royal +Standards from Richard I. to Victoria--Claim to the Fleurs-de-lys of +France--Quartering Hanover--the Union Flag--St. George for England--War +Cry--Observance of St. George's Day--the Cross of St. George--Early Naval +Flags--the London Trained Bands--the Cross of St. Andrew--the "Blue +Blanket"--Flags of the Covenanters--Relics of St. Andrew--Union of England +and Scotland--the First Union Flag--Importance of accuracy in +representations of it--the Union Jack--Flags of the Commonwealth and +Protectorate--Union of Great Britain and {iv} Ireland--the Cross of St. +Patrick--Labours of St. Patrick in Ireland--Proclamation of George III. as +to Flags, etc.--the Second Union Flag--Heraldic Difficulties in its +Construction--Suggestions by Critics--Regulations as to Fortress Flags--the +White Ensign of the Royal Navy--Saluting the Flag--the Navy the Safeguard +of Britain--the Blue Ensign--the Royal Naval Reserve--the Red Ensign of the +Mercantile Marine--Value of Flag-lore 29 + +CHAPTER III. + +Army Flags--the Queen's Colour--the Regimental Colour--the Honours and +Devices--the Flag of the 24th Regiment--Facings--Flag of the King's Own +Borderers--What the Flag Symbolises--Colours of the Guards--the Assaye +Flag--Cavalry Flags--Presentation of Colours--Chelsea College Chapel--Flags +of the Buffs in Canterbury Cathedral--Flags of the Scottish Regiments in +St. Giles's Cathedral--Burning of Rebel Flags by the Hangman--Special Flags +for various Official Personages--Special Flags for different Government +Departments--the Lord High Admiral--the Mail Flag--White Ensign of the +Royal Yacht Squadron--Yacht Ensigns and Burgees--House or Company +Flags--How to express Colours with Lines--the Allan Tricolor--Port +Flags--the British Empire--the Colonial Blue Ensign and Pendant--the +Colonial Defence Act--Colonial Mercantile Flag--Admiralty Warrant--Flag of +the Governor of a Colony--the Green Garland--the Arms of the Dominion of +Canada--Badges of the various Colonies--Daniel Webster on the Might of +England--Bacon on the Command of the Ocean 61 + +CHAPTER IV. + +The Flag of Columbus--Early Settlements in North America--the Birth of the +United States--Early Revolutionary and State Flags--the Pine-tree Flag--the +Rattle-snake Flag--the Stars and Stripes--Early Variations of it--the Arms +of Washington--Entry of New States into the Union--the Eagle--the Flag of +the President--Secession of the Southern States--State Flags again--the +Stars and Bars--the Southern Cross--the Birth of the German Empire--the +Influence of War Songs--Flags of the Empire--Flags of the smaller German +States--the Austro-Hungary Monarchy--the Flags of Russia--the Crosses of +St. Andrew and St. George again--the Flags of France--St. Martin--the +Oriflamme--the Fleurs-de-lys--Their Origin--the White Cross--the White Flag +of the Bourbons--the Tricolor--the Red {v} Flag--the Flags of Spain--of +Portugal--the Consummation of Italian Unity--the Arms of Savoy--the Flags +of Italy--of the Temporal Power of the Papacy--the Flag of Denmark--its +Celestial Origin--the Flags of Norway and Sweden--of Switzerland--Cantonal +Colours--the Geneva Convention--the Flags of Holland--of Belgium--of +Greece--the Crescent of Turkey--the Tughra--the Flags of Roumania, Servia, +and Bulgaria--Flags of Mexico, and of the States of Southern and Central +America--of Japan--the Rising Sun--the Chrysanthemum--the Flags of China, +Siam and Corea--of Sarawak--of the Orange Free State, Liberia, Congo State, +and the Transvaal Republic 86 + +CHAPTER V. + +Flags as a Means of Signalling--Army Signalling--the Morse Alphabet--Navy +Signalling--First Attempts at Sea Signals--Old Signal Books in Library of +Royal United Service Institution--"England expects that every man will do +his duty"--Sinking Signal Codes on defeat--Present System of Signalling in +Royal Navy--Pilot Signals--Weather Signalling by Flags--the International +Signal Code--First Published in 1857--Seventy-eight Thousand Different +Signals possible--Why no Vowels used--Lloyd's Signal Stations 127 + +ALPHABETICAL INDEX TO TEXT 141 + +COLOURED PLATES 149 + + + +{1} + +THE FLAGS OF THE WORLD. + +CHAPTER I. + + The necessity of some special Sign to distinguish Individuals, Tribes, + and Nations--the Standards of Antiquity--Egyptian, Assyrian, Persian, + Greek, and Roman--the Vexillum--The Labarum of Constantine--Invocation + of Religion--the Flags of the Enemy--Early Flags of Religious + Character--Flags of Saints at Funeral Obsequies--Company and Guild + Flags of the Mediæval Period--Political Colours--Various kinds of + Flags--the Banner--Rolls of Arms--Roll of Karlaverok--The Flag called + the Royal Standard is really the Royal Banner--Mainsail + Banners--Trumpet Banners--Ladies embroidering Banners for the + Cause--Knights' Banneret--Form of Investiture--the Standard--the Percy + Badges and Motto--Arctic Sledge-flags--the Rank governing the size of + the Standard--Standards at State Funerals--the + Pennon--Knights-Pennonciers--the Pennoncelle--Mr. Rolt as Chief + Mourner--Lord Mayor's Show--the Pennant--the Streamer--Tudor + Badges--Livery Colours--the Guidon--Bunting--Flag Devising a Branch of + Heraldry--Colours chiefly used in Flags--Flags bearing + Inscriptions--Significance of the Red Flag--of the Yellow--of the + White--of the Black--Dipping the Flag--the Sovereignty of the + Sea--Right of Salute insisted on--Political Changes rendering Flags + obsolete. + +So soon as man passes from the lowest stage of barbarism the necessity for +some special sign, distinguishing man from man, tribe from tribe, nation +from nation, makes itself felt; and this prime necessity once met, around +the symbol chosen spirit-stirring memories quickly gather that endear it, +and make it the emblem of the power and dignity of those by whom it is +borne. The painted semblance of grizzly bear, or beaver, or rattlesnake on +the canvas walls of the tepi of the prairie Brave, the special chequering +of colours that compose the tartan[1] of the Highland clansman, are +examples of this; and as we pass from individual or local tribe to mighty +nations, the same influence is still at work, and the distinctive Union +Flag of Britain, the tricolor of France, the gold and scarlet bars of the +flag of Spain, all alike appeal with irresistible force to the patriotism +of those born beneath their folds, and speak to them of the glories and +greatness of the historic past, the duties of the present, and the hopes of +the future--inspiring those who gaze upon their proud blazonry with the +determination to be no unworthy sons of their fathers, but to live, and if +need be to die, for the dear home-land of which these are the symbol. {2} + +The standards used by the nations of antiquity differed in nature from the +flags that in mediæval and modern days have taken their place. These +earlier symbols were ordinary devices wrought in metal, and carried at the +head of poles or spears. Thus the hosts of Egypt marched to war beneath the +shadow of the various sacred animals that typified their deities, or the +fan-like arrangement of feathers that symbolised the majesty of Pharoah, +while the Assyrian standards, to be readily seen represented on the slabs +from the palaces of Khorsabad and Kyonjik, in the British Museum and +elsewhere, were circular disks of metal containing various distinctive +devices. Both these and the Egyptian standards often have in addition a +small flag-like streamer attached to the staff immediately below the +device. The Greeks in like manner employed the Owl of Athene, and such-like +religious and patriotic symbols of the protection of the deities, though +Homer, it will be remembered, makes Agamemnon use a piece of purple cloth +as a rallying point for his followers. The sculptures of Persepolis show us +that the Persians adopted the figure of the Sun, the eagle, and the like. +In Rome a hand erect, or the figures of the horse, wolf, and other animals +were used, but at a later period the eagle alone was employed. Pliny tells +us that "Caius Marius in his second consulship ordained that the Roman +legions should only have the Eagle for their standard. For before that time +the Eagle marched foremost with four others, wolves, minatours, horses, and +bears--each one in its proper order. Not many years past the Eagle alone +began to be advanced in battle, and the rest were left behind in the camp. +But Marius rejected them altogether, and since this it is observed that +scarcely is there a camp of a Legion wintered at any time without having a +pair of Eagles." The eagle, we need scarcely stay to point out, obtained +this pre-eminence as being the bird of Jove. The Vexillum, or cavalry flag, +was, according to Livy, a square piece of cloth fixed to a cross bar at the +end of a spear; this was often richly fringed, and was either plain or bore +certain devices upon it, and was strictly and properly a flag. The ensigns +which distinguished the allied forces from the legions of the Romans were +also of this character. Examples of these vexilla may be seen on the +sculptured columns of Trajan and Antoninus, the arch of Titus, and upon +various coins and medals of ancient Rome. + +The Imperial Standard or Labarum carried before Constantine and his +successors resembled the cavalry Vexillum.[2] It was of purple silk, richly +embroidered with gold, and though ordinarily {3} suspended from a +horizontal cross-bar, was occasionally displayed in accordance with our +modern usage by attachment by one of its sides to the staff. + +The Roman standards were guarded with religious veneration in the temples +of the metropolis and of the chief cities of the Empire, and modern +practice has followed herein the ancient precedent. As in classic days the +protection of Jove was invoked, so in later days the blessing of Jehovah, +the Lord of Hosts, has been sought. At the presentation of colours to a +regiment a solemn service of prayer and praise is held, and when these +colours return in honour, shot-rent from victorious conflict, they are +reverently placed in stately abbey, venerable cathedral, or parish church, +never more to issue from the peace and rest of the home of God until by +lapse of years they crumble into indistinguishable dust. + +The Israelites carried the sacred standard of the Maccabees, with the +initial letters of the Hebrew text, "Who is like unto Thee, O God, amongst +the gods?" The Emperor Constantine caused the sacred monogram of Christ to +be placed on the Labarum, and when the armies of Christendom went forth to +rescue the Holy Land from the infidel they received their cross-embroidered +standards from the foot of the altar. Pope Alexander II. sent a consecrated +white banner to Duke William previous to his expedition against Harold, and +we read in the "Beehive of the Romish Church," published in 1580, how "the +Spaniardes christen, conjure, and hallow their Ensignes, naming one +Barbara, another Katherine," after the names of saints whose aid they +invoked in the stress of battle. We may see this invocation again very well +in Figs. 147, 148: flags borne by the colonists of Massachusetts when they +arrayed themselves against the mercenaries of King George, and appealed to +the God of Battles in behalf of the freedom and justice denied by those who +bore rule over them. + +This recognition of the King of kings has led also to the captured banners +of the enemy being solemnly suspended in gratitude and thanksgiving in the +house of God. Thus Speed tells us that on the dispersal and defeat of the +Armada, Queen Elizabeth commanded solemn thanksgiving to be celebrated at +the Cathedral Church of St. Paul's, in her chief city of London, which +accordingly was done upon Sunday, the 8th of September, when eleven of the +Spanish ensigns were hung, to the great joy of the beholders, as "psalmes +of praise" for England's deliverance from sore peril. Very appropriately, +too, in the Chapel of the Royal College at Chelsea, the home of the old +soldiers who helped to win them, hang the flags taken at Barrosa, +Martinique, Bhurtpore, Seringapatam, Salamanca, Waterloo, and many another +hard-fought struggle; {4} and thus, in like manner, is the tomb of Napoleon +I., in Paris, surrounded by trophies of captured flags. On March 30th, +1814, the evening before the entry of the Allies into Paris, about 1,500 +flags--the victorious trophies of Napoleon--were burnt in the Court of the +Eglise des Invalides, to prevent their falling into the hands of the enemy. + +Early flags were almost purely of a religious character.[3] The first +notice of banners in England is in Bede's description of the interview +between the heathen King Ethelbert and Augustine, the missionary from Rome, +where the followers of the latter are described as bearing banners on which +were displayed silver crosses; and we need scarcely pause to point out that +in Roman Catholic countries, where the ritual is emotional and sensuous, +banners of this type are still largely employed to add to the pomp of +religious processions. Heraldic and political devices upon flags are of +later date, and even when these came freely into use their presence did not +supplant the ecclesiastical symbols. The national banner of England for +centuries--the ruddy cross of her patron Saint George (Fig. 91)--was a +religious one, and, whatever other banners were carried, this was ever +foremost in the field. The Royal banner of Great Britain and Ireland that +we see in Fig. 44, in its rich blazonry of the lions of England and +Scotland and the Irish harp, is a good example of the heraldic flag, while +our Union flag (Fig. 90), equally symbolizes the three nations of the +United Kingdom, but this time by the allied crosses of the three patron +saints, St. George, St. Andrew, and St. Patrick, and it is therefore a +lineal descendant and exemplar of the religious influence that was once +all-powerful. + +The ecclesiastical flags were often purely pictorial in character, being +actual representations of the Persons of the Trinity, of the Virgin Mother, +or of divers saints. At other times the monasteries and other religious +houses bore banners of heraldic character; as the leading ecclesiastics +were both lords temporal and lords spiritual, taking their places in the +ranks of fighting men and leading on the field the body of dependants and +retainers that they were required to maintain in aid of the national +defence. In such case {5} the distinguishing banner of the contingent +conformed in character to the heraldic cognisances of the other nobles in +the host. Fig. 77, for instance, was the banner of St. Alban's Abbey. In a +poem on the capture of Rouen by the English, in the year 1418, written by +an eye-witness of the scenes described, we read how the English commander-- + + "To the Castelle firste he rode + And sythen the citie all abrode, + Lengthe and brede he it mette + And riche baneres up he sette + Upon the Porte Seint Hillare + A Baner of the Trynyte; + And at Porte Kaux he sette evene + A Baner of the Quene of Heven; + And at Porte Martvile he upplyt + Of Seint George a Baner breight." + +and not until this recognition of Divine and saintly aid was made did + + "He sette upon the Castelle to stonde + The armys of Fraunce and Englond." + +Henry V., at Agincourt, in like manner displayed at his headquarters on the +field not only his own arms, but, in place of special honour and +prominence, the banners of the Trinity, of St. George, and of St. Edward. +These banners of religious significance were often borne from the +monasteries to the field of battle, while monks and priests in attendance +on them invoked the aid of Heaven during the strife. In an old statement of +accounts, still existing, we read that Edward I. made a payment of 8½d. a +day to a priest of Beverley for carrying throughout one of his campaigns a +banner bearing the figure of St. John. St. Wilfred's banner from Ripon, +together with this banner of St. John from Beverley, were brought on to the +field at Northallerton; the flag of St. Denis was carried in the armies of +St. Louis and of Philip le Bel, and the banner of St. Cuthbert of Durham +was borrowed by the Earl of Surrey in his expedition against Scotland in +the reign of Henry VIII. This banner had the valuable reputation of +securing victory to those who fought under it. It was suspended from a +horizontal bar below a spear head, and was a yard or so in breadth and a +little more than this in depth; the bottom edge had five deep indentations. +The banner was of red velvet sumptuously enriched with gold embroidery, and +in the centre was a piece of white velvet, half a yard square, having a +cross of red velvet upon it. This central portion covered and protected a +relic of the saint. The victory of Neville's Cross, October 17th, 1346, was +held to be largely {6} due to the presence of this sacred banner, and the +triumph at Flodden was also ascribed to it. + +During the prevalence of Roman Catholicism in England, we find that banners +of religious type entered largely into the funeral obsequies of persons of +distinction: thus at the burial of Arthur, Prince of Wales, the eldest son +of Henry VII., we find a banner of the Trinity, another with the cross and +instruments of the Passion depicted upon it; another of the Virgin Mary, +and yet another with a representation of St. George. Such banners, as in +the present instance, were ordinarily four in number, and carried +immediately round the body at the four corners of the bier. Thus we read in +the diary of an old chronicler, Machyn, who lived in the reigns of Edward +VI., Mary, and Elizabeth, that at the burial of the Countess of Arundel, +October 27th, 1557, "cam iiij herroldes in ther cotes of armes, and bare +iiij baners of emages at the iiij corners." Again, on "Aprell xxix, 1554, +was bered my Lady Dudley in Saint Margarett in Westminster, with iiij +baners of emages." Another item deals with the funeral of the Duchess of +Northumberland, and here again "the iiij baners of ymages" again recur. +Anyone having the old records, church inventories, and the like before +them, would find it easy enough, as easy as needless, to multiply +illustrations of this funeral use of pictured banners. These "emages" or +"ymages" of old Machyn are of course not images in the sense of sculptured +or carved things, but are painted and embroidered representations of +various saints. Machyn, as a greatly interested looker-on at all the +spectacles of his day, is most entertaining, but his spelling, according to +the severer notions of the present day, is a little weak, as, for instance, +in the following words that we have culled at random from his +pages:--prossessyon, gaffelyns, fezyssyoun, dysquyet, neckclygens, +gorgyusle, berehyng, wypyd, pelere, artelere, and dyssys of spyssys. The +context ordinarily makes the meaning clear, but as our readers have not +that advantage, we give the same words according to modern +orthography--procession, javelins, physician, disquiet, negligence, +gorgeously, burying, whipped, pillory, artillery, dishes of spices. + +The various companies and guilds of the mediæval period had their special +flags that came out, as do those of their successors of the present day, on +the various occasions of civic pageantry; and in many cases, as may be seen +in the illuminated MSS. in the British Museum and elsewhere, they were +carried to battle as the insignia of the companies of men provided at the +expense of those corporations. Thus in one example that has come under our +notice we see a banner bearing a chevron between hammer, trowels, and +builder's square; in another between an axe and two pairs of compasses, +while a third on its azure field bears a pair of golden {7} shears. In the +representation of a battle between Philip d'Artevelde and the Flemings +against the French, many of the flags therein introduced bear the most +extraordinary devices, boots and shoes, drinking-vessels, anvils, and the +like, that owe their presence there to the fact that various trade guilds +sent their contingents of men to the fight. In a French work on mediæval +guilds we find the candle-makers of Bayeux marching beneath a black banner +with three white candles on it, the locksmiths of La Rochelle having a +scarlet flag with four golden keys on it. The lawyers of Loudoun had a flag +with a large eye on it (a single eye to business being, we presume, +understood), while those of Laval had a blue banner with three golden +mouths thereon. In like manner the metal-workers of Laval carried a black +flag with a silver hammer and files depicted on it, those of Niort had a +red flag with a silver cup and a fork and spoon in gold on either side. The +metal-workers of Ypres also carried a red flag, and on this was represented +a golden flagon and two buckles of gold. Should some national stress this +year or next lead our City Companies, the Fishmongers, the Carpenters, the +Vintners, and others to contribute contingents to the defence of the +country, and to send them forth beneath the banners of the guilds, history +would but repeat itself. + +In matters political the two great opposing parties have their distinctive +colours, and these have ordinarily been buff and blue, though the +association of buff with the Liberal party and "true blue" with the +Conservatives has been by no means so entirely a matter of course as +persons who have not looked into the matter might be disposed to imagine. +The local colours are often those that were once the livery colours of the +principal family in the district, and were assumed by its adherents for the +family's sake quite independently of its political creed. The notion of +livery is now an unpleasant one, but in mediæval days the colours of the +great houses were worn by the whole country-side, and the wearing carried +with it no suggestion either of toadyism or servitude. As this influence +was hereditary and at one time all-powerful, the colour of the Castle, or +Abbey, or Great House, became stereotyped in that district as the symbol of +the party of which these princely establishments were the local centre and +visible evidence, and the colour still often survives locally, though the +political and social system that originated it has passed away in these +days of democratic independence. + +It would clearly be a great political gain if one colour were all over +Great Britain the definite emblem of one side, as many illiterate voters +are greatly influenced by the colours worn by the candidates for their +suffrages, and have sufficient sense of consistency of principle to vote +always for the flag that first claimed {8} their allegiance, though it may +very possibly be that if they move to another county it is the emblem of a +totally distinct party, and typifies opinions to which the voter has always +been opposed. At a late election a Yorkshire Conservative, who had acquired +a vote for Bournemouth, was told that he must "vote pink," but this he very +steadily refused to do. He declared that he would "never vote owt else but +th' old true blue," so the Liberal party secured his vote; and this sort of +thing at a General Election is going on all over the country. The town of +Royston, for instance, stands partly in Hertfordshire and partly in +Cambridgeshire, and in the former county the Conservatives and in the +latter the Liberals are the blue party; hence the significance of the +colour in one street of the little town is entirely different to that it +bears in another. At Horsham in Sussex we have observed that the +Conservative colour is pale pink, while in Richmond in Surrey it is a deep +orange. The orange was adopted by the Whigs out of compliment to William +III., who was Prince of Orange. + +In the old chronicles and ballads reference is made to many forms of flags +now obsolete. The term flag is a generic one, and covers all the specific +kinds. It is suggested that the word is derived from the Anglo-Saxon verb +fleogan, to fly or float in the wind, or from the old German flackern, to +flutter. Ensign is an alternative word formed on the idea of the display of +insignia, badges, or devices, and was formerly much used where we should +now employ the word colours. The company officers in a regiment who were +until late years termed ensigns were at a still earlier period more +correctly termed ensign-bearers. Milton, it will be recalled, describes a +"Bannered host under spread ensigns marching." Sir Walter Scott greatly +enlarges our vocabulary when he writes in "Marmion" of where + + "A thousand streamers flaunted fair, + Various in shape, device, and hue, + Green, sanguine, purple, red, and blue, + Broad, narrow, swallow-tailed, and square, + Scroll, pennon, pensil, bandrol, there + O'er the pavilions flew," + +while Milton again writes of + + "Ten thousand thousand ensigns high advanced + Standards and gonfalons 'twixt van and rear + Stream in the air, and for distinction serve + Of hierarchies, orders, and degrees." + +We have seen that the pomp of funeral display led to the use of pictorial +flags of religious type, and with these were associated others that dealt +with the mundane rank and position of the {9} deceased. Thus we find +Edmonson, in his book on Heraldry, writing as follows:--"The armorial +ensigns, as fixed by the officers of arms, and through long and continued +usage established as proper to be carried in funeral processions, are +pennons, guidons, cornets, standards, banners, and banner-rolls, having +thereon depicted the arms, quarterings, badges, crests, supporters, and +devices of the defunct: together with all such other trophies of honour as +in his lifetime he was entitled to display, carry, or wear in the field; +banners charged with the armorial ensigns of such dignities, titles, +offices, civil and military, as were possessed or enjoyed by the defunct at +the time of his decease, and banner-rolls of his own matches and lineal +descent both on the paternal and maternal side. In case the defunct was an +Archbishop, banner-rolls of the arms and insignia of the sees to which he +had been elected and translated, and if he was a merchant or eminent trader +pennons of the particular city, corporation, guild, fraternity, craft, or +company whereof he had been a member." However true the beautiful stanza of +Gray-- + + "The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, + And all that beauty, all that wealth ere gave, + Await at last the inevitable hour, + The paths of glory lead but to the grave"-- + +the survivors of the deceased most naturally and most justly bore to their +rest those to whom honour was due with the full respect to which their +career on earth entitled them. + +The names bestowed upon the different kinds of flags have varied from time +to time, the various authorities of mediæval and modern days not being +quite of one mind sometimes, so that while the more salient forms are +easily identifiable, some little element of doubt creeps in when we would +endeavour to bestow with absolute precision a name to a certain less common +form before us, or a definite form to a name that we encounter in some old +writer. Whatever looseness of nomenclature, however, may be encountered on +the fringe of our subject, the bestowal of the leading terms is +sufficiently definite, and it is to these we now turn our attention, +reflecting for our comfort that it is of far greater value to us to know +all about a form that is of frequent recurrence, and to which abundant +reference is made, than to be able to quite satisfactorily decide what +special name some abnormal form should carry, or what special form is meant +by a name that perhaps only occurs once or twice in the whole range of +literature, and even that perhaps by some poet or romance writer who has +thought more of the general effect of his description than of the technical +accuracy of the terms in which he has clothed it. {10} + +The Banner first engages our attention. This was ordinarily, in the earlier +days of chivalry, a square flag, though in later examples it may be found +somewhat greater in length than in depth, and in some early examples it is +considerably greater in depth than in its degree of projection outwards +from the lance. In the technical language of the subject, the part of a +flag nearest the pole is called the hoist, and the outer part the fly. Fig. +37 is a good illustration of this elongated form. It has been suggested +that the shortness of the fly in such cases was in order that the greater +fluttering in the wind that such a form as Fig. 30 would produce might be +prevented, as this constant tugging at the lance-head would be disagreeable +to the holder, while it might, in the rush of the charge, prevent that +accuracy of aim that one would desire to give one's adversary the full +benefit of at such a crisis in his career. Pretty as this may be as a +theory, there is probably not much in it, or the form in those warlike days +of chivalry would have been more generally adopted. According to an ancient +authority the banner of an emperor should be six feet square; of a king, +five; of a prince or duke, four; and of an earl, marquis, viscount, or +baron three feet square. When we consider that the great function of the +banner was to bear upon its surface the coat-of-arms of its owner, and that +this coat was emblazoned upon it and filled up its entire surface in just +the same way that we find these charges represented upon his shield, it is +evident that no form that departed far either in length or breadth from the +square would be suitable for their display. Though heraldically it is +allowable to compress or extend any form from its normal proportions when +the exigencies of space demand it,[4] it is clearly better to escape this +when possible.[5] The arms depicted in Fig. 37 are certainly not the better +for the elongation to which they have been subjected, while _per contra_ +the bearings on any of the banners in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, +or 11, have had no despite done them, the square form being clearly +well-adapted for their due display. + +The Rolls of Arms prepared on various occasions by the mediæval and later +heralds form an admirable storehouse of examples. Some of these have been +reproduced in facsimile, and are, therefore, more or less readily +accessible. We have before us as we write the roll of the arms of the +Sovereign and of the {11} spiritual and temporal peers who sat in +Parliament in the year 1515, and another excellent example that has been +reproduced is the roll of Karlaverok. This Karlaverok was a fortress on the +north side of Solway Frith, which it was necessary for Edward I. to reduce +on his invasion of Scotland in the year 1300, and this investiture and all +the details of the siege are minutely described by a contemporary writer, +who gives the arms and names of all the nobles there engaged. As soon as +the castle fell into Edward's hands he caused his banner and that of St. +Edmund (Fig. 17), and St. Edward (Fig. 19), to be displayed upon its +battlements. The roll is written in Norman French, of which the following +passage may be given as an example:-- + + "La ont meinte riche garnement + Brode sur cendeaus et samis + Meint beau penon en lance mis + Meint baniere desploie." + +That is to say, there were--in modern English wording--many rich devices +embroidered on silk and satin, many a beautiful pennon fixed on lance, many +a banner displayed. The writer says:--"First, I will tell you of the names +and arms, especially of the banners, if you will listen how." Of these +numerous banners we give some few examples: Fig. 1 belongs to him "who with +a light heart, doing good to all, bore a yellow banner and pennon with a +black saltire engrailed, and is called John Botetourte." Fig. 2 is the +banner of Sire Ralph de Monthermer; Fig. 3 the devices of Touches, "a +knight of good-fame"; while Fig. 4, "the blue with crescents of brilliant +gold," was the flag of William de Ridre. "Sire John de Holderton, who at +all times appears well and promptly in arms," bore No. 6, the fretted +silver on the scarlet field; while Fig. 5 is the cognisance of "Hugh +Bardolph, a man of good appearance, rich, valiant, and courteous." Fig. 7 +is the well-known lion of the Percys, and is here the banner of Henri de +Percy; we meet with it again in Fig. 14. Fig. 8 is "the banner of good Hugh +de Courtenay," while Fig. 9 is that of the valiant Aymer de Valence. Fig. +10 bears the barbels of John de Bar, while the last example we need give +(Fig. 11) is the banner of Sire William de Grandison. Of whom gallant, +courteous Englishmen as they were, we can now but say that "they are dust, +their swords are rust," and deny them not the pious hope "their souls are +with the saints, we trust." + +The well-known flag (Fig. 44), that everyone recognises as the Royal +Standard, is nevertheless misnamed, as it should undoubtedly be called the +Royal Banner, since it bears the arms of the Sovereign in precisely the +same way that any of our preceding {12} examples bear the arms of the +knights with whom they were associated. A standard, as we shall see +presently, is an entirely different kind of flag; nevertheless, the term +Royal Standard is so firmly established that it is hopeless now to think of +altering it, and as it would be but pedantry to ignore it, and substitute +in its place, whenever we have occasion to refer to it, its proper +title--the Royal Banner--we must, having once made our protest, be content +to let the matter stand. Figs. 22, 43, 44, 194, 226, and 245 are all royal +or imperial banners, but popular usage insists that we shall call them +royal or imperial "standards," so, henceforth, rightly or wrongly, through +our pages standards they must be. + +The banners of the Knights of the Garter, richly emblazoned with their +armorial bearings, are suspended over their stalls in St. George's Chapel, +Windsor, while those of the Knights of the Bath are similarly displayed in +the Chapel of Henry VII. in Westminster Abbey. + +The whole of the great mainsail of a mediæval ship was often emblazoned +with arms, and formed one large banner. This usage may be very well seen in +the illuminations, seals, etc., of that period. As early as the year 1247 +we find Otho, Count of Gueldres, represented as bearing on his seal a +square banner charged with his arms, a lion rampant; and in a window in the +Cathedral of Our Lady, at Chartres, is a figure of Simon de Montfort, Earl +of Leicester from 1236 to 1265. He is depicted as bearing in his right hand +a banner of red and white, as shown in Fig. 18. + +References in the old writers to the banner are very numerous. Thus in the +"Story of Thebes" we read of "the fell beastes," that were "wrought and +bete upon their bannres displaied brode" when men went forth to war. +Lydgate, in the "Battle of Agincourt," writes:-- + + "By myn baner sleyn will y be + Or y will turne my backe or me yelde." + +The same writer declares that at the siege of Harfleur by Henry V., in +September, 1415, the king-- + + "Mustred his meyne faire before the town, + And many other lordes, I dar will say, + With baners bryghte and many penoun." + +The trumpeters of the Life Guards and Horse Guards have the Royal Banner +attached to their instruments, a survival that recalls the lines of +Chaucer:-- + + "On every trump hanging a brode bannere + Of fine tartarium, full richly bete." + +{13} + +An interesting reference is found in a letter of Queen Katharine of Arragon +to Thomas Wolsey, dated Richmond, August 13th, 1513, while King Henry VIII. +was in France. Speaking of war with the Scots, her Majesty says: "My hert +is veray good to it, and I am horrible besy with making standards, banners, +and bagies."[6] + +While the men are buckling on their armour for the coming strife, wives, +sisters, sweethearts, daughters, with proud hearts, give their aid, and +with busy fingers--despite the tear that will sometimes blur the vision of +the gay embroidery--swiftly and deftly labour with loving care on the +devices that will nerve the warriors to living steel in the shock of +battle. The Queen of England, so zealously busy in her task of love, is but +a type and exemplar of thousands of her sex before and since. The raven +standard of the Danish invaders of Northumbria was worked by the daughters +of Regnar Lodbrok, and in the great rebellion in the West of England many a +gentlewoman suffered sorely in the foul and Bloody Assize for her zealous +share in providing the insurgents with the standards around which they +rallied. The Covenanters of Scotland, the soldiers of Garibaldi freeing +Italy from the Bourbons, the levies of Kossuth in Hungary, the Poles in the +deadly grip of Russia, the armies of the Confederate States in America, the +Volunteers who would fain free Greece from the yoke of the Turk,[7] all +fought to the death beneath the banners that fair sympathisers with them, +and with their cause, placed in their hands. When two great nations, such +as France and Germany, fall to blows, the whole armament, weapons, flags, +and whatever else may be necessary, is supplied from the government stores +according to regulation pattern, but in the case of insurgents against +authority struggling--rightly or wrongly--to be free, the weapons may be +scythe blades or whatever else comes first to hand, while the standards +borne to the field will bear the most extraordinary devices upon them, +devices that appeal powerfully at the time to those fighting beneath their +folds, but which give a shudder to the purist in heraldic blazonry, as for +instance, to quote but one example, the rattle-snake flag with its motto +"Beware how you tread on me," adopted by the North American colonists in +their struggle against the troops of George III. + +When a knight had performed on the field of battle some especially valiant +or meritorious act, it was open to the Sovereign to {14} mark his sense of +it by making him a knight-banneret. Thus, in the reign of Edward III., John +de Copeland was made a banneret for his service in taking prisoner David +Bruce, the King of Scotland, at the battle of Durham; Colonel John Smith, +having rescued the royal banner from the Parliamentarians at Edgehill, was +in like manner made a knight-banneret by Charles I. The title does not seem +to have been in existence before the reign of Edward I., and after this +bestowal by Charles I. we hear no more of it till 1743, when the title was +conferred upon several English officers by the king, George II., upon the +field of Dettingen. It was an essential condition that the rank should be +bestowed by the Sovereign on the actual field of battle and beneath the +royal banner. General Sir William Erskine was given this rank by George +III. on his return from the Continent in 1764, after the battle of +Emsdorff; but as the investiture took place beneath the standard of the +15th Light Dragoons and in Hyde Park, it was deemed hopelessly irregular, +and, the royal will and action notwithstanding, his rank was not generally +recognised. + +The ceremony of investiture was in the earlier days a very simple one. The +flag of the ordinary knight was of the form known as the pennon--a small, +swallow-tailed flag like that borne by our lancer regiments, of which Fig. +30 is an illustration. On being summoned to the royal presence, the king +took from him his lance, and either cut or tore away the points of his +flag, until he had reduced it roughly to banner form, and then returned it +to him with such words of commendation as the occasion called for. What the +ceremony employed at so late a period as Dettingen was we have not been +able to trace. As the officers there honoured were lanceless and +pennonless, it is evident that the formula which served in the Middle Ages +was quite inapplicable, but it is equally evident that in the thronging +duties and responsibilities of the field of battle the ceremony must always +have been a very short and simple one. + +The term Standard is appropriately applied to any flag of noble size that +answers in the main to the following conditions--that it should always have +the Cross of St. George placed next to the staff, that the rest of the flag +should be divided horizontally into two or more stripes of colours, these +being the prevailing colours in the arms of the bearers or their livery +colours, the edge of the standard richly fringed or bordered, the motto and +badges of the owner introduced, the length considerably in excess of the +breadth, the ends split and rounded off. We find such standards in use +chiefly during the fifteenth century, though some characteristic examples +of both earlier and later dates may be encountered. Figs. 14 and 15 are +very good typical illustrations. The {15} first of these (Fig. 14) is the +Percy standard. The blue lion, the crescent, and the fetterlock there seen +are all badges of the family, while the silver key betokens matrimonial +alliance with the Poynings,[8] the bugle-horn with the Bryans,[9] and the +falchion with the family of Fitzpayne. The ancient badge of the Percys was +the white lion statant. Our readers will doubtless be familiar with the +lines-- + + "Who, in field or foray slack, + Saw the blanch lion e'er give back?" + +but Henry Percy, the fifth earl, 1489 to 1577, turned it into a blue one. +The silver crescent is the only badge of the family that has remained in +active and continuous use, and we find frequent references to it in the old +ballads--so full of interesting heraldic allusions--as, for instance, in +"The Rising of the North"-- + + "Erle Percy there his ancyent spred, + The halfe-moon shining all soe faire," + +and in Claxton's "Lament"-- + + "Now the Percy's crescent is set in blood." + +The motto is ordinarily a very important part of the standard, though it is +occasionally missing. Its less or greater length or its possible repetition +may cut up the surface of the flag into a varying number of spaces. The +first space after the cross is always occupied by the most important badge, +and in a few cases the spaces beyond are empty. + +The motto of the Percys is of great historic interest. It is referred to by +Shakespeare, "Now Esperance! Percy! and set on," and we find in Drayton the +line, "As still the people cried, A Percy, Esperance!" In the "Mirror for +Magistrates" (1574) we read, "Add therefore this to Esperance, my word, who +causeth bloodshed shall not 'scape the sword." It was originally the +war-cry of the Percys, but it has undergone several modifications, and +these of a rather curious and interesting nature, since we see in the +sequence a steady advance from blatant egotism to an admission of a higher +power even than that of Percy. The war-cry of the first Earl was +originally, "Percy! Percy!" but he later substituted for it, "Esperance, +Percy." The second and third Earls took merely "Esperance," the fourth took +"Esperance, ma comfort," and, {16} later on, "Esperance en Dieu ma +comfort," and the fifth and succeeding Earls took the "Esperance en +Dieu."[10] + +Fig. 15 is the standard of Sir Thomas de Swynnerton. The swine is an +example of the punning allusion to the bearer's name that is so often seen +in the charges of mediæval heraldry. + +Figs. 14 and 15 are typical standards, having the cross of St. George, the +striping of colours, the oblique lines of motto, the elongated tapering +form, and all the other features that we have already quoted as belonging +to the ideal standard, though one or two of these may at times be absent. +Thus, though exceptions are rare, a standard is not necessarily +particoloured for example, and, as we have seen, the motto in other +examples may be missing. The Harleian MS. No. 2,358 lays down the rule that +"every Standard or guydhome is to hang in the Chiefe the Crosse of St. +George, to be slitte at the ende, and to conteyne the crest or supporter, +with the poesy, worde, and devise of the owner." That the Cross of St. +George, the national badge, must always be present and in the most +honourable position is full of significance, as it means that whatever else +of rank or family the bearer might be, he was first and foremost an +Englishman. + +Figs. 13 and 16 are interesting modern examples of the Standard. They are +from a series of sledge-flags used during the Arctic Expedition of 1875-6, +the devices upon them being those of the officers in charge of each +detachment. + +When in earlier days a man raised a regiment for national defence, he not +only commanded it, but its flag often bore his arms or device. Thus the +standard of the dragoons raised by Henry, Lord Cardross, in 1689 was of red +silk, on which was represented the Colonel's crest, a hand holding a +dagger, and the motto "Fortitudine," while in the upper corner next the +staff was the thistle of Scotland, surmounted by the crown. + +Our readers should now have no difficulty in sketching out for themselves +as an exercise the following: The standard of Henry V., white and blue, a +white antelope standing between four red roses; the motto "Dieu et mon +droit," and in the interspaces more red {17} roses. The standard of Richard +II., white and green, a white hart couchant between four golden suns, the +motto "Dieu et mon droit," in the next space two golden suns, and in the +next, four. As further exercises, we may give the standard of Sir John +Awdeley, of gold and scarlet, having a Moor's head and three white +butterflies, the motto "Je le tiens," then two butterflies, then four; and +the standard of Frogmorton, of four stripes of red and white, having an +elephant's head in black, surrounded by golden crescents. While no one, +either monarch or noble, could have more than one banner, since this was +composed of his heraldic arms, a thing fixed and unchangeable, the same +individual might have two or three standards, since these were mainly made +up of badges that he could multiply at discretion, and a motto or poesy +that he might change every day if he chose. Hence, for instance, the +standards of Henry VII. were mostly green and white, since these were the +Tudor livery colours; but in one was "a red firye dragon," and in another +"was peinted a donne kowe," while yet another had a silver greyhound +between red roses. Stowe and other authorities tell us that the two first +of these were borne at Bosworth Field, and that after his victory there +over Richard III. these were borne by him in solemn state to St. Paul's +Cathedral, and there deposited on his triumphal entry into the metropolis. + +The difference between the standard and the banner is very clearly seen in +the description of the flags borne at the funeral obsequies of Queen +Elizabeth--"the great embroidered banner of England" (Fig. 22), the banners +of Wales, Ireland, Chester, and Cornwall, and the standards of the dragon, +greyhound, and falcon. In like manner Stowe tells us that when King Henry +VII. took the field in 1513, he had with him the standard with the red +dragon and the banner of the arms of England, and Machyn tells that at the +funeral of Edward VI., "furst of all whent a grett company of chylderyn in +ther surples and clarkes syngyng and then ij harolds, and then a standard +with a dragon, and then a grett nombur of ye servants in blake, and then +anoder standard with a whyt greyhound." Later on in the procession came "ye +grett baner of armes in brodery and with dyvers odere baners." + +Standards varied in size according to the rank of the person entitled to +them. A MS. of the time of Henry VII. gives the following dimensions:--For +that of the king, a length of eight yards; for a duke, seven; for an earl, +six; a marquis, six and a half; a viscount, five and a half; a baron, five; +a knight banneret, four and a half; and for a knight, four yards. In view +of these figures one can easily realise the derivation of the word +standard--a thing that is meant to stand; to be rather fastened in the +ground as a rallying point than carried, like a banner, about the field of +action. {18} + +At the funeral of Nelson we find his banner of arms and standard borne in +the procession, while around his coffin are the bannerolls, square +banner-like flags bearing the various arms of his family lineage. We see +these latter again in an old print of the funeral procession of General +Monk, in 1670, and in a still older print of the burial of Sir Philip +Sydney, four of his near kindred carrying by the coffin these indications +of his descent. At the funeral of Queen Elizabeth we find six bannerolls of +alliances on the paternal side and six on the maternal. The standard of +Nelson bears his motto, "_Palmam qui meruit ferat_," but instead of the +Cross of St. George it has the union of the crosses of St. George, St. +Andrew, and St. Patrick, since in 1806, the year of his funeral, the +England of mediæval days had expanded into the Kingdom of Great Britain and +Ireland. In the imposing funeral procession of the great Duke of Wellington +we find again amongst the flags not only the national flag, regimental +colours, and other insignia, but the ten bannerolls of the Duke's pedigree +and descent, and his personal banner and standard. + +Richard, Earl of Salisbury, in the year 1458, ordered that at his interment +"there be banners, standards, and other accoutrements, according as was +usual for a person of his degree" and what was then held fitting, remains, +in the case of State funerals, equally so at the present day. + +The Pennon is a small, narrow flag, forked or swallow-tailed at its +extremity. This was carried on the lance. Our readers will recall the +knight in "Marmion," who + + "On high his forky pennon bore, + Like swallow's tail in shape and hue." + +We read in the Roll of Karlaverok, as early as the year 1300, of + + "Many a beautiful pennon fixed to a lance, + And many a banner displayed;" + +and of the knight in Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales," we hear that + + "By hys bannere borne is hys pennon + Of golde full riche." + +The pennon bore the arms of the knight, and they were in the earlier days +of chivalry so emblazoned upon it as to appear in their proper position not +when the lance was held erect but when held horizontally for the charge. +The earliest brass now extant, that of Sir John Daubernoun, at Stoke +d'Abernon Church, in Surrey, represents the knight as bearing a lance with +pennon. Its date is 1277, and the device is a golden chevron on a field of +azure. In {19} this example the pennon, instead of being forked, comes to a +single point. + +The pennon was the ensign of those knights who were not bannerets, and the +bearers of it were therefore sometimes called pennonciers; the term is +derived from the Latin word for a feather, _penna_, from the narrow, +elongated form. The pennons of our lancer regiments (Fig. 30) give one a +good idea of the form, size, and general effect of the ancient knightly +pennon, though they do not bear distinctive charges upon them, and thus +fail in one notable essential to recall to our minds the brilliant blazonry +and variety of device that must have been so marked and effective a feature +when the knights of old took the field. In a drawing of the year 1813, of +the Royal Horse Artillery, we find the men armed with lances, and these +with pennons of blue and white, as we see in Fig. 31.[11] + +Of the thirty-seven pennons borne on lances by various knights represented +in the Bayeux tapestry, twenty-eight have triple points, while others have +two, four, or five. The devices upon these pennons are very various and +distinctive, though the date is before the period of the definite +establishment of heraldry. Examples of these may be seen in Figs. 39, 40, +41, 42. + +The pennoncelle, or pencel, is a diminutive of the pennon, small as that +itself is. Such flags were often supplied in large quantities at any +special time of rejoicing or of mourning. At the burial in the year 1554 of +"the nobull Duke of Norffok," we note amongst other items "a dosen of +banerolles of ys progene," a standard, a "baner of damaske, and xij dosen +penselles." At the burial of Sir William Goring we find "ther was viij +dosen of penselles," while at the Lord Mayor's procession in 1555 we read +that there were "ij goodly pennes [State barges] deckt with flages and +stremers and a m penselles." This "m," or thousand, we can perhaps scarcely +take literally, though in another instance we find "the cordes were hanged +with innumerable pencelles."[12] + +The statement of the cost of the funeral of Oliver Cromwell is interesting, +as we see therein the divers kinds of flags that graced the ceremony. The +total cost of the affair was over £28,000, and the unhappy undertaker, a +Mr. Rolt, was paid very little, if any, of his bill. The items include "six +gret banners wrought on rich taffaty in oil, and gilt with fine gold," at +£6 each. Five large standards, similarly wrought, at a cost of £10 each; +six dozen {20} pennons, a yard long, at a sovereign each; forty trumpet +banners, at forty shillings apiece; thirty dozen of pennoncelles, a foot +long, at twenty shillings a dozen; and twenty dozen ditto at twelve +shillings the dozen. Poor Rolt! + +In "the accompte and reckonyng" for the Lord Mayor's Show of 1617 we find +"payde to Jacob Challoner, painter, for a greate square banner, the +Prince's Armes, the somme of seven pounds." We also find, "More to him for +the new payntyng and guyldyng of ten trumpet banners, for payntyng and +guyldyng of two long pennons of the Lord Maior's armes on callicoe," and +many other items that we need not set down, the total cost of the flag +department being £67 15s. 10d., while for the Lord Mayor's Show of the year +1685 we find that the charge for this item was the handsome sum of £140. + +The Pennant, or pendant, is a long narrow flag with pointed end, and +derives its name from the Latin word signifying to hang. Examples of it may +be seen in Figs. 20, 21, 23, 24, 36, 38, 100, 101, 102, and 103, and some +of the flags employed in ship-signalling are also of pennant form. It was +in Tudor times called the streamer. Though such a flag may at times be +found pressed into the service of city pageantry, it is more especially +adapted for use at sea, since the lofty mast, the open space far removed +from telegraph-wires, chimney-pots, and such-like hindrances to its free +course, and the crisp sea-breeze to boldly extend it to its full length, +are all essential to its due display. When we once begin to extend in +length, it is evident that almost anything is possible: the pendant of a +modern man-of-war is some twenty yards long, while its breadth is barely +six inches, and it is evident that such a flag as that would scarcely get a +fair chance in the general "survival of the fittest" in Cheapside. It is +charged at the head with the Cross of St. George. Figs. 26, 27, 74 are +Tudor examples of such pendants, while Fig. 140 is a portion at least of +the pendant flown by colonial vessels on war service, while under the same +necessarily abbreviated conditions may be seen in Fig. 151 the pendant of +the United States Navy, in 157 that of Chili, and in 173 that of Brazil. + +In mediæval days many devices were introduced, the streamer being made of +sufficient width to allow of their display. Thus Dugdale gives an account +of the fitting up of the ship in which Beauchamp, fifth Earl of Warwick, +during the reign of Henry VI., went over to France. The original bill +between this nobleman and William Seburgh, "citizen and payntour of +London," is still extant, and we see from it that amongst other things +provided was "the grete stremour for the shippe xl yardes in length and +viij yardes in brede." These noble dimensions gave ample room for {21} +display of the badge of the Warwicks,[13] so we find it at the head adorned +with "a grete bere holding a ragged staffe," and the rest of its length +"powdrid full of raggid staves," + + "A stately ship, + With all her bravery on, and tackle trim, + Sails filled, and streamers waving." + +Machyn tells us in his diary for August 3rd, 1553, how "The Queen came +riding to London, and so on to the Tower, makyng her entry at Aldgate, and +a grett nombur of stremars hanging about the sayd gate, and all the strett +unto Leydenhalle and unto the Tower were layd with graffel, and all the +crafts of London stood with their banars and stremars hangyd over their +heds." In the picture by Volpe in the collection at Hampton Court of the +Embarkation of Henry VIII. from Dover in the year 1520, to meet Francis I. +at the Field of the Cloth of Gold, we find, very naturally, a great variety +and display of flags of all kinds. Figs. 20, 21, 23 are streamers therein +depicted, the portcullis, Tudor rose, and fleur-de-lys being devices of the +English king, while the particular ground upon which they are displayed is +in each case made up of green and white, the Tudor livery colours. We may +see these again in Fig. 71, where the national flag of the Cross of St. +George has its white field barred with the Tudor green. In the year 1554 +even the naval uniform of England was white and green, both for officers +and mariners, and the City trained bands had white coats welted with green. +Queen Elizabeth, though of the Tudor race, took scarlet and black as her +livery colours; the House of Plantaganet white and red; of York, murrey and +blue; of Lancaster, white and blue; of Stuart, red and yellow. The great +nobles each also had their special liveries; thus in a grand review of +troops on Blackheath, on May 16th, 1552, we find that "the Yerle of +Pembroke and ys men of armes" had "cotes blake bordered with whyt," while +the retainers of the Lord Chamberlain were in red and white, those of the +Earl of Huntingdon in blue, and so forth. + +In the description of one of the City pageants in honour of Henry VII. we +find among the "baggs" (_i.e._, badges), "a rede rose and a wyght in his +mydell, golde floures de luces, and portcullis also in golde," the "wallys" +of the Pavilion whereon these were displayed being "chekkyrs of whyte and +grene." + +The only other flag form to which we need make any very definite reference +is the Guidon. The word is derived from the {22} French _guide-homme_, but +in the lax spelling of mediæval days it undergoes many perversions, such as +guydhome, guydon, gytton, geton, and such-like more or less barbarous +renderings. Guidon is the regulation name now applied to the small +standards borne by the squadrons of some of our cavalry regiments. The +Queen's guidon is borne by the first squadron; this is always of crimson +silk; the others are the colour of the regimental facings. The modern +cavalry guidon is square in form, and richly embroidered, fringed, and +tasselled. A mediæval writer on the subject lays down the law that "a +guydhome must be two and a half yardes or three yardes longe, and therein +shall be no armes putt, but only the man's crest, cognizance, and device, +and from that, from his standard or streamer a man may flee; but not from +his banner or pennon bearinge his armes." The guidon is largely employed at +State or ceremonious funeral processions; we see it borne, for instance, in +the illustrations of the funeral of Monk in 1670, of Nelson in 1806, of +Wellington in 1852. In all these cases it is rounded in form, as in Fig. +28. Like the standard, the guidon bears motto and device, but it is +smaller, and has not the elongated form, nor does it bear the Cross of St. +George. + +In divers countries and periods very diverse forms may be encountered, and +to these various names have been assigned, but it is needless to pursue +their investigation at any length, as in some cases the forms are quite +obsolete; in other cases, while its form is known to us its name is lost, +while in yet other instances we have various old names of flags mentioned +by the chroniclers and poets to which we are unable now to assign any very +definite notion of their form. In some cases, again, the form we encounter +may be of some eccentric individuality that no man ever saw before, or ever +wants to see again, or, as in Fig. 33, so slightly divergent from ordinary +type as to scarcely need a distinctive name. One of the flags represented +in the Bayeux tapestry is semi-circular. Fig. 32 defies classification, +unless we regard it as a pennon that, by snipping, has travelled +three-quarters of the way towards being a banner. Fig. 35, sketched from a +MS. of the early part of the fourteenth century, in the British Museum, is +of somewhat curious and abnormal form. It is of religious type, and bears +the Agnus Dei. The original is in a letter of Philippe de Mezières, +pleading for peace and friendship between Charles VI. of France and Richard +II. of England. + +Flags are nowadays ordinarily made of bunting, a woollen fabric which, from +the nature of its texture and its great toughness and durability, is +particularly fitted to stand wear and tear. It comes from the Yorkshire +mills in pieces of forty yards in length, while the width varies from four +to thirty-six inches. Flags are {23} only printed when of small size, and +when a sufficient number will be required to justify the expense of cutting +the blocks. Silk is also used, but only for special purposes. + +Flag-devising is really a branch of heraldry, and should be in accordance +with its laws, both in the forms and the colours introduced. Yellow in +blazonry is the equivalent of gold, and white of silver, and it is one of +the requirements of heraldry that colour should not be placed upon colour, +nor metal on metal. Hence the red and blue in the French tricolour (Fig. +191) are separated by white; the black and red of Belgium (Fig. 236) by +yellow. Such unfortunate combinations as the yellow, blue, red, of +Venezuela (Fig. 170); the yellow, red, green of Bolivia (Fig. 171); the red +and blue of Hayti (Fig. 178); the white and yellow of Guatemala (Fig. 162), +are violations of the rule in countries far removed from the influence of +heraldic law. This latter instance is a peculiarly interesting one; it is +the flag of Guatemala in 1851, while in 1858 this was changed to that +represented in Fig. 163. In the first case the red and the blue are in +contact, and the white and the yellow; while in the second the same colours +are introduced, but with due regard to heraldic law, and certainly with far +more pleasing effect. + +One sees the same obedience to this rule in the special flags used for +signalling, where great clearness of definition at considerable distances +is an essential. Such combinations as blue and black, red and blue, yellow +and white, carry their own condemnation with them, as anyone may test by +actual experiment; stripes of red and blue, for instance, at a little +distance blending into purple, while white and yellow are too much alike in +strength, and when the yellow has become a little faded and the white a +little dingy they appear almost identical. We have this latter combination +in Fig. 198, the flag of the now vanished Papal States. It is a very +uncommon juxtaposition, and only occurs in this case from a special +religious symbolism into which we need not here enter. The alternate red +and green stripes in Fig. 63 are another violation of the rule, and have a +very confusing effect.[14] + +The colours of by far the greatest frequency of occurrence are red, white, +and blue; yellow also is not uncommon; orange is only found once, in Fig. +249, where it has a special significance, since this is the flag of the +Orange Free State. Green occurs sparingly. Italy (Fig. 197) is perhaps the +best known example. We also find it in the Brazilian flag (Fig. 169), the +Mexican (Fig. 172), in the Hungarian tricolor (Fig. 214), and in Figs. 199, +201, 209, the flags {24} of smaller German States, but it is more +especially associated with Mohammedan States, as in Figs. 58, 63, 64, 235. +Black is found but seldom, but as heraldic requirements necessitate that it +should be combined either with white or yellow, it is, when seen, +exceptionally brilliant and effective. We see it, for example, in the Royal +Standard of Spain, (Fig. 194), in Figs. 207 and 208, flags of the German +Empire, in Fig. 226, the Imperial Standard of Russia, and in Fig. 236, the +brilliant tricolor of the Belgians.[15] + +In orthodox flags anything of the nature of an inscription is very seldom +seen. We find a reference to order and progress on the Brazilian flag (Fig. +169), while the Turkish Imperial Standard (Fig. 238) bears on its scarlet +folds the monogram of the Sultan; but these exceptions are rare.[16] We +have seen that, on the contrary, on the flags of insurgents and malcontents +the inscription often counts for much. On the alteration of the style in +the year 1752 this necessary change was made the subject of much ignorant +reproach of the government of the day, and was used as a weapon of party +warfare. An amusing instance of this feeling occurs in the first plate of +Hogarth's election series, where a malcontent, or perhaps only a man +anxious to earn a shilling, carries a big flag inscribed, "Give us back our +eleven days." The flags of the Covenanters often bore mottoes or texts. +Fig. 34 is a curious example: the flag hoisted by the crew of H.M.S. +_Niger_ when they opposed the mutineers in 1797 at Sheerness. It is +preserved in the Royal United Service Museum. It is, as we have seen, +ordinarily the insubordinate and rebellious who break out into inscriptions +of more or less piety or pungency, but we may conclude that the loyal +sailors fighting under the royal flag adopted this device in addition as +one means the more of fighting the rebels with their own weapons. + +During the Civil War between the Royalists and Parliamentarians, we find a +great use made of flags inscribed with mottoes. Thus, on one we see five +hands stretching at a crown defended by an armed hand issuing from a cloud, +and the motto, "Reddite Cæsari." In another we see an angel with a flaming +sword treading a dragon underfoot, and the motto, "Quis ut Deus," while yet +another is inscribed, "Courage pour la Cause." On a fourth we find an +ermine, and the motto, "Malo mori quam foedari"--"It is better to die than +{25} to be sullied," in allusion to the old belief that the ermine would +die rather than soil its fur. Hence it is the emblem of purity and +stainless honour. + +The blood-red flag is the symbol of mutiny and of revolution. As a sign of +disaffection it was twice, at the end of last century, displayed in the +Royal Navy. A mutiny broke out at Portsmouth in April, 1797, for an advance +of pay; an Act of Parliament was passed to sanction the increase of +expenditure, and all who were concerned in it received the royal pardon, +but in June of the same year, at Sheerness, the spirit of disaffection +broke out afresh, and on its suppression the ringleaders were executed. It +is characteristic that, aggrieved as these seamen were against the +authorities, when the King's birthday came round, on June 4th, though the +mutiny was then at its height, the red flags were lowered, the vessels +gaily dressed in the regulation bunting, and a royal salute was fired. +Having thus demonstrated their real loyalty to their sovereign, the red +flags were re-hoisted, and the dispute with the Admiralty resumed in all +its bitterness. + +The white flag is the symbol of amity and of good will; of truce amidst +strife, and of surrender when the cause is lost. The yellow flag betokens +infectious illness, and is displayed when there is cholera, yellow fever, +or such like dangerous malady on board ship, and it is also hoisted on +quarantine stations. The black flag signifies mourning and death; one of +its best known uses in these later days is to serve as an indication after +an execution that the requirements of the law have been duly carried out. + +Honour and respect are expressed by "dipping" the flag. At any parade of +troops before the sovereign the regimental flags are lowered as they pass +the saluting point, and at sea the colours are dipped by hauling them +smartly down from the mast-head and then promptly replacing them. They must +not be suffered to remain at all stationary when lowered, as a flag flying +half-mast high is a sign of mourning for death, for defeat, or for some +other national loss, and it is scarcely a mark of honour or respect to +imply that the arrival of the distinguished person is a cause of grief or +matter for regret. + +In time of peace it is an insult to hoist the flag of one friendly nation +above another, so that each flag must be flown from its own staff. + +Even as early as the reign of Alfred England claimed the sovereignty of the +seas. Edward III. is more identified with our early naval glories than any +other English king; he was styled "King of the Seas," a name of which he +appears to have been very proud, and in his coinage of gold nobles he +represented himself with shield and sword, and standing in a ship "full +royally {26} apparelled." He fought on the seas under many disadvantages of +numbers and ships: in one instance until his ship sank under him, and at +all times as a gallant Englishman. + +If any commander of an English vessel met the ship of a foreigner, and the +latter refused to salute the English flag, it was enacted that such ship, +if taken, was the lawful prize of the captain. A very notable example of +this punctilious insistance on the respect to the flag arose in May, 1554, +when a Spanish fleet of one hundred and sixty sail, escorting the King on +his way to England to his marriage with Queen Mary, fell in with the +English fleet under the command of Lord Howard, Lord High Admiral. Philip +would have passed the English fleet without paying the customary honours, +but the signal was at once made by Howard for his twenty-eight ships to +prepare for action, and a round shot crashed into the side of the vessel of +the Spanish Admiral. The hint was promptly taken, and the whole Spanish +fleet struck their colours as homage to the English flag. + +In the year 1635 the combined fleets of France and Holland determined to +dispute this claim of Great Britain, but on announcing their intention of +doing so an English fleet was at once dispatched, whereupon they returned +to their ports and decided that discretion was preferable even to valour. +In 1654, on the conclusion of peace between England and Holland, the Dutch +consented to acknowledge the English supremacy of the seas, the article in +the treaty declaring that "the ships of the Dutch--as well ships of war as +others--meeting any of the ships of war of the English, in the British +seas, shall strike their flags and lower their topsails in such manner as +hath ever been at any time heretofore practised." After another period of +conflict it was again formally yielded by the Dutch in 1673. + +Political changes are responsible for many variations in flags, and the +wear and tear of Time soon renders many of the devices obsolete. On +turning, for instance, to Nories' "Maritime Flags of all Nations," a little +book published in 1848, many of the flags are at once seen to be now out of +date. The particular year was one of exceptional political agitation, and +the author evidently felt that his work was almost old-fashioned even on +its issue. "The accompanying illustrations," he says, "having been +completed prior to the recent revolutionary movements on the Continent of +Europe, it has been deemed expedient to issue the plate in its present +state, rather than adopt the various tri-coloured flags, which cannot be +regarded as permanently established in the present unsettled state of +political affairs." The Russian American Company's flag, Fig. 59, that of +the States of the Church, of the Kingdom of Sardinia, the Turkish Imperial +Standard, Fig. 64, and many others {27} that he gives, are all now +superseded. For Venice he gives two flags, that for war and that for the +merchant service. In each case the flag is scarlet, having a broad band of +blue, which we may take to typify the sea, near its lower edge. From this +rises in gold the winged lion of St. Mark, having in the war ensign a sword +in his right paw, and in the peaceful colours of commerce a cross. Of +thirty-five "flags of all nations," given as a supplement to the +_Illustrated London News_ in 1858, we note that eleven are now obsolete: +the East India Company, for instance, being now extinct, the Ionian Islands +ceded to Greece, Tuscany and Naples absorbed into Italy, and so forth. + +In Figs. 52 and 53 we have examples of early Spanish flags, and in 54 and +55 of Portuguese, each and all being taken from a very quaint map of the +year 1502. This map may be said to be practically the countries lying round +the Atlantic Ocean, giving a good slice of Africa, a portion of the +Mediterranean basin, the British Isles, most of South America, a little of +North America, the West Indies,[17] etc., the object of the map being to +show the division that Pope Alexander VI. kindly made between those +faithful daughters of the Church--Spain and Portugal--of all the unclaimed +portions of the world. Figs. 52 and 53 are types of flags flying on various +Spanish possessions, while Figs. 54 and 55 are placed at different points +on the map where Portugal held sway. On one place in Africa we see that No. +54 is surmounted by a white flag bearing the Cross of St. George, so we may +conclude that--Pope Alexander notwithstanding--England captured it from the +Portuguese. At one African town we see the black men dancing round the +Portuguese flag, while a little way off three of their brethren are hanging +on a gallows, showing that civilization had set in with considerable +severity there. The next illustration on this plate (Fig. 56) is taken from +a sheet of flags published in 1735; it represents the "Guiny Company's +Ensign," a trading company, like the East India, Fig. 57, now no longer in +existence. Fig. 62 is the flag of Savoy, an ancient sovereignty that, +within the memory of many of our readers, has expanded into the kingdom of +Italy. The break up of the Napoleonic _régime_ in France, the crushing out +of the Confederate States in North America, the dismissal from the throne +of the Emperor of Brazil, have all, within comparatively recent years, led +to the superannuation and disestablishment of a goodly number of flags and +their final disappearance. + +We propose now to deal with the flags of the various nationalities, +commencing, naturally, with those of our own country. {28} We were told by +a government official that the Universal Code of signals issued by England +had led to a good deal of heartburning, as it is prefaced by a plate of the +various national flags, the Union Flag of Great Britain and Ireland being +placed first. But until some means can be devised by which each nationality +can head the list, some sort of precedence seems inevitable. At first sight +it seems as though susceptibilities might be saved by adopting an +alphabetical arrangement, but this is soon found to be a mistake, as it +places such powerful States as Russia and the United States nearly at the +bottom of the list. A writer, Von Rosenfeld, who published a book on flags +in Vienna in 1853, very naturally adopted this arrangement, but the calls +of patriotism would not even then allow him to be quite consistent, since +he places his material as follows:--Austria, Annam, Argentine, Belgium, +Bolivia, and so forth, where it is evident Annam should lead the world and +Austria be content to come in third. Apart from the difficulty of asking +Spain, for instance, to admit that Bulgaria was so much in front of her, or +to expect Japan to allow China so great a precedence as the alphabetical +arrangement favours, a second obstacle is found in the fact that the names +of these various States as we Englishmen know them are not in many cases +those by which they know themselves or are known by others. Thus a +Frenchman would be quite content with the alphabetical arrangement that in +English places his beloved country before Germany, but the Teuton would at +once claim precedence, declaring that Deutschland must come before "la +belle France," and the Espagnol would not see why he should be banished to +the back row just because we choose to call him a Spaniard. + +In the meantime, pending the Millenium, the flag that more than three +hundred millions of people, the wide world over, look up to as the symbol +of justice and liberty, will serve very well as a starting point, and then +the great Daughter across the Western Ocean, that sprung from the Old Home, +shall claim a worthy place next in our regard. The Continent of Europe must +clearly come next, and such American nationalities as lie outside the +United States, together with Asia and Africa, will bring up the rear. + + * * * * * + +{29} + +CHAPTER II. + + The Royal Standard--the Three Lions of England--the Lion Rampant of + Scotland--Scottish sensitiveness as to precedence--the Scottish + Tressure--the Harp of Ireland--Early Irish Flags--Brian Boru--the Royal + Standards from Richard I. to Victoria--Claim to the Fleurs-de-Lys of + France--Quartering Hanover--the Union Flag--St. George for England--War + Cry--Observance of St. George's Day--the Cross of St. George--Early + Naval Flags--the London Trained Bands--the Cross of St. Andrew--the + "Blue Blanket"--Flags of the Covenanters--Relics of St. Andrew--Union + of England and Scotland--the First Union Flag--Importance of accuracy + in representations of it--the Union Jack--Flags of the Commonwealth and + Protectorate--Union of Great Britain and Ireland--the Cross of St. + Patrick--Labours of St. Patrick in Ireland--Proclamation of George III. + as to Flags, etc.--the Second Union Flag--Heraldic Difficulties in its + Construction--Suggestions by Critics--Regulations as to Fortress + Flags--the White Ensign of the Royal Navy--Saluting the Flag--the Navy + the Safeguard of Britain--the Blue Ensign--the Royal Naval Reserve--the + Red Ensign of the Mercantile Marine--Value of Flag-lore. + +Foremost amongst the flags of the British Empire the Royal Standard takes +its position as the symbol of the tie that unites all into one great State. +Its glowing blazonry of blue and scarlet and gold is brought before us in +Fig. 44. The three golden lions on the scarlet ground are the device of +England, the golden harp on the azure field is the device of Ireland, while +the ruddy lion rampant on the field of gold[18] stands for Scotland. It may +perhaps appear to some of our readers that the standard of the Empire +should not be confined to such narrow limits; that the great Dominion of +Canada, India, Australia, the ever-growing South Africa, might justly claim +a place. Precedent, too, might be urged, since in previous reigns, Nassau, +Hanover, and other States have found a resting-place in its folds, and +there is much to be said in favour of a wider representation of the greater +component parts of our world-wide Empire; but two great practical +difficulties arise: the first is that the grand simplicity of the flag +would be lost if eight or ten different devices were substituted for the +three; and secondly, it would very possibly give rise to a good deal of +jealousy and ill-feeling, since it would be impossible to introduce all. As +it at present stands, it represents the central home of the Empire, the +little historic seed-plot from whence all else has sprung, and to which all +turn their eyes as the {30} centre of the national life. All equally agree +to venerate the dear mother land, but it is perhaps a little too much to +expect that the people of Jamaica or Hong Kong would feel the same +veneration for the beaver and maple-leaves of Canada, the golden Sun of +India, or the Southern Cross of Australasia. As it must clearly be all or +none, it seems that only one solution of the problem, the present one, is +possible. In the same way the Union flag (Fig. 90) is literally but the +symbol of England, Scotland, and Ireland, but far and away outside its +primary significance, it floats on every sea the emblem of that Greater +Britain in which all its sons have equal pride, and where all share equal +honour as brethren of one family. + +The earliest Royal Standard bore but the three lions of England, and we +shall see presently that in different reigns various modifications of its +blazonry arose, either the result of conquest or of dynastic possessions. +Thus Figs. 43 and 44, though they bear a superficial likeness, tell a very +different story; the first of these, that of George III., laying claim in +its fourth quartering to lordship over Hanover and other German States, and +in its second quarter to the entirely shadowy and obsolete claim over +France, as typified by the golden fleurs-de-lys on the field of azure. + +How the three lions of England arose is by no means clear. Two lions were +assigned as the arms of William the Conqueror, but there is no real +evidence that he bore them. Heraldry had not then become a definite +science, and when it did a custom sprang up of assigning to those who lived +and died before its birth certain arms, the kindly theory being that such +persons, had they been then living, would undoubtedly have borne arms, and +that it was hard, therefore, that the mere accident of being born a hundred +years too soon should debar them from possessing such recognition of their +rank. Even so late as Henry II. the bearing is still traditional, and it is +said that on his marriage with Alianore, eldest daughter of William, Duke +of Aquitaine and Guienne, he incorporated with his own two lions the single +lion that (it is asserted) was the device of his father-in-law. All this, +however, is theory and surmise, and we do not really find ourselves on the +solid ground of fact until we come to the reign of Richard Coeur-de-Lion. +Upon his second Great Seal we have the three lions just as they are +represented in Figs. 22, 43, 44, and as they have been borne for centuries +by successive sovereigns on their arms, standards, and coinage, and as our +readers may see them this day on the Royal Standard and on much of the +money they may take out of their pockets. The date of this Great Seal of +King Richard is 1195 A.D., so we have, at all events, a period of over +seven hundred years, waiving a break during the Commonwealth, in which the +three golden lions on their scarlet field have typified the might of +England. {31} + +The rampant lion within the tressure, the device of Scotland--seen in the +second quarter of our Royal Standard, Fig. 44--is first seen on the Great +Seal of King Alexander II., about A.D. 1230, and the same device, without +any modification of colour or form[19] was borne by all the Sovereigns of +Scotland, and on the accession of James to the throne of the United +Kingdom, in the year 1603, the ruddy lion ramping on the field of gold +became an integral part of the Standard. + +The Scotch took considerable umbrage at their lion being placed in the +second place, while the lions of England were placed first, as they +asserted that Scotland was a more ancient kingdom than England, and that in +any case, on the death of Queen Elizabeth of England, the Scottish monarch +virtually annexed the Southern Kingdom to his own, and kindly undertook to +get the Southerners out of a dynastic difficulty by looking after the +interests of England as well as ruling Scotland. This feeling of jealousy +was so bitter and so potent that for many years after the Union, on all +seals peculiar to Scottish business and on the flags displayed north of the +Tweed, the arms of Scotland were placed in the first quarter. It was also +made a subject of complaint that in the Union Flag the cross of St. George +is placed over that of St. Andrew (see Figs. 90, 91, 92), and that the lion +of England acted as the dexter support of the royal shield instead of +giving place to the Scottish Unicorn. One can only be thankful that Irish +patriots have been too sensible or too indifferent to insist upon yet +another modification, requiring that whensoever and wheresoever the Royal +Standard be hoisted in the Emerald Isle the Irish harp should be placed in +the first quarter. While it is clearly impossible to place the device of +each nationality first, it is very desirable and, in fact, essential, that +the National Arms and the Royal Standard should be identical in arrangement +in all parts of the kingdom. The notion of unity would be very inadequately +carried out if we had a London version for Buckingham Palace, an Edinburgh +version for Holyrood, and presently found the Isle of Saints and "gallant +little Wales" insisting on two other variants, and the Isle of Man in +insurrection because it was not allowed precedence of all four. + +Even so lately as the year 1853, on the issue of the florin, the old +jealousy blazed up again. A statement was drawn up and presented to Lord +Lyon, King of Arms, setting forth anew the old grievances of the lions in +the Standard and the crosses in the Flag of the Union, and adding that "the +new two-shilling {32} piece, called a florin, which has lately been issued, +bears upon the reverse four crowned shields, the first or uppermost being +the three lions passant of England; the second, or right hand proper, the +harp of Ireland; the third, or left hand proper, the lion rampant of +Scotland; the fourth, or lower, the three lions of England repeated. Your +petitioners beg to direct your Lordship's attention to the position +occupied by the arms of Scotland upon this coin, which are placed in the +third shield instead of the second, a preference being given to the arms of +Ireland over those of this kingdom." It is curious that this document +tacitly drops claim to the first place. Probably most of our +readers--Scotch, Irish, or English--feel but little sense of grievance in +the matter, and are quite willing, if the coin be an insult, to pocket it. + +The border surrounding the lion is heraldically known as the tressure. The +date and the cause of its introduction are lost in antiquity. The mythical +story is that it was added by Achaius, King of Scotland, in the year 792, +in token of alliance with Charlemagne, but in all probability these princes +scarcely knew of the existence of each other. The French and the Scotch +have often been in alliance, and there can be little doubt but that the +fleurs-de-lys that adorn the tressure point to some such early association +of the two peoples; an ancient writer, Nisbet, takes the same view, as he +affirms that "the Tressure fleurie encompasses the lyon of Scotland to show +that he should defend the Flower-de-luses, and these to continue a defence +to the lyon." The first authentic illustration of the tressure in the arms +of Scotland dates from the year 1260. In the reign of James III., in the +year 1471 it was "ordaint that in tyme to cum thar suld be na double tresor +about his armys, but that he suld ber armys of the lyoun, without ony mur." +If this ever took effect it must have been for a very short time. We have +seen no example of it. + +Ireland joined England and Scotland in political union on January 1st, +1801, but its device--the harp--was placed on the standard centuries before +by right of conquest. The first known suggestion for a real union on equal +terms was made in the year 1642 in a pamphlet entitled "The Generall Junto, +or the Councell of Union; chosen equally out of England, Scotland, and +Ireland for the better compacting of these nations into one monarchy. By H. +P." This H. P. was one Henry Parker. Fifty copies only of this tract were +issued, and those entirely for private circulation. "To persuade to union +and commend the benefit of it"--says the author--"will be unnecessary. +_Divide et impera_ (divide and rule) is a fit saying for one who aims at +the dissipation and perdition of his country. Honest counsellors have ever +given contrary advice. England and Ireland are inseparably knit; no +severance is possible {33} but such as shall be violent and injurious. +Ireland is an integral member of the Kingdom of England: both kingdoms are +coinvested and connexed, not more undivided than Wales or Cornwall." + +The conquest of Ireland was entered upon in the year 1172, in the reign of +Henry II., but was scarcely completed until the surrender of Limerick in +1691. Until 1542 it was styled not the Kingdom but the Lordship of Ireland. + +An early standard of Ireland has three golden crowns on a blue field, and +arranged over each other as we see the English lions placed; and a +commission appointed in the reign of Edward IV., to enquire what really +were the arms of Ireland, reported in favour of the three crowns. The early +Irish coinage bears these three crowns upon it, as on the coins of Henry V. +and his successors. Henry VIII. substituted the harp on the coins, but +neither crowns nor harps nor any other device for Ireland appear in the +Royal Standard until the year 1603, after which date the harp has remained +in continuous use till the present day. + +In the Harleian MS., No. 304 in the British Museum, we find the statement +that "the armes of Irland is Gules iij old harpes gold, stringed argent" +(as in Fig. 87), and on the silver coinage for Ireland of Queen Elizabeth +the shield bears these three harps. At her funeral Ireland was represented +by a blue flag having a crowned harp of gold upon it, and James I. adopted +this, but without the crown, as a quartering in his standard: its first +appearance on the Royal Standard of England. + +Why Henry VIII. substituted the harp for the three crowns is not really +known. Some would have us believe that the king was apprehensive that the +three crowns might be taken as symbolising the triple crown of the Pope; +while others suggest that Henry, being presented by the Pope with the +supposed harp of Brian Boru, was induced to change the arms of Ireland by +placing on her coins the representation of this relic of her most +celebrated native king. The Earl of Northampton, writing in the reign of +James I., suggests yet a third explanation. "The best reason," saith he, +"that I can observe for the bearing thereof is, it resembles that country +in being such an instrument that it requires more cost to keep it in tune +than it is worth."[20] {34} + +The Royal Standard should only be hoisted when the Sovereign or some member +of the royal family is actually within the palace or castle, or at the +saluting point, or on board the vessel where we see it flying, though this +rule is by no means observed in practice. The only exception really +permitted to this is that on certain royal anniversaries it is hoisted at +some few fortresses at home and abroad that are specified in the Queen's +Regulations. + +The Royal Standard of England was, we have seen, in its earliest form a +scarlet flag, having three golden lions upon it, and it was so borne by +Richard I., John, Henry III., Edward I., and Edward II. Edward III. also +bore it for the first thirteen years of his reign, so that this simple but +beautiful flag was the royal banner for over one hundred and fifty years. +Edward III., on his claim in the year 1340 to be King of France as well as +of England, quartered the golden fleurs-de-lys of that kingdom with the +lions of England.[21] This remained the Royal Standard throughout the rest +of his long reign. Throughout the reign of Richard II. (1377 to 1399) the +royal banner was divided in half by an upright line, all on the outer half +being like that of Edward III., while the half next the staff was the +golden cross and martlets on the blue ground, assigned to Edward the +Confessor, his patron saint, as shown in Fig. 19. On the accession of Henry +IV. to the throne, the cross and martlets disappeared, and he reverted to +the simple quartering of France and England. + +Originally the fleurs-de-lys were scattered freely over the field, _semée_ +or sown, as it is termed heraldically, so that besides several in the +centre that showed their complete form, others at the margin were more or +less imperfect. On turning to Fig. 188, an early French flag, we see this +disposition of them very clearly. Charles V. of France in the year 1365 +reduced the number to three, as in Fig. 184, whereupon Henry IV. of England +followed suit; his Royal Standard is shown in Fig. 22. This remained the +Royal Standard throughout the reigns of Henry V., Henry VI., Edward IV., +Edward V., Richard III., Henry VII., Henry VIII., Edward VI., Mary and +Elizabeth--a period of two hundred years. + +On the accession of the House of Stuart, the flag was rearranged. Its first +and fourth quarters were themselves quartered again, these small +quarterings being the French fleur-de-lys and the English lions; while the +second quarter was the lion of Scotland, and the third the Irish harp; the +first appearance of either of these latter kingdoms in the Royal Standard. +This form remained in use throughout the reigns of James I., Charles I., +Charles II., and James II. The last semblance of dominion in France had +long {35} since passed away, but it will be seen that alike on coinage, +arms, and Standard the fiction was preserved, and Londoners may see at +Whitehall the statue still standing of James II., bearing on its pedestal +the inscription--"_Jacobus secundus Dei Gratia Angliæ, Scotiæ, Franciæ et +Hiberniæ Rex_." + +During the Protectorate, both the Union Flag and the Standard underwent +several modifications, but the form that the personal Standard of Cromwell +finally assumed may be seen in Fig. 83, where the Cross of St. George for +England, St. Andrew for Scotland, and the harp for Ireland, symbolise the +three kingdoms, while over all, on a shield, are placed the personal arms +of the Protector--a silver lion rampant on a sable field. + +William III., on his landing in England, displayed a standard which varied +in many respects from those of his royal predecessors, since it contained +not only the arms themselves, but these were represented as displayed on an +escutcheon, surmounted by the crown, and supported on either side by the +lion and unicorn. Above all this was the inscription "For the Protestant +Religion and the Liberties of England,"[22] while beneath it was "je +maintiendray." The arms on the shield are too complex for adequate +description without the aid of a diagram; suffice it to say that in +addition to the insignia of England, Scotland, Ireland, and France, were +eight others dealing with the devices of smaller Continental possessions +appertaining to the new monarch. When matters had settled down and his +throne was assured, the aggressive inscription, etc., disappeared, and the +Royal Standard of William and his Consort Mary, the daughter of King James, +reverted to the form used by the Stuart Sovereigns, plus in the centre a +small escutcheon bearing the arms of Nassau, these being a golden lion +rampant, surrounded by golden billets, upon a shield of azure. + +The Royal Standard of Queen Anne bore the devices of England, Scotland, +Ireland, and France. On the accession of George I. the arms of Hanover were +added, and from 1714 to 1801 the flag was as shown in Fig. 43. The flag of +Anne was very similar to this, only instead of Hanover in the fourth +quarter, the arms of England and Scotland, as we see them in the first +quarter, were simply repeated in the fourth. + +The Hanoverian quarter, Fig. 43, was made up as follows:--The two lions on +the red field are the device of Brunswick; the blue lion rampant, +surrounded by the red hearts, is the device of Lunenburg; the galloping +white horse is for Saxony; and over all is the golden crown of Charlemagne +as an indication of the claim set up of being the successor of that potent +Sovereign. The horse {36} of Saxony is said to have been borne sable by the +early kings, previous to the conversion to Christianity of Witekind, A.D. +785. Verstigan, however, tells us that the ensign of Hengist at the time of +the invasion of England by the Saxons was a leaping white horse on a red +ground. The white horse is still the county badge for Kent. The flag, as we +see it in Fig. 43, was that of George I. and George II., and remained in +use until the forty-second year of the reign of George III. + +On January 2nd, 1801, the Fleurs-de-lys of France were at length removed, +and the flag had its four quarters as follows:--First and fourth England, +second Scotland, and third Ireland; the arms of Hanover being placed on a +shield in the centre of the flag. This remained the Royal Standard during +the rest of the reign of George III., and throughout the reigns of George +IV. and William IV. On the accession of Victoria the operation of the +Salique law severed the connexion of Hanover with England, and the present +Royal Standard is as shown in Fig. 44, being in its arrangement similar to +that of George IV. and William IV., except that the small central shield, +bearing the arms of Hanover, is now removed.[23] + +We turn now to the National Flag. As the feudal constitution of the +fighting force passed away, the use of private banners disappeared, and +men, instead of coming to the field as the retainers of some great nobleman +and fighting under his leadership and beneath his flag, were welded into a +national army under the direct command of the king and such leaders as he +might appoint. The days when a great noble could change the fortunes of the +day by withdrawing his vassals or transferring himself and them, on the eve +of the fight, to the opposing party, were over, and men fought no longer in +the interests of Warwick or of Percy, but in the cause of England and +beneath the banner of St. George, the national Patron Saint. + + "Thou, amongst those saints whom thou dost see, + Shall be a saint, and thine own nation's frend + And patron: thou Saint George shalt called bee, + Saint George of Mery England, the sign of victoree."[24] + +{37} + +At the siege of Antioch, according to Robertus Monachus, a Benedictine of +Rheims who flourished about the year 1120, and wrote a history of the +Crusade, "Our Souldiers being wearied with the long continuance of the +Battaile, and seeing that the number of enemies decreased not, began to +faint; when suddenly an infinite number of Heavenly Souldiers all in white +descended from the Mountains, the Standard-bearer and leaders of them being +Saint George, Saint Maurice, and Saint Demetrius, which when the Bishop of +Le Puy first beheld he cryed aloud unto his troopes, 'There are they (saith +he) the succours which in the name of God I promised to you.' The issue of +the miracle was this, that presently the enemies did turne their backs and +lost the field: these being slaine, 100,000 horse, beside foot innumerable, +and in their trenches such infinite store of victuals and munition found +that served not only to refresh the wearied Christians, but to confound the +enemy." This great victory at Antioch led to the recovery of Jerusalem. At +the Crusades England, Arragon, and Portugal all assumed St. George as their +patron saint. + +Throughout the Middle Ages the war-cry of the English was the name of this +patron saint. "The blyssed and holy Martyr Saynt George is patron of this +realme of Englande, and the crye of men of warre," we read in the "Golden +Legend," and readers of Shakespeare will readily recall illustrations. Thus +in "King Richard II." we read:-- + + "Sound drums and trumpets, boldly and cheerfully, + God and St. George! Richard and victory." + +or again in "King Henry V." where the king at the siege of Harfleur cries, + + "The game's afoot, + Follow your spirit, and upon this charge + Cry, God for Harry, England, and St. George!" + +while in "King Henry VI." we find the line, + + "Then strike up, drums--God and St. George for us!"[25] + +At the battle of Poitiers, September 19th, 1356, upon the advance of the +English, the Constable of France threw himself, Lingard tells us, across +their path with the battle shout, "Mountjoy, St. Denis," which was at once +answered by "St. George, St. George," and in the onrush of the English the +Duke and the greater part of his {38} followers were swept away, and in a +few minutes slain. In an interesting old poem on the siege of Rouen in +1418, written by an eye-witness, we read that on the surrender of the city, + + "Whanne the gate was openyd there + And thay weren ready in to fare, + Trumpis blew ther bemys of bras, + Pipis and clarionys forsoothe ther was. + And as they entrid thay gaf a schowte + With ther voyce that was full stowte, + Seint George! Seint George! thay criden on height + And seide, Welcome oure kynges righte!" + +We have before us, as we write, "The story of that most blessed Saint and +Souldier of Christ Jesus, St. George of Cappadocia," as detailed by Peter +Heylyn, and published in 1633, and the temptation to quote at length from +it is great, as it is full of most interesting matter, but into the history +of St. George space forbids us to go at any length. The author of the +"Seven Champions of Christendom" makes St. George to be born of English +parentage at Coventry, but for this there is no authority whatever, and all +other writers make Cappadocia his birthplace. The history of St. George is +more obscure than that of any name of equal eminence in the Calendar. +According to the "Acta Sanctorum" he was the son of noble parents, became +famous as a soldier, and, embracing Christianity, was tortured to death at +Nicomedia in the year 303. + + "The hero won his well-earned place, + Amid the Saints, in death's dread hour; + And still the peasant seeks his grave, + And, next to God, reveres his power. + In many a Church his form is seen, + With sword, and shield, and helmet sheen; + Ye know him by his shield of pride, + And by the dragon at his side." + +As Patron Saint, the dragon vanquisher is still seen on our crowns and +sovereigns, and reference to such a book as Ruding's history of our coinage +will show that it has for centuries been a popular device. + +In 1245, on St. George's Day, Frederic of Austria instituted an order of +knighthood and placed it under the guardianship of the soldier-saint, and +its white banner, bearing the ruddy cross, floated in battle alongside that +of the Empire. In like manner on St. George's Day, in the year 1350, Edward +III. of England instituted the order of the Garter with great solemnity. +{39} + +St. George's Day, April 23rd, has too long been suffered to pass almost +unregarded. The annual festivals of St. Andrew, St. Patrick, and St. David +are never overlooked by the members of the various nationalities, and it +seems distinctly a thing to be regretted that the Englishman should allow +the name day of his Patron Saint to pass unnoticed.[26] Whatever conduces +to the recognition of national life is valuable, and anything that reminds +Englishmen of their common ties and common duties--and reminds them, too, +of their glorious heritage in the past--should scarcely be allowed to fall +into disuse. Butler, in his "Lives of the Fathers and Martyrs," tell us +that at the great National Council, held at Oxford in 1222, it was +commanded that the Feast of St. George should be kept. In the year 1415, by +the Constitutions of Archbishop Chichely, St. George's Day was made one of +the greater feasts and ordered to be observed the same as Christmas Day. In +1545 a special collect, epistle, and gospel were prepared, and at the +Reformation, when many of the Saints' Days were swept away, this was +preserved with all honour, and it was not till the sixth year of the reign +of Edward VI., when another revision was made, that in "The Catalogue of +such Festivals as are to be Observed" St. George's day was omitted. + +The Cross of St. George was worn as a badge,[27] over the armour, by every +English soldier in the fourteenth and subsequent centuries, even if the +custom did not prevail at a much earlier period. The following extract from +the ordinances made for the government of the army with which Richard II. +invaded Scotland in 1386, is a good illustration of this, wherein it is +ordered "that everi man of what estate, condicion, or nation thei be of, so +that he be of owre partie, here a signe of the armes of Saint George, +large, bothe before and behynde, upon parell that yf he be slayne or +wounded to deth, he that hath so doon to hym shall not be putte to deth for +defaulte of the cross that he lacketh. And that non enemy do bere the same +token or crosse of Saint George, notwithstandyng if he be prisoner, upon +payne of deth." It was the flag of battle, and we see it represented in the +old prints and illuminations that deal with military operations both on +land and sea. Ordinarily it is the Cross of St. George, pure and simple, as +shown in Fig. 91, while at {40} other times, as in Figs. 66, 67, 68, it +forms a portion only of the flag. The red cross on the white field was the +flag under which the great seamen of Elizabeth's reign traded, explored, or +fought; the flag that Drake bore round the world--that Frobisher unfolded +amidst the Arctic solitudes--that gallant Englishmen, the wide world over, +bore at the call of duty and died beneath, if need be, for the honour of +the old home land; and to this day the flag of the English Admiral is the +same simple and beautiful device, and the white ensign of the British Navy, +Fig. 95, is similar, except that it bears, in addition, the Union; while +the Union flag itself, Fig. 90, bears conspicuously the ruddy cross of the +warrior Saint. + +Figs. 26, 27, 74 and 140 are all sea-pennants bearing the Cross of St. +George. The first of these is from a painting of H.M.S. _Tiger_, painted by +Van de Velde, while Fig. 27 is flying from one of the ships represented in +the picture by Volpe of the embarkation of Henry VIII. from Dover on his +way to the Field of the Cloth of Gold. Fig. 74 is from a picture of H.M.S. +_Lion_, engaging the French ship _Elisabethe_, on July 9th, 1745, the +latter being fitted out to escort the Young Pretender to Scotland. Though +the red, white, and blue stripes suggest the French tricolor, their +employment in the pennant has, of course, no reference to France. The +_Lion_ had at the foremast the plain red streamer seen at Fig. 25. Fig. 140 +is the pennant flown at the present day by all Colonial armed vessels, +while the pennant of the Royal Navy is purely white, with the exception of +the Cross of St. George. In a picture by Van de Velde, the property of the +Queen, representing a sea fight on August 11th, 1673, between the English, +French, and Dutch, we see some of the vessels with streamers similar to +Fig. 140, thus ante-dating the Colonial flag by over two hundred years. + +As we have at the present time the white ensign, Fig. 95, the special flag +of the Royal Navy; the blue ensign, Fig. 96, the distinguishing flag of the +Royal Naval Reserve; and the red ensign, Fig. 97, the flag of the Merchant +Service, each with the Union in the upper corner next the mast, so in +earlier days we find the white flag, Fig. 65, the red flag, Fig. 66, and +the blue, each having in the upper corner the Cross of St. George. Fig. 69 +becomes, by the addition of the blue, a curious modification of Fig. 66. It +is from a sea piece of the sixteenth century. It was displayed at the poop +of a vessel, while Fig. 79 is the Jack on the bowsprit. + +A hundred years ago or so, we may see that there was a considerable variety +in the flags borne by our men-o'-war. Such galleries as those at Hampton +Court or Greenwich afford many examples of this in the pictures there +displayed. In a picture of a battle off Dominica, on April 12th, 1782, we +find, one of the English {41} ships has two great square flags on the +foremast, the upper one being plain red, and the lower one half blue and +half white in horizontal stripes, while the main mast is surmounted by the +Cross of St. George, and below it a tricolor of red, white, and blue in +horizontal stripes. Other ships show equally curious variations, though we +need not stop to detail them, except that in one case both fore and mizen +masts are surmounted by plain red flags. In a picture of Rodney's Action +off Cape St. Vincent, on January 16th, 1780, we meet with all these flags +again. In the representation of an action between an English and French +fleet on May 3rd, 1747, off Cape Finisterre, we notice that the English +ships have a blue ensign at the poop, and one of them has a great plain +blue flag at the foremast, and a great plain red flag at the main-mast +head. In a picture of the taking of Portobello, November 21st, 1739, we +notice the same thing again. These plain surfaces of blue or red are very +curious. It will naturally occur to the reader that these are signal flags, +but anyone seeing the pictures would scarcely continue to hold that view, +as their large size precludes the idea. In the picture of H.M.S. _Tiger_ +that we have already referred to, the flag with five red stripes that we +have represented in Fig. 70 is at the poop, while from the bow is hoisted a +flag of four stripes, and from the three mastheads are flags, having three +red stripes. These striped red and white flags may often be seen. + +Perhaps the most extraordinary grouping of flags may be seen in a picture +of a naval review in the reign of George I. It was on exhibition at the +Great Naval Exhibition at Chelsea, and is in private ownership. All the +vessels are dressed in immense flags, and these are of the most varied +description. It must be borne in mind that these are government bunting, +not the irresponsible vagaries of private eccentricity. Besides the +reasonable and orthodox flags, such as those represented in Figs. 65, 66, +and others of equal propriety, we find one striped all over in red, white, +blue, red, white, blue, in six horizontal stripes. Another, with a yellow +cross on a white ground; a third, a white eagle on a blue field; another, a +red flag inscribed--"For the Protestant Religion and the Liberty of +England"; while another is like Fig. 65, only instead of having a red cross +on white, it has a blue one instead. An altogether strange assortment. + +Figs. 67, 68, 72, and 78 are flags of the London Trained Bands of the year +1643. The different regiments were known by the colour of their flags, thus +Fig. 67 is the flag of the blue regiment, Fig. 68 of the yellow, Fig. 72 of +the green, and Fig. 78 of the yellow regiment auxiliaries. Other flags were +as follows:--white, with red lozenges; green, with golden wavy rays; +orange, with white trefoils; in each case the Cross of St. George being in +the canton. {42} In a list before us of the Edinburgh Trained Bands for +1685 we find that the different bodies are similarly distinguished by +colours.[28] + +On the union of the two crowns at the accession of James VI. of Scotland +and I. of England to the English throne, the Cross of St. Andrew, Fig. 92, +was combined with that of St. George. + +The Cross of St. Andrew has been held in the same high esteem north of the +Tweed that the Southrons have bestowed on the ensign of St. George. It will +be seen that it is shaped like the letter X. Tradition hath it that the +Saint, deeming it far too great an honour to be crucified as was his Lord, +gained from his persecutors the concession of this variation. It is +legendarily asserted that this form of cross appeared in the sky to +Achaius, King of the Scots, the night before a great battle with +Athelstane, and, being victorious, he went barefoot to the church of St. +Andrew, and vowed to adopt his cross as the national device. The sacred +monogram that replaced the Roman eagles under Constantine, the cross on the +flag of Denmark, the visions of Joan of Arc, and many other suchlike +illustrations, readily occur to one's mind as indicative of the natural +desire to see the potent aid of Heaven visibly manifested in justification +of earthly ambitions, or a celestial support and encouragement in time of +national discomfiture. + +Figs. 75 and 76 are examples of the Scottish red and blue ensigns. The +first of these is from a picture at Hampton Court, where a large Scottish +warship is represented as having a flag of this character at the main, and +smaller but similar colours at the other mastheads and on the bowsprit. + +The famous banner, the historic "blue blanket," borne by the Scots in the +Crusades, was on its return deposited over the altar of St. Eloi in St. +Giles' Church, Edinburgh, and the queen of James II., we read, painted on +its field of azure the white Cross of St. Andrew, the crown, and the +thistle. St. Eloi was the patron saint of blacksmiths, and this craft was +made the guardian of the flag, and it became the symbol of the associated +trades of ancient Edinburgh. King James VI., when venting his indignation +against his too independent subjects, exclaimed, "The craftsmen think we +should be contented with their work, and if in anything they be controlled, +then up goes the blue blanket." The craftsmen were as independent and +difficult to manage as the London Trained Bands often proved, but King +James VI. found it expedient to confirm them in {43} all their privileges, +and ordered that the flag should at all times be known as the Standard of +the Crafts, and later Sovereigns found it impossible to take away these +privileges when they had once been granted. This flag was borne at Flodden +Field. Beside the cross, crown, and thistle it bore on a scroll on the +upper part of the flag the inscription, "Fear God and honor the king with a +long lyffe and prosperous reigne," and on the lower portion the words, "And +we that is trades shall ever pray to be faithfull for the defence of his +Sacred Majesties' persone till deathe," an inscription that scarcely seems +to harmonise with the turbulent spirit that scandalised this sovereign so +greatly. + +The flags borne by the Covenanters in their struggle for liberty varied +much in their details, but in the great majority of cases bore upon them +the Cross of St. Andrew, often accompanied by the thistle, and in most +cases by some form of inscription. Several of these are still extant. In +one that was borne at Bothwell Brig, and now preserved in the Museum of the +Society of Antiquaries, Edinburgh, the four blue triangles (see Fig. 92 for +these) are filled with the words, "For Religion----Couenants----King----and +Kingdomes." The Avondale flag was a white one, having the cross, white on +blue, as in Fig. 75, in the corner. On the field of the flag was the +inscription, "Avondale for Religion, Covenant, and King,"[29] and beneath +this a thistle worked in the national green and crimson. A very interesting +Exhibition of Scottish national memorials was held at Glasgow in 1888, and +many of these old Covenant flags were there displayed. At the great +Heraldic Exhibition held in Edinburgh in 1891, one of the most interesting +things shown was the Cavers Standard. This is of sage green silk, twelve +feet by three. It bears the Cross of St. Andrew next the staff, and divers +other devices are scattered over the rest of the flag. It is in excellent +preservation, and its special interest lies in the fact that it is said to +have been the standard of James, second Earl of Douglas and Mar, and borne +by his son at the battle of Otterburn in the year 1388. If this be so it is +one of the oldest flags in existence. + +On the signet-ring of Mary Queen of Scots the white Cross of St. Andrew is +not shown on its usual blue ground, but on a ground striped blue and +yellow, the royal colours; in the same way that the St. George's Cross is +shown in Fig. 71, not on a {44} white ground, but on a ground striped white +and green, the Tudor colours. + +Why St. Andrew was selected to be the Patron Saint of Scotland has never +been satisfactorily settled.[30] Some uncharitable enquirer has hazarded +the explanation that it was because it was this Apostle who discovered the +lad who had the loaves and fishes. Others tell us that one Hungus, a +Pictish prince, dreamt that the Saint was to be his champion in a fight +just then pending with the men of Northumbria, and that a cross--the symbol +of the crucifixion of this Apostle--appeared in the sky, the celestial omen +strengthening the hearts and arms of the men of Hungus to such effect that +the Northumbrians were completely routed. Should neither of these +explanations appear sufficiently explanatory, we can offer yet a third. On +the martyrdom of St. Andrew, in the year 69, at Patræ, in Achaia, his +remains were carefully preserved as relics, but in the year 370, Regulus, +one of the Greek monks who had them in their keeping, was warned in a +vision that the Emperor Constantine was proposing to translate these +remains to Constantinople, and that he must at once visit the shrine and +remove thence an arm bone, three fingers of the right hand, and a tooth, +and carry them away over sea to the west. Regulus was much troubled at the +vision, but hastened to obey it, so putting the relics into a chest he set +sail with some half-dozen other ecclesiastics, to whom he confided the +celestial instructions that he had received. After a stormy voyage the +vessel was at last dashed upon a rock, and Regulus and his companions +landed on an unknown shore, and found themselves in a dense and gloomy +forest. Here they were presently discovered by the aborigines, whose leader +listened to their story and gave them land on which to build a church for +the glory of God and the enshrining of the relics. This inhospitable shore +proved to be that of "Caledonia, stern and wild," and the little forest +church and hamlet that sprang up around it were the nucleus that thence and +to the present day have been known as St. Andrews, a thriving, busy town in +Fife, and for centuries the seat of a bishopric. On July 5th, 1318, Robert +the Bruce repaired hither and testified his gratitude to God for the +victory vouchsafed to the Scots at Bannockburn by the intercession of St. +Andrew, guardian of the realm, when thirty thousand Scots defeated one +hundred thousand Englishmen. What St. George could have been doing to allow +this, seems a very legitimate question, but we can scarcely wonder that the +Scots should very gladly appoint so potent a protector their patron, and +look to him for succour in all their national difficulties. + +On the blending of the two kingdoms into one under the {45} sovereignty of +King James,[31] it became necessary to devise a new flag that should typify +this union and blend together the emblems of the puissant St. George and +the no less honoured St. Andrew, and the flag represented in Fig. 73 was +the result--the flag of the United Kingdoms of England and Scotland, +henceforth to be known as Great Britain. + +The Royal Ordinance[32] ran as follows:--"Whereas some difference hath +arisen between our subjects of South and North Britain, travelling by seas, +about the bearing of their flags,--for the avoiding of all such contentions +hereafter we have, with the advice of our Council, ordered that from +henceforth all our subjects of this isle and kingdom of Greater Britain, +and the members thereof, shall bear in their maintop the Red Cross, +commonly called St. George's Cross, and the White Cross, commonly called +St. Andrew's Cross, joined together, according to a form made by our +Heralds, and sent by us to our Admiral to be published to our said +subjects: and in their fore-top our subjects of South Britain shall wear +the Red Cross only, as they were wont, and our subjects of North Britain in +their fore-top the White Cross only, as they were accustomed. Wherefore we +will and command all our subjects to be comparable and obedient to this our +order, and that from henceforth they do not use or bear their flags in any +other sort, as they will answer the contrary at their peril." + +Such a proclamation was sorely needed, as there was much ill-will and +jealousy between the sailors and others of the two nationalities, and the +Union flag itself, when "our heralds" produced it, did not by any means +please the North, and the right to carry in fore-top the St. Andrew's Cross +pure and simple was a concession that failed to conciliate them. The great +grievance was that, as we see in Fig. 73, the Cross of St. George was +placed in front of that of St. Andrew, and the Scottish Privy Council, in a +letter dated Edinburgh, August 7th, 1606, thus poured forth their +feelings:--"Most sacred Soverayne, a greate nomber of the maisteris of the +schippis of this your Majesties kingdome hes verie havelie complenit to +your Majesties Counsell, that the forme and patrone of the flagges of +schippis sent down heir and command it to be ressavit and used be the +subjectis of both kingdomes is verie prejudiciall to the fredome and +dignitie of this Estate, and wil gif occasioun of reprotche to this natioun +quhairevir the said flage sal happin to be worne beyond sea, {46} becaus, +as your Sacred Majestie may persave, the Scottis Croce, callit Sanctandrois +Croce, is twyse divydit, and the Inglishe Croce, callit Sanct George, +drawne through the Scottis Croce, which is thereby obscurit, and no token +nor mark to be seene of the Scottis armes. This will breid some heit and +miscontentment betwix your Majesties subjectis, and it is to be feirit that +some inconvenientis sall fall oute betwix thame, for our seyfaring men +cannot be inducit to resave that flage as it is set down. They have drawne +two new drauchtis and patrones as most indifferent for both kingdomes, +whiche they presentid to the Counsell, and craved our approbation of the +same, but we haif reserved that to your Majestie's princelie +determinatioun, as moir particularlie the Erll of Mar, who was present, and +herd their complaynt, and to whom we haif remittit the discourse and +delyverie of that mater, will informe your Majestie and let your Heynes see +the errour of the first patrone and the indifferencie of the two newe +drauchties." These draughts are not to be found, nor does it appear that +any notice was taken of the complaint. + +The Scottish Union flag, as carefully depicted in a scarce little work +published in 1701, and entitled "The Ensigns, Colours, and Flags of the +Ships at Sea, belonging to the several Princes and States in the World," +may be seen in Fig. 88. In it will be noted that the Cross of St. Andrew is +placed in front of that of St. George--anyone comparing Figs. 73 and 88 +will readily see wherein they differ. Though its appearance in a book of +sea-flags would seem to imply that such a flag had been made, we know of no +other instance of it. Fig. 84 was also suggested as a solution of the +problem, but here we get false heraldry, the blue in contact with the red, +and in any case a rather weak-looking arrangement. + +The painful truth is that when two persons ride the same animal they cannot +both be in front, and no amount of heraldic ingenuity will make two devices +on a flag to be of equal value. The position next the staff is accounted +more honourable than that remote from it, and the upper portion of the flag +is more honourable than the lower.[33] At first sight it might appear that +matters are impartially dealt out in Fig. 81, but the position next the +staff is given to St. George, and in the quartered arrangement, Fig. 85, +the same holds true. Both these were suggestions made at the time the +difficulty was felt, but both were discarded in favour of the arrangement +shown in Fig. 73. + +This Union Flag is not very often met with. It occurrs on one of the great +seals of Charles II., and is seen also as a Jack on the {47} bowsprits of +ships in paintings of early naval battles. It may, by good fortune, be seen +also on the two colours of the 82nd regiment that in the year 1783 were +suspended in St. Giles', Edinburgh, and a very good illustration of it may +be seen in the National Gallery, where, in a battle scene by Copley, +representing the death of Major Peirson, at St. Helier, Jersey, on January +6th, 1781, this Union flag is conspicuous in the centre of the picture. We +have it again in Fig 57, the original flag of the East India Company; the +difference between this and the second Union Flag, made on the admission of +Ireland's Cross of St. Patrick, may be very well seen on a comparison of +Figs. 57 and 61. We have it again in Figs. 142 and 143, flags of the +revolting American Colonists before they had thrown off all allegiance to +the Old Country. + +A knowledge of the history of the flag has not only interest, but is of +some little importance. We remember seeing a picture of the sailing of the +_Mayflower_, in which, by a curious lack of a little technical knowledge, +the flag depicted was the Union Flag of to-day, which did not come into +existence until the first year of the present century, whereas the historic +event represented in the picture took place in the year 1620. In a fresco +in the House of Lords, representing Charles II. landing in England,[34] the +artist has introduced a boat bearing the present Union Flag. In each of +these cases it is evident that it should have been the first Union--that of +England and Scotland--that the flag should have testified to. + +Charles I. issued a proclamation on May 5th, 1634, forbidding any but the +Royal ships to carry the Union flag; all merchantmen, according to their +nationality, being required to show either the Cross of St. George or that +of St. Andrew. Queen Anne, on July 28th, 1707, required that merchant +vessels should fly a red flag "with a Union Jack described in a canton at +the upper corner thereof, next the staff," while the Union Flag, as before, +was reserved for the Royal Navy. This merchant flag, if we cut out the +inscription there shown, would be similar to Fig. 142. This is interesting, +because, after many changes, so lately as October 18th, 1864, it was +ordered that the red ensign once again should be the distinguishing flag of +the commercial marine; the present flag is given in Fig. 97. It is further +interesting because this proclamation of Queen Anne's is the first time +that the term Union Jack, so far as we are aware, is officially used. + +Technically, our national banner should be called the Union Flag, though in +ordinary parlance it is always called the Union Jack. {48} The latter flag +is a diminutive of the former, and the term ought in strictness to be +confined to the small Union Flag flown from the Jack-staff on the bowsprit +of a ship. The Union Flag is, besides this, only used as the special +distinguishing flag of an Admiral of the Fleet, when it is hoisted at the +main top-gallant mast-head, and when the Sovereign is on board a vessel, in +which case the Royal Standard is flown at the main and the Union at the +mizen. With a white border round it, as in Fig. 104, it is the signal for a +pilot: hence this is called the Pilot Jack. The sea flags now in use are +the white, red, and blue ensigns, Figs. 95, 96, 97, to be hereafter +described, while the Union flag is devoted especially to land service, +being hoisted on fortresses and government offices, and borne by the +troops. + +Why the flag should be called "Jack" at all has been the subject of much +controversy. It is ordinarily suggested that the derivation is from +Jacques, the French word for James, the Union Jack springing into existence +under his auspices. Why it should be given this French name does not seem +very clear, except that many of the terms used in blazonry are French in +their origin. It never seems to have been suggested that, granting the +reference to King James, the Latin Jacobus would be a more appropriate +explanation, as the Latin names of our kings have for centuries supplanted +the earlier Norman-French on their coins, seals, and documents. Several +other theories have been broached, of varying degrees of improbability; one +of these deriving it from the word "jaque"[35] (hence our modern jacket), +the surcoat worn over the armour in mediæval days. This, we have seen, had +the Cross of St. George always represented on it; but there is no proof +that the jaque was ever worn with the union of the two crosses upon it, so +that the derivation breaks down just at the critical point. The present +flag came into existence in the reign of King George, but no one ever +dreams on this account, or any other, of calling it the Union George. + +On the death of Charles I., the partnership between England and Scotland +was dissolved, and the Union Flag, Fig. 73, therefore, was disestablished, +and was only restored in the general Restoration, when the Commonwealth and +Protectorate had run their course, and Charles II. ascended the throne of +his forefathers. + +The earliest Commonwealth Flag was a simple reversion to the Cross of St. +George, Fig. 91. At a meeting of the Council of State, held on February +22nd, 1648-49, it was "ordered that the ships at sea in service of the +State shall onely beare the red Crosse {49} in a white flag. That the +engravings upon the Sterne of ye ships shall be the Armes of England and +Ireland in two Scutcheons, as is used in the Seals, and that a warrant be +issued to ye Commissioners of ye Navy to see it put in execution with all +speed." The communication thus ordered to be made to the Commissioners was +in form a letter from the President of the Council as follows:--"To ye +Commissioners of ye Navy.--Gentlemen,--There hath beene a report made to +the Councell by Sir Henry Mildmay of your desire to be informed what is to +be borne in the flaggs of those Ships that are in the Service of the State, +and what to be upon the Sterne in lieu of the Armes formerly thus engraven. +Upon the consideration of the Councell whereof, the Councell have resolved +that they shall beare the Red Crosse only in a white flagg, quite through +the flagg. And that upon the Sterne of the Shipps there shall be the Red +Crosse in one Escotcheon, and the Harpe in one other, being the Armes of +England and Ireland, both Escotcheons joyned according to the pattern +herewith sent unto you. And you are to take care that these Flaggs may be +provided with all expedition for the Shipps for the Summer Guard, and that +these engraveings may also be altered according to this direction with all +possible expedition.--Signed in ye name and by order of ye Councell of +State appointed by Authority of Parliament.--Ol. Cromwell, Derby House, +February 23rd, 1648." + +In a Council meeting held on March 5th, considerably within a month of the +one we have just referred to, it is "ordered that the Flagg that is to be +borne by the Admiral, Vice-Admiral, and Rere-Admiral be that now presented, +viz., the Armes of England and Ireland in two severall Escotcheons in a Red +Flagg, within a compartment."[36] This arrangement may be seen in Fig. 82. +A Commonwealth flag that is still preserved at the dockyard, Chatham, +differs slightly from this. The ground of the flag is red, but the shields +are placed directly upon it without any intervening gold border, and around +them is placed a large wreath of palm and laurel in dark green colour. + +In the year 1787 an interesting book called the "Respublica" was published; +the author, Sir John Prestwich, deriving much of his material from MSS. +left by an ancestor of his who lived during the Interregnum. In this the +reader may find full descriptions of many of the flags of the +Parliamentarians. One of these is much like the Chatham example already +referred to, except that the ground of the flag is blue, and that outside +the shields, but within the wreath, is found the inscription--"_Floreat +Respublica._" {50} + +The flag of the Commonwealth was borne to victory at Dunbar, Worcester, and +many another hard-fought field, and under its folds Blake, Monk, and other +gallant leaders gained glorious victories over the Dutch and Spaniards, and +made the English name feared in every sea. + + "Of wind's and water's rage they fearful be, + But much more fearful are your flags to see. + Day, that to those who sail upon the deep, + More wish'd for and more welcome is than sleep, + They dreaded to behold, lest the sun's light + With English streamers should salute their sight."[37] + +It was not until the year 1651 that Scotland was brought under the sway of +the Commonwealth, and the ordinance for its full union with England and +Ireland was not promulgated until April 12th, 1654. Somewhat later an Order +of Council recognised the new necessities of the case, and decreed that the +Standard for the Protectorate be as shown in Fig. 83. England and Scotland +are here represented by their respective crosses, while Ireland, instead of +having the Cross of St. Patrick, is represented by the harp. In Fig. 80 all +three crosses are introduced, but there seems somewhat too much white in +this latter flag for an altogether successful effect, and the blue of the +Irish quarter, balancing the blue of the Scottish, is more pleasing. The +Union Flag underwent yet another modification, and instead of being like +Figs. 82 or 86, the Union Flag of James I., Fig. 73, was reverted to, and +in the centre of the flag was placed a golden harp--"the Armes of England +and Scotland united, according to the anncient form, with the addicion of +the harpe." On the restoration of Charles II. this harp was removed, and +Ireland does not appear again in the Union Flag, Fig. 73, until January +1st, 1801. + +A pattern farthing of this period--preserved in the magnificent numismatic +collection in the British Museum--shows on its reverse a three-masted ship: +at the stern is a large flag divided vertically, like Fig. 86, into two +compartments, the Cross of St. George in one and the harp in the other; the +main and mizen masts are shown with flags containing St. George's Cross +only, as in Fig. 91, while the foremast bears a flag with St. Andrew's +Cross upon it, a flag similar to Fig. 92. + +For nearly fifty years before its rise, and for nearly one hundred and +fifty years after the downfall of the Protectorate, that is to say from +1602 to 1649 and from 1659 to 1801, the Union Flag was as shown in Fig. 73, +but in 1801 the Legislative Union of Ireland with Great Britain was +effected, and a new Union Flag, the one now in {51} use, was devised. This +may be seen in Fig. 90, the noblest flag that flies under heaven. + +Though the National Flag is primarily just so much silk or bunting, its +design and colouring are full of meaning: and though its prime cost may be +but a few shillings, its value is priceless, for the national honour is +enwrapped in its folds, and the history of centuries is figured in the +symbolism of its devices. It represents to us all that patriotism means. It +is the flag of freedom and of the greatest empire that the world has ever +known. Over three hundred millions of people--in quiet English shires, amid +Canadian snows, on the torrid plains of Hindustan, amidst the busy energy +of the great Australian group of colonies, or the tropical luxuriance of +our West Indian possessions--are to-day enjoying liberty and peace beneath +its shelter. Countless thousands have freely given their lives to preserve +its blazonry unstained from dishonour and defeat, and it rests with us now +to keep the glorious record as unsullied as of old; never to unfurl our +Union Flag in needless strife, but, when once given to the breeze, to +emulate the deeds of our forefathers, and to inscribe on its folds fresh +records of duty nobly done. + +How the form known as St. Patrick's Cross, Fig. 93, became associated with +that worthy is not by any means clear. It is not found amongst the emblems +of Saints, and its use is in defiance of all ecclesiastical tradition and +custom, as St. Patrick never in the martyrological sense had a cross at +all, for though he endured much persecution he was not actually called upon +to lay down his life for the Faith. It has been suggested, and with much +appearance of probability, that the X-like form of cross, both of the Irish +and of the Scotch, is derived from the sacred monogram on the Labarum of +Constantine, where the X is the first letter of the Greek word for Christ. +This symbolic meaning of the form might readily be adopted in the early +Irish Church, and thence be carried by missionaries to Scotland. + +A life of St. Patrick was written by Probus, who lived in the seventh +century, and another by Jocelin, a Cistercian monk of the twelfth century, +and this latter quotes freely from four other lives of the Saint that were +written by his disciples. + +St. Patrick was born in Scotland, near where Glasgow now stands. The date +of his birth was somewhere near the close of the fourth century, but as to +the year authorities differ widely--372, 455, 464, and 493 being all given +by various biographers.[38] His father was of good family, and, while the +future saint was still under the paternal roof, God manifested to him by +divers visions that he was {52} destined for the great work of the +conversion of Ireland, at that time plunged in idolatry. Hence he resigned +his birthright and social position, and devoted himself entirely to the +salvation of these barbarians, suffering at their hands and for their sakes +much persecution. He was ordained deacon and priest, and was ultimately +made a bishop. He travelled over the whole of Ireland founding monasteries +and filling the country with churches and schools of piety and learning. +Animated by a spirit of perfect charity and humility, he demonstrated not +only the faith but the spirit of his Master, and the result of his forty +years of labour was to change Ireland from a land of barbarism into a seat +of learning and piety, so that it received the title of the Island of +Saints, and was for centuries a land of mental and spiritual light. + +On the Union of the Kingdom of Great Britain with Ireland in the year 1801, +the following notice was issued by Royal Authority:--"Proclamation, George +R.--Whereas by the First Article of the Articles of Great Britain and +Ireland it was declared: That the said Kingdoms of Great Britain and +Ireland should upon this day, being the First Day of January, in the Year +of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and One, for ever after be united +into One Kingdom, by the name of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and +Ireland: and that the Royal Style and Titles appertaining to the Imperial +Crown of the said United Kingdom and its Dependencies, and also the Ensigns +Armorial, Flags, and Banners thereof, should be such as We, by our Royal +Proclamation under the Great Seal of the said United Kingdom should +appoint: We have thought fit, by and with the advice of our Privy Council, +to appoint and declare that our Royal Style and Titles shall henceforth be +accepted, taken, and used as the same set forth in Manner and Form +following: Georgius Tertius, Dei Gratia, Britannarium Rex, Fidei Defensor; +and in the English Tongue by these words: George the Third, by the Grace of +God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland King, Defender of +the Faith; and that the Arms or Ensigns Armorial of the said United Kingdom +shall be Quarterly: first and fourth, England: second, Scotland: third, +Ireland: and it is Our Will and Pleasure that there shall be borne thereon +on an escutcheon of pretence, the Arms of Our Domains in Germany, ensigned +with the Electoral Bonnet:[39] And that the Union Flag shall be Azure, the +Crosses Saltire of St. Andrew and St. Patrick Quarterly, per Saltire +counterchanged Argent and Gules: the latter fimbriated of the second, +surmounted by the Cross of St. George of the third, fimbriated as the +Saltire." {53} + +The heralds who devised the new flag of the extended Union, Fig. 90, have +been subjected to a very considerable amount of adverse criticism,[40] but +no one has really been able to suggest a better plan than theirs. It will +be noted in the illustration and in every Union flag that is made, that the +red Cross of St. Patrick, Fig. 93, is not in the centre of the white Cross, +Fig. 92, of St. Andrew. The scarlet Cross of St. George is equally fringed +on either side by the white border or fimbriation that represents the +original white field, Fig. 91, on which it was placed, and on the addition +of the white cross or saltire of St. Andrew on its field of blue, Fig. 92, +it fitted in very happily. When, however, another X-like cross had to be +provided for, on the admission of Ireland to the Union, a difficulty at +once arose. As the Irish Cross would, according to all rule and fairness, +be of the same width on the joint flag as that of St. Andrew, the result of +placing the second or red X over the first white one would be to entirely +obliterate the latter. Even then the Irish Cross would not be rightly +rendered, as it should be on a white ground, and by this method it would be +on a blue one, while if we placed the Irish Cross on that of St. Andrew, +but left a thin line of white on either side, St. Andrew's Cross would +still be obliterated, as the thin fimbriation of white would be the just +due of St. Patrick, and would not stand for St. Andrew at all. Besides, +Scottish indignation would not unjustly be aroused at the idea that their +noble white cross should become a mere edging to the symbol of St. Patrick. +Hence the somewhat awkward-looking compromise that breaks the continuity of +direction of the arms of the red cross of Ireland by its portions being +thrown out of the centre of the white oblique bands, so that in each +portion the crosses of Ireland and Scotland are clearly distinguished from +each other. This compromise notwithstanding, no more effective or beautiful +flag unfolds itself the round world over than the Union flag of Great +Britain and Ireland. + +The crosses might have been quartered as we see them in Fig. 80, but it is +clearly better to preserve the idea of the unity and blend all three +crosses into one composition. No criticism or objection has ever come from +Ireland as to the Union flag, but even so lately as 1853 the Scotch renewed +their grievance against the Cross of St. Andrew being placed behind that of +St. George, "and having a red stripe run through the arms thereof, for +which there is no precedent in law or heraldry." If ever an Irishman cared +to hunt up a grievance, surely here is one at last--the cross of his patron +saint "a red stripe"! {54} + +When the Union flag is flown, it should always be as we have drawn it in +Fig. 90, with the broad white stripe nearest to the head of the flagstaff. +It would be quite possible, our readers will see, on a little study of the +matter, to turn it with the red stripe uppermost; but this, as we have +indicated, is incorrect; and, trivial as the matter may appear, there is a +right and a wrong in it, and the point must not be overlooked. + +Many suggestions at the time of the Union were made by divers writers in +the public prints, such as the _Gentleman's Magazine_, and the like. One +version preserved the flag of the first Union, Fig. 73, but placed in the +centre a large green circle having within it the golden harp of the Emerald +Isle; but this is objectionable, as it brings green on red, which is +heraldically false, and as Ireland has a cross as well as England and +Scotland, it seems more reasonable to keep the whole arrangement in +harmony. Another version, and by no means a bad one, is shown in Fig. 89, +where each cross is distinct from the two others. This appeared in the +_Gentleman's Magazine_ for March 20th, 1803, and, like all the other +suggestions, good, bad, and indifferent, suffered from the fatal objection +that it saw the light when the whole matter was already settled and any +alteration scarcely possible. + +In view of the changes from the simple Cross of St. George to its union +later on with that of St. Andrew, and later on still the union of both with +that of St. Patrick, it is sufficiently evident that Campbell's stirring +appeal to the mariners of England to defend the flag that for a thousand +years has braved the battle and the breeze, however excellent in spirit, +does not fit in with the literal facts, though we would not willingly +change it for such a version as + + Ye mariners of England, + That guard our native seas: + Whose flag has braved since eighteen-one, + The battle and the breeze. + +The "Queen's Regulations" are very precise as to the hoisting of the flag +at the various home and foreign stations and fortresses. Some few of these +have the Royal Standard for use on Royal Anniversaries and State occasions +only, and these flags are issued in two sizes--either twenty-four by twelve +feet, or twelve by six feet--according to the importance of the position; +thus Dover, Plymouth, and the Tower of London, for example, have the larger +size. In like manner the Union Flag is of two sizes: twelve by six feet, or +six by three feet. These flags at the various stations are either hoisted +on anniversaries only, or on Sundays in addition, or else daily; thus +Dover, besides its Standard, has a Union flag, twelve by six, for special +occasions, and another, six by three, {55} which is hoisted daily. Our +foreign stations, Bermuda, Cape of Good Hope, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, +Halifax, St. Helena, and so forth, are all equally rigidly provided for in +Regulations. There is no option anywhere in the matter. A particular +fortress has to fly a particular flag of a particular size on a particular +day. + +The white ensign, Fig. 95, is the distinguishing flag of the Royal Navy. It +is hoisted at the peak of all vessels in commission, or in such other +conspicuous position of honour as their rig or (as in the case of some +ironclads) absence of rig will permit. It is a large white flag, having +upon it the Cross of St. George, the portion of the flag nearest the +mast-head being occupied by the Union.[41] + +Until 1864 the Royal Navy was divided into the white, the blue, and the red +squadrons, distinguished by the flags shown in Figs. 95, 96, and 97, but +this arrangement, though it had lasted for over two hundred years,[42] was +found to have many inconveniences. It was very puzzling to foreigners, and +it was necessary that each vessel should have three sets of colours, so as +to be able to hoist the orthodox flag for the squadron in which, for the +time being, it might be placed. It was also a difficulty that peaceful +merchantmen were carrying a red ensign, Fig. 97, exactly similar to the war +flag of the vessels of the red squadron. It was inconvenient in action, +too; hence, Nelson at Trafalgar ordered the whole of his fleet to hoist the +white ensign. An Order of Council, dated October 18th, 1864, put an end to +this use of differing flags, declaring that henceforth the white ensign +alone should be the flag of the Royal Navy. In the old days the red was the +highest, the white the intermediate, and the blue the third in rank and +dignity. + +Her Majesty's ships, when at anchor in home ports and roads, hoist their +colours at 8 o'clock in the morning from March 25th to September 20th, and +the rest of the year an hour later; and on foreign stations, at either of +these hours as the commanding officer shall direct; and either abroad or at +home they remain flying throughout the day until sunset.[43] When at sea, +on passing, meeting, {56} joining or parting from any other of Her +Majesty's ships or on falling in with any other ship the flag is hoisted, +and also when in sight of land, and especially when passing any fort, +battery, lighthouse, or town. + +When salutes are fired on the occasion of a foreign national festival, such +as the birthday of the sovereign, the flag of the nation in question is +hoisted at the main during the salute and for such further time as the war +ships of such nation are be-flagged, but if none are present, then their +flag remains up till sunset. Should a British war vessel arrive at any +foreign fortified port, the flag of the foreign nation is hoisted at the +main during the exchange of salutes. + +It is a rank offence for any vessel to fly any ensign or pendant similar to +those used in the Royal Navy. It will at once be boarded by any officer of +Her Majesty's Service, the offending colours seized, and the vessel +reported. The penalty for the offence is a very heavy one. + +The admiral has as a flag the white flag with the Cross of St. George +thereon, Fig. 91, and this must be displayed at the main top-gallant +mast-head, since both the vice and rear-admirals are entitled to fly a +similar flag, but the former of these displays his from the fore, and the +latter from the mizen top-gallant mast-head; it being not the flag alone +but the position of it that is distinctive of rank. The commodore's broad +pendant is a very similar flag, but it tapers slightly, and is +swallow-tailed. + +The "Naval Discipline Act," better known as "The Articles of War," +commences with the true and noble words--"It is on the Navy, under the Good +Providence of God, that our Wealth, Prosperity, and Peace depend," and we +may trust that the glorious traditions of this great service may be +maintained to the full as effectually under the White Ensign as in any +former period for the defence of + + "This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle, + This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, + This other Eden, demi-paradise; + This fortress built by nature for herself, + Against infection, and the hand of war; + This happy breed of men, this little world; + This precious stone set in the silver sea, + Which serves it in the office of a wall, + Or as a moat defensive to a house, + Against the envy of less happier lands; + This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England." + +The blue ensign, Fig. 96, is the flag of the Royal Naval Reserve, and may +be flown by any merchant vessels that comply with the {57} Admiralty +conditions respecting that service. Such vessels must be commanded by +officers of the Reserve, and at least one-third of their crew must belong +to it: they then, the structural conditions being satisfactory, receive a +Government subvention and an Admiralty Warrant to fly the blue ensign. +Officers commanding Her Majesty's ships, meeting with ships carrying the +blue ensign, are authorised to go on board them at any convenient +opportunity and see that these conditions are strictly carried out, +provided that they are of superior rank to the officers of the Royal Naval +Reserve. The men of the Reserve receive an annual retainer and drill pay. +The number of men in the Reserve, at the time we write these lines, is +10,600 in the first class and 10,800 in the second. The first class Reserve +is composed of the men on the long voyage ships, the second being the +fishermen and coasting crews. In addition to this there are some 3,000 +engineers and stokers, and some 1,500 or so of officers, all equally +prepared to rally to the pennant and to take their place in the national +defence. + +This utilisation of the faster vessels of the Mercantile Marine as cruisers +in war time has seriously engaged the attention of the Admiralty. The +Government gives an annual subsidy, and then claims the right to the vessel +at a fixed charge in case of emergency. Such vessels would be of immense +service in time of war in many ways: for scouting, for transporting troops, +and for engaging such of the enemy as she felt fairly a match for. When, +some few years ago, it seemed as though war with Russia was imminent, the +_Massilia_ and the _Rosetta_ of the Peninsula and Oriental Company's fleet +were put in commission by telegraph at Sydney and Hong Kong respectively. +These vessels were provided at once with warlike stores, and were at gun +practice off the ports referred to a few hours after the receipt of +instructions, and ready to go anywhere. This Company, during the Crimean +War, carried over sixty thousand men to the scene of operations, and during +the Indian Mutiny, the war in the Soudan, and all other possible occasions, +has rendered the greatest aid to the State. The _Teutonic_ and the +_Majestic_, of the White Star Line, each carry twelve Armstrong guns, and +could either of them land two thousand infantry at Halifax in five days, or +at Bombay in fourteen days, or at Hong Kong in twenty-one; and many other +armed cruisers of the Mercantile Marine, that we need not stay to +particularise, could do as much, and as effectively, flying the Blue Ensign +as worthily as those we have named. + + "Little England! Great in story! + Mother of immortal men! + Great in courage! Great in glory! + Dear to Freedom's tongue and pen! + {58} + If the world combine to brave thee, + English hearts will dare the fight, + English hands will glow to save thee, + Strong for England and the right!"[44] + +The Red Ensign, represented in Fig. 97, is the special flag of the ordinary +merchantman. "The Red Ensign"--lays down the "Merchant Shipping (Colours) +Act"--"usually worn by merchant ships, without any defacement or +modification whatsoever, is hereby declared to be the proper national +colour of all ships and boats belonging to any subject of Her Majesty, +except in the case of Her Majesty's ships or boats, or in the case of any +other ship or boat for the time being allowed to wear any other national +colours, in pursuant of a Warrant from Her Majesty or from the Admiralty." + +This Act goes on to say that any ship belonging to any subject of the Queen +shall, on a signal being made to her by one of Her Majesty's ships, or on +entering or leaving any foreign port, hoist the red ensign, and if of fifty +tons gross tonnage or upwards, on entering or leaving any British port +also, or incur a penalty not exceeding one hundred pounds. A merchantman +may also fly the Union Jack from the bowsprit, but if so the flag, as in +Fig. 104, must have a broad white border. + +The earliest form of red ensign is seen in Fig. 66. In a picture at Hampton +Court, representing the embarkation of William of Orange for England, in +the year 1688, his ship is shown as wearing two flags, one a red one with +St. George's Cross in the canton, as in Fig. 66, while the other, also red, +has the Union Flag in the canton. We get, therefore, a regular sequence of +red ensigns: that with St. George's Cross alone in the corner next the +masthead; that with the Union of St. George and St. Andrew--this picture at +Hampton Court being the earliest example known of its use; and, thirdly, +that of to-day with the crosses of St. George, St. Andrew, and St. Patrick. + +Some little degree of flag-lore is valuable not only to the soldier, the +seaman, or the traveller, but to everyone. For want of this knowledge, +ludicrous and serious mistakes are often made. Discussing these matters +with a man of good general knowledge, we found that he had a notion that +there were two kinds of "Union Jack," one, that had most red in it, being +the Army flag; while the other, in which blue preponderated, was the flag +of the Navy! Outside a large provincial theatre we saw a conspicuous notice +indicating that the piece then running was entitled "The Old Flag." To +emphasise this was a picture of a square of British linesmen surrounded by +{59} Zulus, while in the centre of the square rose the Royal Standard! As a +set-off to this we saw, not far off, a public house called the "Royal +Standard," flying from its roof the white Ensign! A friend of ours brought +home for his son a really capital toy model of an ironclad, with turrets, +ram, fighting tops, etc., and yet flying the red ensign of the harmless +merchantman! + +At a church we occasionally pass, the living being in the gift of the +Queen, the Royal Standard is hoisted on such Church festivals as Christmas +Day, while at other times, for no apparent reason, the white Ensign is +substituted--the special flag of the War Navy. Anyone venturing to point +out to the authorities thereof that, as the old church could scarcely take +up its position as a unit in our fighting fleet--having, in fact, quite +another mission in the world--the special flag of the Royal Navy was not +the most appropriate, would probably derive from the interview the +impression that, after all, to the churchwardens a flag was a flag, and +that it was quite possible to make a mountain out of a molehill. + +To one who knows anything about it, the eruption of silk bunting, and baser +fabrics innumerable that comes to the fore on any occasion of national +rejoicing, is a thing of horror, not merely in the festal disfigurements of +the patchwork counterpane or cotton pockethandkerchief type, seeing that to +some people any coloured piece of stuff that will blow out in the wind is a +valid decoration, but in the painful ignorance shown in the treatment of +recognised ensigns. Some little time ago, for instance, we found ourselves +in a town gaily beflagged and radiant in bunting on the occasion of a great +popular rejoicing. The Royal Standard, betokening the presence in the house +of some member of the Royal Family, was flying with a profusion that made +it impossible to believe that all the people displaying it could be +entertaining such distinguished guests. As a set-off, others were decking +their houses with red flags, the symbols of revolution and bloodshed, or +with yellow ones, leaving us to infer that such houses were to be avoided +as nests of yellow fever or such-like deadly infection. The Stars and +Stripes of the United States were, in almost every case, upside down, as +indeed were many others; a thing that, except for the ignorance that was +its excuse, might be considered as an insult to the various Foreign Powers, +while the repeated reversal of the red ensign implied a signal of distress. +The good folks really meant no harm to anybody, and they were quite happy +to believe, as they strolled in their thousands up the leading streets of +the town, that their decorations were a great success. At the same time, a +little more knowledge would have done them no harm. As it is an insult to +hoist one national flag below another, it is a rigid law that in all +official decorations national flags may not be so placed, but {60} +enthusiastic and irresponsible burgesses, in the depth of their ignorance, +ignore all such considerations of international courtesy, and in the length +of a short street commit sufficient indiscretion to give umbrage to all +mankind. It may be said that + + "Happiness too swiftly flies, + Thought would destroy their Paradise"-- + +that "he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow," that + + "From ignorance our comfort flows, + The only wretched are the wise"-- + +but despite all this philosophy, that "where ignorance is bliss 'tis folly +to be wise," no one is the worse for knowing something about the matter +with which he is dealing; and if proverbial philosophy is to count for +anything in the matter, a not inappropriate moral may be quoted as to the +rushing in of fools where their betters feel a judicious modesty. The +confidence of knowledge is better than the confidence of ignorance, and +would certainly, in street flagging, produce a more satisfactory result. + +We have in Plate VI. some few examples of these vagaries from sketches that +we made at the time. Fig. 45, if it had not got the Union in the canton, +would nearly be the Danish flag, Fig. 225, but the addition of the canton +makes it sheer foolishness. Fig. 46 is a good example of the notion that +anything will do if it be only bright enough: it is a mere piece of +patchwork, not by any means the only one in evidence. Figs. 47 and 50 +explain themselves; it is evident that in one case the decorator started +with a white ensign and in the other with a blue one, and then, feeling +that they were a little small and insignificant looking, tacked on a goodly +amount of red material to bring them up to their notion of what would be +sufficiently conspicuous in size. Fig. 48 is very quaint: there is a notion +of the white ensign hovering about it, but the Royal Standard employed as a +canton in one quarter is outside all the proprieties, and in any case all +the arm of the cross that one would expect to see below the canton is +absorbed by it. The addition of the two red tails to the Royal Standard in +Fig. 49 is not by any means legitimate, while in Fig. 51 the Royal Standard +is made the canton of a red ensign, and, as if this were not bad enough in +itself, the whole thing is flown upside down. Many of the so-called flags +had no semblance to anything, some were strange and abnormal tricolors; +others, chequers: one, we remember, was deep crimson, with a broad +bordering round three of its edges of light blue. Whatever opportunity of +going wrong seemed to be at all feasible appeared to be eagerly seized by +some well-meaning burgess, so that the result was a perfect museum of +examples of how not to do it, and therefore of immense interest. + + * * * * * + +{61} + +CHAPTER III. + + Army Flags--the Queen's Colour--the Regimental Colour--the Honours and + Devices--the Flag of the 24th Regiment--Facings--Flag of the King's Own + Borderers--What the Flag Symbolises--Colours of the Guards--the Assaye + Flag--Cavalry Flags--Presentation of Colours--Chelsea College + Chapel--Flags of the Buffs in Canterbury Cathedral--Flags of the + Scottish Regiments in St. Giles's Cathedral--Burning of Rebel Flags by + the Hangman--Special Flags for various Official Personages--Special + Flags for different Government Departments--The Lord High Admiral--The + Mail Flag--White Ensign of the Royal Yacht Squadron--Yacht Ensigns and + Burgees--House or Company Flags--How to express Colours with Lines--the + Allan Tricolor--Port Flags--the British Empire--the Colonial Blue + Ensign and Pendant--the Colonial Defence Act--Colonial Mercantile + Flag--Admiralty Warrant--Flag of the Governor of a Colony--the Green + Garland--the Arms of the Dominion of Canada--Badges of the various + Colonies--Daniel Webster on the Might of England--Bacon on the Command + of the Ocean. + +Having now dealt with the Union Flag and the Red and Blue Ensigns, we +proceed to see how these are modified by the addition of various devices +upon them. + +The flags of the army claim the first place in our regard. Each infantry +regiment has two "colours," one being called the "Queen's Colour," and the +other the "Regimental Colour." On turning to Barret's "Theorike and +Practike of Modern Warres," a book published in the year 1598, we find the +following passage:--"We Englishmen do call them of late colours, by reason +of the variety of colours they be made of, whereby they be the better noted +and known." This we may doubtless accept as a sufficient explanation of the +word, and the passage is interesting, too, as approximately fixing a date +for the introduction of the term, and showing that it has been in use for +at least three hundred years. + +The Queen's Colour in every regiment of the line is the flag of the Union, +Fig. 90, bearing in its centre the Imperial crown and the number of the +regiment beneath it in Roman figures worked in gold, and its territorial +designation. + +The regimental Colour is of the colour of the facings of the regiment, +except when these are white, in which case the body of the flag is not +plain white all over, but bears upon it the Cross of St. George. Whatever +the colour, it bears in its upper corner the Union, and in the centre of +the flag the crown and title of {62} the regiment, and around it whatever +devices, or badges, or other distinctions have been specially conferred +upon it, together with the names of the actions in which the regiment has +taken part, the records of its gallant service in many a hard-fought +struggle in the Peninsula, on the sultry plains of India, beneath the +burning sun of Africa, or wherever else the call of honour and of duty has +added to its laurels. Thus the regimental flag of the 1st regiment of the +line bears the proud record--St. Lucia, Egmont-op-Zee, Egypt, Corunna, +Busaco, Salamanca, Vittoria, St. Sebastian, Nive, Peninsula, Niagara, +Waterloo, Nagpore, Maheidpore, Ava, Alma, Inkermann, Sebastopol, and +several other records of struggles in which they bore gallant share; and +many another regiment could show as fine a record of service. + +In Fig. 94 we have a representation of the regimental colour of the 24th +Regiment. As the facings of this distinguished corps are green,[45] the +body of the flag is of that colour. Beneath its territorial designation +will be seen its special badge, the Sphinx, bestowed upon it for +distinguished service in Egypt, and around are grouped the names of famous +victories which it contributed to win. + +The 24th Regiment, now in the territorial arrangement in vogue known as the +2nd Warwickshire, was first formed in the year 1689. In 1776 it embarked +for Canada and greatly distinguished itself in the American struggle. In +1801 we find it in Egypt, where by its gallantry it won the right to bear +the Sphinx.[46] From 1805 to 1810 it was fighting its way along at the Cape +of Good Hope, and then went on to India. In 1829 we find it sent off to +Canada again to suppress rebellion, and it did not return to England till +1841. In 1846 we see it in the thick of the Punjaub struggle, taking its +part right well in the brilliant engagements of Chillianwallah and +Goojerat, and in 1857 it is in the thick of the sanguinary Mutiny in India; +and, after fifteen years in India, lands in 1861 in England once more. In +1874 we find it again at the Cape of Good Hope, and in 1877-78 engaged in +the Kaffir war, and in all times and in all places taking a gallant share +in upholding the national cause. + +In 1804 a second battalion was added to the regiment. This only existed ten +years, but in that time it earned by its distinguished {63} bravery the +names of the Peninsula battles for the flag,[47] and at the conclusion of +the struggle it was so weak in numbers that it was disembodied. In 1858 a +new second battalion was formed, and did good service in Burmah, South +Africa, etc. Both battalions were in Zululand in 1879, and with the +exception of one hundred men detailed for special duty, the regiment, save +nine men, was wiped out of existence in the fatal field of Isandhlwana. +Lieutenants Melville and Coghill tore the colours from their staffs and +wrapped them around their bodies, and after the fight was over and the +enemy had retired they were recovered. On the arrival of the colours in +England they were taken by Royal Command to Osborne, where the Queen +fastened to each a wreath of immortelles, and bestowed on the two dead +heroes the Victoria Cross as the highest acknowledgment then possible to +her of her deep appreciation of the sacrifice that these young gallant +officers had made for her, for England, and for the honour of the flag. The +colours, therefore, that we have represented in Fig. 94, in all their broad +blazon of gallant service, even in the hour of defeat never fell into the +hands of the enemy, to be hung in triumph in some Zulu kraal, but were +brought back in honour and proud rejoicing, since defeat so valiantly met +was no disgrace, and the honour of the flag and of the gallant 24th was +without stain. + +As one more illustration of regimental colours we may instance those of the +25th Regiment, the King's Own Borderers. Here the groundwork of the flag is +blue, with, of course, the Union in the upper corner next the staff. In the +centre of the flag is a representation of Edinburgh Castle, and within a +band the words, "King's Own Borderers." Outside this we have a wreath of +rose, shamrock, and thistle, surmounted by the crown. Below this is a +sphinx for service in Egypt, and below this again the word "Martinique." On +either side is inscribed "Minden" and "Egmont op Zee," and above all, +"Afghanistan." In the upper outer angle of the flag is the lion on the +crown and the motto "_In veritate religionis confido_," and in the lower +outer angle the white horse of Hanover and the motto "_Nec aspera +terrent_."[48] This was originally known as the Edinburgh Regiment, as it +was raised in four hours in 1689 to defend that city; but George III., for +some reason more or less {64} satisfactory to himself, changed the name to +the one it has ever since borne--the King's Own Borderers. + +In the year 1811 the Prince Regent, on behalf of the King, issued an order +to regulate the colours of the Army, and, amongst other things, sanctioned +the custom that had sprung up of inscribing the names of victories on the +flags. The custom of inscribing these honours, the names of the actions +fought, did not begin till the battle of Minden, so that the victories of +Marlborough and all other glorious achievements prior to the year 1759 +would have gone unrecorded; but in July, 1881, sanction was given for the +Grenadiers and the 1st, 3rd, 8th, 10th, 15th, 16th, 18th, 21st, 23rd, 24th, +26th, and 27th Regiments of the Line to add Blenheim and Ramilies to their +colours. Oudenarde, Malplaquet, and Dettingen[49] were also added to the +colours of those regiments that were there engaged. + +By the "Queen's Regulations" these colours are required to be of silk, and +to be three feet nine inches in length and three feet in breadth; the cords +and tassels are to be of mixed crimson and gold; the staff is to be eight +feet seven inches long, and surmounted by a golden crown on which stands a +lion. They are to be carried on parade by the two junior lieutenants, and +guarded by two sergeants and two privates. These form what is called "the +colour party." The distinguishing badge of the colour-sergeant consists of +crossed colours, embroidered on the sleeve above the chevrons of his rank. + +It has taken something like a thousand years of time to build up the +British Empire, while the lavish outlay of toil and forethought of +statesmen, the ceaseless spending of blood and treasure, the brilliant +strategy by land and sea of a long line of distinguished commanders have +all contributed to its birth and proud maintenance; and of all this +devotion in the past and the determination to uphold it in the future, the +flag is the living concrete symbol. It is the flag beneath whose folds +Nelson and Wellington and countless heroes more were carried to their rest; +it waved in triumph on the Heights of Abraham, and its honour was safe with +Elliot at Gibraltar; it was unfurled on many a battlefield in the +Peninsula, and nerved the arms of those who scaled the heights of the Alma +and stood unconquerable in the stubborn fight of Inkerman; and it waved +triumphant in the breeze at Sebastopol. The sight of it was strength, +comfort, and hope in the dark days of Lucknow and Cawnpore. It floated, a +symbol of duty, over the heroes of the burning _Birkenhead_, and to Ross, +Parry, Franklin and McClure, in the icy wastes of the far North it was an +incentive to renewed {65} effort and a symbol of home. It was the flag of +Speke and Livingstone in savage Africa, of Burke and Wills in their +explorations in Australia; and for the honour of England that it symbolises +men have thought no sacrifice too great. + +The Queen's Colour is a pledge of loyalty to the Sovereign, an emblem of +the unity of all, while the second colour deals with the honour that +specially appertains to each regiment--a subject of legitimate pride in the +past and an incentive to prove not unworthy in the future of those who +gained it such distinction. + +For some recondite reason the Guards reverse the arrangement that holds in +the Line regiments, as with them the Queen's Colour is crimson and bears +the regimental devices and honours, while the Union Flag is the Regimental +Colour. William IV., in 1832, gave the Grenadier Guards a special flag of +crimson silk, bearing in its centre the royal cypher W.R., interlaced in +gold, and having grouped together in the four corners the rose, thistle, +and shamrock. + +The Governor-General in India issued in the year 1803 a general order that +all the regiments engaged in Wellington's greatest Indian +victory--Assaye--should be entitled to the special distinction of a third +flag, and the Royal authority confirmed the honour. This flag, borne by the +74th Highlanders, the 78th or Ross-shire Buffs, and other distinguished +regiments, was of white silk, having in its centre an elephant, beneath +this the regimental number, and around it a wreath. On blue bands above and +below were inscribed in gold the words Assaye and Seringapatam. In the year +1830 the general use on parade of these flags was discontinued by order, +and they were reserved for very special occasions. + +The number of colours borne by the different regiments was formerly very +irregular: sometimes it was one to a company, sometimes only one to a whole +regiment, now it is two to each battalion. During the eighteenth century +several regiments carried three colours, and the 5th, or Northumberland +Fusiliers, continued to do so until 1833. By an unfortunate accident these +were then all burnt, and when the question of granting new colours came +forward, the right to carry the third was objected to, and the claim had to +be surrendered. King Charles's Royal Regiment of Foot Guards lost eleven +out of thirteen colours at Edgehill. + +The Standards carried by the Life Guards, Horse Guards, and Dragoon Guards +are of crimson silk, thirty inches by twenty-seven; and the guidons of the +dragoon regiments are forty-one inches by twenty-seven, are slit in the fly +and have the outer corners rounded off. The tassels and cords are of +crimson silk and gold, and each flag bears the Royal or other title of the +regiment in letters of gold in a circle, and beneath it the number of the +regiment, all being surmounted by the crown, surrounded by a {66} wreath of +rose, shamrock, and thistle, and the honours. Where a regiment has a +particular badge, such device will be placed in the centre, and the +territorial and numerical position placed outside; thus the Scots Greys +(the 2nd Royal Dragoons) bear as their badge the Imperial Eagle of France, +because at Waterloo this distinguished regiment captured the eagle of the +French 45th Regiment, on which were inscribed the words Jena, Austerlitz, +Wagram, Eylau, and Friedland.[50] The 3rd Dragoons have as their badge the +white horse of Hanover, and, as record of good service, Salamanca, +Vittoria, Toulouse, Peninsula, Cabool, Moodkee, Sobraon, Ferozeshah, +Punjaub, Chillianwallah, Goojerat. The Lancers and Hussars, like the Royal +Engineers, the Royal Artillery, and the Rifle Brigade, have no colours, and +therefore bear their badges, devices, etc., on their appointments. Thus, +for instance, King George II. ordered the 17th Light Dragoons (now the 17th +Lancers) to wear the device of the skull and cross-bones, and beneath it +the words "or glory" on the front of their caps and on the left breast. +This device the "Death or Glory Boys" still retain, like the famous +Pomeranian Horse and the Black Brunswickers, continental corps from whom +the Anglo-Hanoverian monarch doubtless derived the idea.[51] + +The presentation of colours to a regiment is always an imposing ceremony, +as with prayer of consecration, martial music, and stirring address they +are delivered into its custody, but the bestowal of the old colours in some +honoured place of safe keeping is yet more impressive. In the one case +there are the hopes and dangers of the future, while in the other the hopes +have all been abundantly realised, the dangers triumphantly passed, as the +tattered colours--storm tossed, torn by shot and shell--are borne in honour +to their last resting place, where, strife for ever over, they rest in +peace in the Sanctuary of God, a memorial to all men, until their last +shreds fall to decay, of duty nobly and fully done. + +Visitors to Canterbury Cathedral will scarcely fail to have noticed the +flags therein suspended. The colours of the 1st Battalion of the Buffs (the +East Kent Regiment) there find fitting resting place, and the last of these +were added so lately as October, 1892.[52] On their entrance, with imposing +military ceremony, into the {67} Cathedral, they were met by the clergy and +choir, and a hymn of thanksgiving for victory and of safe return from war +was sung, commencing-- + + "Grateful, we bring from lands afar, + Torn, shattered, but unstained, + Banners that Thy servant blessed + Ere the stern conflict came; + Lord, let their fragments ever rest + Where dwells Thy Holy name." + +After a short service of prayer and praise the Dean of Canterbury addressed +the great congregation. It might be asked, he said, why they, who were the +Ministers of the Prince of Peace, should take such interest in these +military proceedings. It was because they recognised in them the greatest +force for peace that there was in our land, for it was through them that +this country of ours had not been trampled for centuries under the feet of +any foreign foe, it was through them that the _Pax Britannica_ prevailed, +and that everywhere where the British Flag was present it carried with it +peace, and tranquillity, and justice. It was through the help of the army +that the peaceful people of this country could carry on their avocations +and serve God and do His work in peace; and therefore the clergy gratefully +acknowledged their services, and hoped and prayed that everywhere the +colours of each regiment might still be not only unstained, but covered +with laurels in struggling for right and for justice. + +Colonel Hobson then addressed the vast audience, reminding the younger +soldiers present that the regiment to which they had the honour to belong +was formed more than three hundred years ago, and was, therefore, the +oldest in the Army. It had won honour and renown in every part of the +world, and the colours which they were that day appropriately laying to +rest in the Warriors' Chapel of Canterbury Cathedral represented as +glorious a record as that of any regiment in the British Army. The earliest +existence of the regiment dated from the movement set on foot in this +country in the latter half of the sixteenth century, to assist the cause of +civil and religious liberty in the Netherlands. The dragon, which is on the +colours, was the crest of the City of London, from whose Trained Bands the +regiment was formed in 1572; and the regimental march, so familiar to them +all, was given them by Queen Elizabeth. After enumerating some few of the +services that the regiment had rendered, he concluded by saying:--"The few +words I have still to say I want you young soldiers especially to listen to +and to take to heart. The colours of a regiment are symbolical of what +ought to be the watchword of an army--duty; the Queen's Colours--duty to +{68} your Sovereign and to your country; the Regimental Colours--duty +towards the regiment. In these days the material side of the profession of +arms is much insisted upon, but I tell you that an army without something +higher than that, however well cared for in other respects, is a bad army, +and that when thoughtfulness and care for the good name of a regiment is +sacrificed for selfish, individual advancement, the regiment, as a whole, +will suffer. The spirit which animated the regiments of the British +Army--who placed those names, of which we are so proud to-day, on those +colours--was, duty first, self afterwards; and it will be a bad day for the +British Army if that spirit is ever allowed to depart from it. There was no +position in the army, however humble, in which men could not sustain the +credit and honour of their regiment and thus contribute to their country's +welfare." + +The Dean thereupon solemnly accepted the care of the colours and pronounced +the Benediction, and the whole audience then joined heart and voice, with +thrilling effect, in singing the National Anthem. + +It seems so natural to write of England and of Englishmen, so stilted to +put Great Britain and Ireland, that one may possibly forget that, +comprehensive as we intend the terms to be, we may, perhaps, wound the +susceptibilities of our fellow subjects and brother Britons across the +Tweed. Let us then turn to a companion picture, and see how, with equal +honour and devotion, the flags of our gallant Highlanders are borne to +their rest. + +A movement was, some time ago, set on foot to gather in the old flags from +the various Scottish regiments and to place them all in the Cathedral +Church of Edinburgh. This was effected, and the perspective effect of +these, as they line the nave on either side, is very fine. The oldest +colours there are those of the 82nd, the Duke of Hamilton's regiment, +presented in the year 1782, and still in excellent preservation. + +When on November 14th, 1883, the old colours borne by the various Scottish +regiments were deposited in St. Giles' Cathedral, they were escorted in all +honour and military pomp from the Castle; and says one who was there: "When +the colours came in sight, the multitude raised a shout and cheered, but +the impulse was but momentary, for at sight of the array of shattered rags +the noise of the tumult died away, and a half-suppressed sound was heard as +through the hearts of the people there flashed a thrill of mingled pride +and pain. Those who saw it will never forget the scene. In the centre the +tattered silk of the Colours, and on the fringe and in the background a +wonder-stricken crowd, as past uncovered heads, past dimmed eyes and +quivering lips, the old flags were carried." + +When the flags had been received with service of prayer and {69} praise, +the meaning of it all was summed up in burning words of love, devotion, and +pride. "We have gathered to-day," said the speaker, "for a noble +purpose--to receive with all honour into this national church these flags, +which have been borne by our soldiers through many a hard fight and in many +a distant land. 'In the name of the Lord,' said the inspired Psalmist long +ago, 'we will set up our banners.' In the spirit in which he spoke, these +banners were first unfurled; and in that great Name they were blessed by +God's ministers ere they were committed to those who were to carry them, as +a testimony that, as a nation, we believe in God, and desire that He should +guide our destinies alike in war and in peace; and now, after the lapse of +years, they are brought back to rest in God's house as a testimony to the +same truth, that we acknowledge Him as the supreme source of all our +national success and greatness. 'Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the +power, and the victory, and the majesty! Both riches and honour come of +Thee, and in Thine hand it is to make great and to give strength unto all.' +It is in this spirit that we place these emblems in Scotland's great +historic church. The associations that gather around these faded banners +are of the tenderest and most touching kind. They are such as cause the +heart to swell and the tear to come to the eye. Few, I feel sure, in this +vast assemblage have not felt in some degree their power. There are +soldiers here whom they carry back to old days, and to comrades with whom +they stood shoulder to shoulder in many a perilous hour. The old flag has +for the British soldier a meaning so deep and powerful that it is +impossible to put it into words. It is but a piece of silk, often faded and +tattered, and rent with shot: but it is a symbol, and symbols are amongst +the most sacred things on earth. It means for the soldier his Queen and his +country, and all the honour, loyalty, truth, and heroism they demand of +him. Therefore it is that men will follow their colours down into the +dreadful pit, and would be willing to die twice for them rather than let +them be taken by an enemy; and in the hour of defeat, like the heroes of +Isandlwhana, will fall pierced through with wounds, but with these precious +symbols, still untarnished, wrapped around them. And though to the peaceful +citizen these emblems can never mean all they stand for to those who have +served under them, even to him, as they hang here, they may speak of things +that it is good for him to remember. They may well tell him of the history +of his country, and the wonderful way by which God has led her, and of the +brave men He has raised up to fight for her. Nor can we help specially +remembering that these are the colours of our Scottish regiments. Scotland +is a poor country compared to the great neighbour with whom it is happily +united, but it possesses a distinct national life {70} of its own which all +true Scotchmen would not willingly let die. We are proud of our Scotch +regiments. We feel that they, of the whole army, belong especially to +ourselves; and they too, as they have swept on to battle with the cry, +'Scotland for ever!' feel, we believe, that they belong specially to us. +Providence, said Napoleon sneeringly, is generally on the side of the +strongest battalions. Be it so; but will anyone deny that the character of +the soldier has much to do with the strength of the battalion they form? +And was it not the character of our soldiers--a character fostered by the +traditions of their native land, fostered still more, perhaps, by the +religious teaching of their native church and parish school--that made them +strong on many a memorable day, and never more than on that memorable day +at Waterloo, when the great commander I have named generously exclaimed, as +he saw his own ranks yielding before the onslaught, 'Les braves Ecossais!' +May the sight of these banners inspire every soldier who looks on them, +whether Lowland or Highland, to echo the desire to hand down the name they +bear without a blemish! And should the day ever come when we as a people +are tempted to succumb to sloth and luxury, first to undervalue, and +finally to give up, national power and privileges which are an heritage +from God, and have been dearly purchased by those who went before us--may +these emblems, and the stirring memories that cling to them, help us in +some degree to wake up the last drop of blood left in our hearts, and nerve +us to bear ourselves like the children of our sires. 'We have heard with +our ears, O God, and our fathers have told us, what Thou didst in their +days in the times of old. For they got not the land in possession by their +own sword, neither did their own arm save them, but Thy right hand and +Thine arm, and the light of Thy countenance, because Thou hadst a favour +unto them. Through Thee will we push down our enemies; through Thy name +will we tread them under that rise up against us.'" This impressive and +imposing ceremony closed with the magnificent "Hallelujah Chorus" of +Handel, and the final Benediction. + +That colours do not always perish in honour may be seen by the following +extract from the _Scots' Magazine_ of June, 1746, where the citizens of +Edinburgh assisted at a very different function to the one we have just +described. "Fourteen rebel colours," says the ancient newsman, "taken at +Culloden, were brought into Edinburgh on the 31st May, and lodged in the +castle. On Wednesday, the 4th of June, at noon, they were brought down to +the Cross, the Pretender's own standard carried by the hangman, and the +rest by chimney sweepers. The sheriffs, accompanied by the heralds, +pursuivants, trumpeters, city constables, etc., and escorted by the city +guard, walked to the Cross, where a proclamation was {71} made that the +colours belonging to the rebels were ordered by the Duke of Cumberland to +be burnt by the hands of the common hangman. The Pretender's standard was +then put on a fire that had been prepared, and afterwards all the rest one +by one--a herald always proclaiming to whom each belonged, the trumpets +sounding, and the populace, of which there was a great number assembled, +huzzaing." + +Various government officials have their special flags. The flag of the +Union having been established by "Queen's Regulations" for the naval +service, as the distinguishing flag to be borne by the admiral of the +fleet, great inconvenience arose from the use of the same flag when +military authorities, diplomatic and consular agents were embarking in +boats or other vessels; so it became necessary to make some modification in +the flag. It is therefore now ordered that a general or other officer +commanding a military station shall have, in the centre of the Union, a +blue shield bearing the Royal initials, surmounted by a crown and +surrounded by a garland; those in the diplomatic service shall have, in the +centre of the Union, a white shield bearing the Royal Arms, and surrounded +by a garland; while consuls-general, consuls, or consular agents have the +Blue Ensign as their distinguishing flag, and in the centre thereof the +Royal Arms. The flag of the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland is the Union, and in +its centre, as we may see in Fig. 106, a blue shield bearing the golden +harp. + +Different Government Departments have their special flags also. Thus the +Transport Service has the blue ensign with a golden anchor, placed +horizontally, in the fly, while the Victualling Department has the blue +ensign again, but this time as shown in Fig. 98, with two crossed anchors. +On the blue ensign of the Board of Trade is found in the fly a white +circle, and within this a ship in full sail (see Fig. 105). The Ordnance +Department flag, represented in Fig. 108, bears a shield with cannons and +cannon balls upon it, while vessels and boats employed on submarine mining +service are authorized to carry the blue ensign with--as its special +badge--a hand issuing from a mural crown, and grasping a thunderbolt. The +Telegraph branch of the Post-Office has a very striking device: a +representation of Father Time with his hour glass smashed by lightning. The +red ensign is employed by the Custom House and the Excise, in the first +case having, as we see in Fig. 107, a golden crown in the fly, and, in the +second, a crown and star. The flag of the Admiralty is a very striking one +(Fig. 99). This association of the anchor with the Admiralty is a very +natural one; we see it not only in our English flag, but in those of +France, Italy, Germany, Russia, etc. Our Admiralty flag is hoisted on any +ship when the Commissioners {72} of the Admiralty are on board,[53] and it +is also hoisted at the fore top-gallant mast of every ship on which the +Queen may be on board. Vessels carrying Her Majesty's mail fly on the +fore-mast a white burgee, having in its centre a crown, and on one side of +it the word "Royal" and on the other "Mail"; the words Royal Mail and the +crown being in red on the white field of the flag. + +The White Ensign, Fig. 95, the special flag of Her Majesty's Navy, is, by +very exceptional privilege, allowed to be flown by the Royal Yacht +Squadron. This distinction was conferred on that Club in the year 1829, the +Club itself being established in 1812.[54] In the old days, when the Royal +Navy used the red, white, and blue ensigns, the red ensign was of the +highest dignity; and it was this from 1821 to 1829 that the Royal Yacht +Squadron flew, but, as the red ensign was also used by merchant vessels, +they adopted in 1829 the white ensign as being more distinctive. In 1842 +the Admiralty drew up a Minute that no warrant should be issued to any +other yacht club to fly the white ensign, and that those privileged Clubs +that already had it must henceforth forego it. Copies of the minute were +accordingly sent to the Royal Western of England, Royal Thames, Royal +Southern, and some two or three other clubs, but, by some oversight, the +Royal Western of Ireland was overlooked, and that Club continued to use the +white ensign until the mistake was discovered by the Admiralty in the year +1857. Since that date the Royal Yacht Squadron, which has always been under +the special patronage of Royalty, has been alone in its use. Its value is +purely sentimental; it carries no substantial privilege. A rather marked +case arose, in fact, to the contrary in 1883, when Lord Annesley's yacht, +the _Seabird_, was detained by the Turkish authorities at the Dardanelles +in consequence of her bearing the white ensign. No foreign man-of-war is +allowed to pass the Dardanelles without special permission; and the white +{73} ensign of the Royal Navy brought her within that category. On account +of this, all yacht owners were warned that should they wish to pass the +Dardanelles under the white or blue ensign, the latter being also the flag +of the Royal Naval Reserve, they must first obtain an Imperial Iradé, +otherwise they were recommended to display the red ensign. Austria-Hungary, +Spain, Denmark, Italy, Sweden, Norway, and France have each, in like +manner, given to the leading club of the country the privilege of flying +the naval flag. In America and Russia a special ensign has been accorded to +all yacht clubs, and all take equal rank. Some years ago the Royal Cork +Yacht Club wished to adopt a green ensign, but the Admiralty refused to +sanction a new colour. + +The Blue Ensign is conferred on certain Yacht Clubs by special Admiralty +warrant. The Royal Eastern, Royal Barrow, Royal Clyde, Royal Highland, +Royal Northern, Royal Western of England, Royal Cinque Ports, Royal Albert, +Royal Dorset, etc., fly the Blue Ensign pure and simple; others have a +distinguishing badge on the fly, thus the Royal Irish has a golden harp and +crown, the Royal Ulster a white shield with the red hand, the Royal +Cornwall the Prince of Wales' Feathers, the Royal Harwich a golden rampant +lion, and so forth. The clubs flying the Red Ensign change it slightly from +that flown by the Merchant Service; thus the Royal St. George, Royal +Victoria, and Royal Portsmouth have a golden crown in the centre of the +Union canton, while the Royal Yorkshire has a white rose and gold crown on +the fly, and the Royal Dart a golden dart and crown. Each club has also its +distinguishing burgee, and ordinarily of the same colour as its ensign; +thus, though the Royal Clyde and the Royal Highland both fly the plain blue +ensign, the Royal Clyde burgee has on it the yellow shield and red lion +rampant, while the Royal Highland has the white cross of St. Andrew. Fig. +100 is the burgee of the Ranelagh Club, Fig. 101 of the Yare, Fig. 102 of +the Royal Thames, Fig. 103 of the Dublin Bay Club. + +Besides these club ensigns and burgees, each yacht bears its owner's +individual device, that is supposed to distinguish it from all others, +though one finds, in looking through a series of such flags, that some of +the simpler devices are borne by more than one yacht. Every yacht club has +its special burgee, which is flown by each yacht in the club at her truck, +but when the vessel is racing the individual flag takes its place. Many of +these flags, though simple in character, are very effective and striking. +The lower flags on Plate XII. are good typical examples. Fig. 121 is the +yacht flag of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales--the flag of the +well-known _Britannia_; and Figs. 122 and 123 are those respectively of the +equally-famed _Ailsa_ and _Valkyrie_. {74} + +Merchant vessels are permitted to adopt any House or Company flag on +condition that it does not resemble any national flag. Its great use is +that it should be clearly distinctive; and many of the flags employed are +of strict heraldic propriety, and very attractive, while others are about +as unsatisfactory and bald as they well could be. It would clearly be a +painful and invidious thing to pick out any of these latter, so we can only +suggest that any of our readers who have an opportunity of visiting busy +ports, such as London, Southampton, Bristol, Liverpool, should collect +their own awful examples and paint them in the margin of this page. + +We may point out, by the way, that anyone sketching flags would be greatly +assisted by knowing the symbols for the various colours, as it may well be +that anyone might have only a pencil in his pocket when desiring to make +such a memorandum. White is expressed by simply leaving the paper plain, +yellow by dotting the surface over, red by a series of upright lines, blue +by horizontal lines, green by sloping lines, and black by a series of +upright lines crossed by others at right angles to them. These are the +colours used in books on heraldry, and they are very easily remembered. On +some of our coins the colours of the arms in the shield are thus expressed, +and on heraldic book-plates and the like they may be also seen--wherever, +in fact, colour has to be expressed or notified without the actual use of +it. Our readers will find that if they will sketch out in black and white +some few of our examples they will soon gain a useful facility that may +stand them in good stead whenever for this or any other purpose they want +to make a colour memorandum, and have only a pencil or pen and ink to make +it with. + +In the upper portion of Plate XII. we have several illustrations of Company +flags. Fig. 109 is the well-known ensign of Green's Blackwall Line, while +Fig. 110 is that of the Cunard. The Peninsular and Oriental flag (Fig. 111) +is divided by lines from corner to corner into four triangles, the upper +one white, the lower yellow, the hoist blue, and the fly red. This division +into triangles is a rather favourite one; we see it again in Fig. 112, the +Flag of the Australasian Steam Navigation Company. In the flag of the +Demerara and Berbice Steamship Company the upper and lower portions are +white, and the two side portions red; in the flag of the vessels belonging +to Galbraith, Pembroke and Co., the upper is red, the lower blue, and the +two sides white. In another company, that of Wesencraft of Newcastle, the +colours are the same as the P. and O. flag, though differently placed, the +blue being at the top, the red at the bottom, the yellow at the hoist, and +the white at the fly. Fig. 113 is the flag of the fleet of Devitt and +Moore, an Australian Line. Fig. 114 betokens the vessels of the {75} +Canadian Pacific Company, and Fig. 115 the ships of the Castle Line to +South Africa. Fig. 116 is the Company flag of the Union Steamship Company, +of Southampton, while Fig. 117 is the device of the Mediterranean and New +York Steamship Company. Our remaining illustrations are; Fig. 118, the flag +adopted by Messrs. Houlden Brothers; Fig. 119, that of the popular White +Star Line; and Fig. 120, that of the New Zealand Shipping Company. The +well-known Allan Line has as its house flag the three upright strips of +blue, white, and red that we see in the French tricolor, Fig. 191, plus a +plain red burgee that is always hoisted immediately above it. The Allan is +the largest private ship-owning company in the world; in the course of the +year there are some two hundred arrivals and departures of their vessels at +or from Glasgow, and some fifty thousand people are carried annually to or +from America. During the Crimean War many of the steamers of this line were +chartered by the French Government for the transport of their troops, and +it is in memory of this that the vessels of the Allan fleet adopt the +tricolor as their house flag. + +That we have by no means exhausted this portion of our subject is patent +from the fact that in a book before us that is specially devoted to these +house flags seven hundred and eighty-two examples are given, wherein we +find not only stripes, crosses, and such-like simple arrangements, but +crescents, stars, anchors, lions, stags, thistles, castles, bells, keys, +crowns, tridents, and many other forms. + +In earlier days merchant ships flew rather the flag of their port than of +their nation, so that a vessel was known to be of Plymouth, Marseilles, +Dantzic, or Bremen by the colours displayed. Thus the flag of Marseilles +was blue with a white cross upon it; Texel, a flag divided horizontally +into two equal strips, the upper being green and the lower black; Rotterdam +was indicated by a flag having six horizontal green stripes upon it, the +interspaces being white; Cherbourg, blue, white, blue, white, horizontally +arranged; Riga, a yellow cross on a blue ground. + +The British Empire--the Greater Britain across the seas, some eighty times +larger in area than the home islands of its birth--must now engage our +attention. Its material greatness is amazing, far exceeding that of any +other empire the world has ever seen, and its moral greatness is equal to +its material. Wherever the flag of Britain flies, there is settled law, +property is protected, religion is free; it is no mere symbol of violence +or rapine, or even of conquest. It is what it is because it represents +everywhere peace, and civilization, and commerce. Protected by the _Pax +Britannica_ dwell four hundred millions out of every race under heaven, the +{76} Mother of Nations extending to Jew, Parsee, Arab, Chinese, Blackfoot, +Maori, the liberties that were won at Runnymead and in many another stern +fight for life and freedom. In every school-room in the United States hangs +the flag of their Union, the Stars and Stripes; and devotion to all that it +symbolises is an essential part of the teaching. We in turn might well in +our systems of education give a larger space to the history, laws, and +literature of our great Empire, taking a more comprehensive view than is +now ordinarily the case, studying the growth of the mighty States that have +sprung into existence through British energy, and attaching at least as +much importance to the lives of the men who have built up this goodly +heritage as to the culinary shortcomings of Alfred or the schemes of Perkin +Warbeck. + +As regards the value of our Colonies to the Empire, the following extract +from a speech made by the Prince of Wales at the Royal Colonial Institute +may very aptly be quoted:-- + +"We regard the Colonies as integral parts of the Empire, and our warmest +sympathies are with our brethren beyond the seas, who are no less dear to +us than if they dwelt in Surrey or Kent. Mutual interests, as well as ties +of affection, unite us as one people, and so long as we hold together we +are unassailable from without. From a commercial point of view, the +Colonies and India are among the best customers for home manufacturers, it +being computed that no less than one-third of the total exports are +absorbed by them. They offer happy and prosperous homes to thousands who +are unable to gain a livelihood within the narrow limits of these islands, +owing to the pressure of over-population and consequent over-competition. +In transplanting themselves to our own Colonies, instead of to foreign +lands, they retain their privileges as citizens of this great Empire, and +live under the same flag as subjects of the same Sovereign. As Professor +Seeley remarks in his very interesting work, 'The Expansion of England,' +'Englishmen in all parts of the world remember that they are of one blood +and one religion; that they have one history, and one language and +literature.' We are, in fact, a vast English nation, and we should take +great care not to allow the emigrants who have gone forth from among us to +imagine that they have in the slightest degree ceased to belong to the same +community as ourselves." + +Our statesmen and thinkers have never failed to recognise the brotherhood +of Greater Britain. Of this fact it would be easy enough to reproduce +illustrations by the score. We need, however, here but refer to the +sentiments of the Earl of Rosebery on the expansion of the Empire, where we +find him declaring-- {77} + +"Since 1868 the Empire has been growing by leaps and bounds. That is, +perhaps, not a process which everybody witnesses with unmixed satisfaction. +It is not always viewed with unmixed satisfaction in circles outside these +islands. There are two schools who view with some apprehension the growth +of our Empire. The first is composed of those nations who, coming somewhat +late into the field, find that Great Britain has some of the best plots +already marked out. To those nations I will say that they must remember +that our Colonies were taken--to use a well-known expression--at prairie +value, and that we have made them what they are. We may claim that whatever +lands other nations may have touched and rejected, and we have cultivated +and improved, are fairly parts of our Empire, which we may claim to possess +by an indisputable title. But there is another ground on which the +extension of our Empire is greatly attacked, and the attack comes from a +quarter nearer home. It is said that our Empire is already large enough, +and does not need extension. That would be true enough if the world were +elastic, but, unfortunately, it is not elastic, and we are engaged at the +present moment, in the language of mining, in 'pegging out claims for the +future.' We have to consider not what we want now, but what we shall want +in the future. We have to consider what countries must be developed, either +by ourselves or some other nation, and we have to remember that it is part +of our responsibility and heritage to take care that the world, as far as +it can be moulded by us, shall receive an 'English-speaking' complexion, +and not that of another nation. We have to look forward beyond the chatter +of platforms, and the passions of party, to the future of the race of which +we are at present the trustees, and we should, in my opinion, grossly fail +in the task that has been laid upon us did we shrink from responsibilities, +and decline to take our share in a partition of the world which we have not +forced on, but which has been forced upon us." + +Statistics of area of square miles, population, and so forth, can be +readily found by those who care to seek for them, and we need give them no +place here; but let us at least try and realise just by bare enumeration +something of what this Greater Britain is. In Europe it includes, besides +the home islands, Gibraltar, Malta, Cyprus. In Asia--the great Indian +Empire, Ceylon, Aden, Hong-Kong, North Borneo, the Straits Settlements, +Perim, Socotra, Labuan. In America--the Dominion of Canada, Newfoundland, +Trinidad, Guiana, Honduras, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Bermudas, Barbadoes, +Falkland Isles, the Leeward and Windward Isles. In Australasia--New South +Wales, Victoria, Western Australia, Tasmania, Queensland, New Zealand, +Fiji, New Guinea. In Africa--the Cape Colony, Basutoland, Bechuanaland, +Zululand, Natal, {78} Gold Coast, Lagos, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Mauritius, +Seychelles, Ascension, St. Helena. Our list is by no means a complete one. + +Newfoundland was the earliest British colony, the settlement being made +about the year 1500. Many of our colonies have been thus created by +peaceful settlement, while others have fallen to us in victorious fights +with France, Holland, Spain, and other Powers, or have been ceded by +treaty. + +The flags of our colonies are those of the Empire, with, in some cases, +special modifications. In all our colonies, for instance, the Royal +Standard, as we see it in England, is displayed on the fortresses on the +anniversaries of the birth and coronation of the Sovereign. + +The Blue Ensign is the flag borne by any vessel maintained by any colony +under the clauses of the Colonial Defence Act, 28 Vic., Cap. 14. The +"Queen's Regulations" state that "Any vessel provided and used, under the +third section of the said Act, shall wear the Blue Ensign, with the seal or +badge of the Colony in the fly thereof, and a blue pendant. All vessels +belonging to, or permanently in the service of, the Colony, but not +commissioned as vessels of war under the Act referred to, shall wear a +similar blue ensign, but not the pendant." In Figs. 127, 128, 130, and 135 +we have the Government Ensigns of four of our great Colonies--Cape Colony, +Queensland, Canada, and Victoria--while in Fig. 140 we have the blue +pendant. + +This Colonial Defence Act of 1865 is so important in its bearings on the +possibilities of Naval defence that it seems well to quote from it some of +its provisions. Its object is to enable the several Colonial possessions of +Her Majesty to make better provision for Naval defence, and, to that end, +to provide and man vessels of war; and also to raise a volunteer force to +form part of the Royal Naval Reserve, to be available for the general +defence of the Colony in case of need. This Act declares that "in any +Colony it shall be lawful for the proper Legislative Authority, with the +Approval of Her Majesty in Council, from Time to Time to make Provision for +effecting at the Expense of the Colony all or any of the Purposes +following: + + "For providing, maintaining, and using a Vessel or Vessels of War, + subject to such Conditions and for such Purposes as Her Majesty in + Council from Time to Time approves. + + "For raising and maintaining Seamen and others entered on the Terms of + being bound to serve as ordered in any such Vessel. {79} + + "For raising and maintaining a Body of Volunteers entered on the Terms + of being bound to general Service in the Royal Navy in Emergency, and, + if in any Case the proper Legislative Authority so directs, on the + further Terms of being bound to serve as ordered in any such Vessel as + aforesaid: + + "For appointing Commissioned, Warrant, and other Officers to train and + command or serve as Officers with any such Men ashore or afloat, on + such Terms and subject to such Regulations as Her Majesty in Council + from Time to Time approves: + + "For obtaining from the Admiralty the Services of Commissioned, + Warrant, and other Officers and of Men of the Royal Navy for the + last-mentioned Purposes: + + "For enforcing good Order and Discipline among the Men and Officers + aforesaid while ashore or afloat within the Limits of the Colony: + + "For making the Men and Officers aforesaid, while ashore or afloat + within the Limits of the Colony or elsewhere, subject to all Enactments + and Regulations for the Time being in force for the Discipline of the + Royal Navy. + +"Volunteers raised as aforesaid in any Colony shall form Part of the Royal +Naval Reserve, in addition to the Volunteers who may be raised under the +Act of 1859, but, except as in this Act expressly provided, shall be +subject exclusively to the Provisions made as aforesaid by the proper +Legislative Authority of the Colony. + +"It shall be lawful for Her Majesty in Council from Time to Time as +Occasion requires, and on such Conditions as seem fit, to authorize the +Admiralty to issue to any Officer of the Royal Navy volunteering for the +Purpose a Special Commission for Service in accordance with the Provisions +of this Act. + +"It shall be lawful for Her Majesty in Council from Time to Time as +Occasion requires, and on such Conditions as seem fit, to authorize the +Admiralty to accept any Offer for the Time being made or to be made by the +Government of a Colony, to place at Her Majesty's Disposal any Vessel of +War provided by that Government and the Men and Officers from Time to Time +serving therein; and while any Vessel accepted by the Admiralty under such +Authority is at the Disposal of Her Majesty, such Vessel shall be deemed to +all Intents a Vessel of War of the Royal Navy, and {80} the Men and +Officers from Time to Time serving in such Vessels shall be deemed to all +Intents Men and Officers of the Royal Navy, and shall accordingly be +subject to all Enactments and Regulations for the Time being in force for +the Discipline of the Royal Navy. + +"It shall be lawful for Her Majesty in Council from Time to Time as +Occasion requires, and on such Conditions as seem fit, to authorize the +Admiralty to accept any Offer for the Time being made or to be made by the +Government of a Colony, to place at Her Majesty's Disposal for general +Service in the Royal Navy the whole or any Part of the Body of Volunteers +with all or any of the Officers raised and appointed by that Government in +accordance with the Provisions of this Act; and when any such Offer is +accepted such of the Provisions of the Act of 1859 as relate to Men of the +Royal Naval Reserve raised in the United Kingdom when in actual Service +shall extend and apply to the Volunteers whose Services are so accepted." + +As the Act winds up by saying that "nothing in this Act shall take away or +abridge any power vested in or exerciseable by the Legislature or +Government of any Colony," it is evident that the whole arrangement is a +purely voluntary one. + +The vessels of the Mercantile Marine registered as belonging to any of the +Colonies, fly the red ensign without any distinguishing badge, so that a +Victorian or Canadian merchantman coming up the Thames or Mersey would +probably fly a flag in all respects similar (Fig. 97) to that of a merchant +vessel owned in the United Kingdom. There is, however, no objection to +colonial merchant vessels carrying distinctive flags with the badge of the +Colony thereon, in addition to the red ensign, provided that the Lords +Commissioners of the Admiralty give their warrant of authorization. The red +ensign differenced may be seen in Fig. 129, the merchant flag of +Canada,[55] and in Fig. 134 that of Victoria, the device on this latter +bearing the five stars, representing the constellation of the Southern +Cross--a simple, appropriate, and beautiful device. {81} + +"Governors of Her Majesty's Dominions in foreign parts, and governors of +all ranks and denominations administering the governments of British +Colonies and Dependencies shall"--as set forth in "Queen's +Regulations"--"fly the Union Jack with the arms or badge of the Colony +emblazoned in the centre thereof." Figs. 139 and 141 are illustrations, the +first being the special flag of the Viceroy of India, and the second that +of the Governor of Western Australia. The Governor-General of Canada has in +the centre of his flag the arms of the Dominion, while the +Lieutenant-Governors of Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, +Manitoba, British Columbia, and Prince Edward's Island have in the centre +of their flags the arms of their province alone. These arms in each case +are placed on a shield within a white circle, and surrounded by a wreath. +The Admiralty requirements are that the Colonial badge on the governor's +flag should be placed within a "green garland," and this is understood to +be of laurel; but in 1870 Canada received the Imperial sanction to +substitute the leaves of the maple.[56] + +Though the provinces that together make the Dominion of Canada are seven in +number, the Canadian shield only shows the arms of four--Ontario, Quebec, +Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick--an arrangement that can be scarcely +palatable to the other three. + + + +The Queen's Warrant, published in the _Canadian Gazette_ of November 25th, +1869, is as follows:-- + +"VICTORIA, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and +Ireland, Queen, Defender of the Faith, &c. + +"To Our Right Trusty and well-beloved Councillor, Edward George Fitzalan +Howard (commonly called Lord Edward George Fitzalan Howard), Deputy to Our +Right Trusty and Right entirely beloved cousin, Henry Duke of Norfolk, Earl +Marshal and Our Hereditary Marshal of England--greeting:-- + +"WHEREAS, by virtue of, and under the authority of an Act of Parliament, +passed in the Twenty-ninth year of Our Reign, entitled 'An Act for the +Union of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, and the Government +thereof," we were empowered to declare after a certain day therein +appointed, that the said Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick +should {82} form one Dominion under the name of Canada. And it was provided +that on and after the day so appointed, Canada should be divided into four +Provinces, named, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick; that the +part of the then Province of Canada, which formerly constituted the +Province of Upper Canada, should constitute the Province of Ontario; and +the part which formerly constituted the Province of Lower Canada, should +constitute the Province of Quebec; and that the Provinces of Nova Scotia +and New Brunswick should have the same limits as at the passing of the said +Act. And whereas we did by Our Royal Proclamation, bearing date the +Twenty-second day of May last, declare, ordain, and command that, on and +after the first day of July, 1867, the said Provinces should form and be +one Dominion under the name of Canada accordingly. + +"And forasmuch as it is Our Royal will and pleasure that, for the greater +honour and distinction of the said Provinces, certain Armorial Ensigns +should be assigned to them, + +"KNOW YE, therefore, that We, of our Princely Grace and special favour, +have granted and assigned, and by these presents do grant and assign the +Armorial Ensigns following, that is to say:-- + + "FOR THE PROVINCE OF ONTARIO: + +"Vert, a sprig of three Leaves of Maple slipped, or, on a chief Argent the +Cross of St. George. + + "FOR THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC: + +"Or, on a Fess Gules between two Fleurs de Lis in chief Azure, and a Sprig +of three Leaves of Maple slipped vert in base, a Lion passant guardant or. + + "FOR THE PROVINCE OF NOVA SCOTIA: + +"Or, on a Fess Wavy Azure between three Thistles proper, a Salmon Naiant +Argent. + + "FOR THE PROVINCE OF NEW BRUNSWICK: + +Or, on waves a Lymphad, or Ancient Galley, with oars in action, proper, on +a chief Gules a Lion passant guardant or, as the same are severally +depicted in the margin hereof, to be borne for the said respective +Provinces on Seals, Shields, Banners, Flags, or otherwise according to the +Laws of Arms. + +"And We are further pleased to declare that the said United Provinces of +Canada, being one Dominion under the name of {83} Canada, shall, upon all +occasions that may be required, use a common Seal, to be called the 'Great +Seal of Canada,' which said seal shall be composed of the Arms of the said +Four Provinces quarterly, all which armorial bearings are set forth in this +Our Royal Warrant." + +This latter point is a somewhat important one, as owing to the +semi-official endorsement given in many colonial publications, it appears +to be a popular misconception that as many different arms as possible are +to be crowded in. In one example before us five are represented, the +additional one being Manitoba. In a handbook on the history, production, +and natural resources of Canada, prepared by the Minister of Agriculture +for the Colonial Exhibition, held in London in 1886, the arms of the seven +provinces are given separately, grouped around a central shield that +includes them all. The whole arrangement is styled "Arms of the Dominion +and of the Provinces of Canada." + +When the Queen's Warrant was issued in 1869, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, +and New Brunswick were the only members of the Confederation. Manitoba +entered it in 1870, British Columbia in 1871, and Prince Edward Island in +1873. + +The Royal Canadian Yacht Club, the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron, and +the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club have the privilege of flying the blue ensign. + +Canada, unlike Australia, supplies no contingent towards the Imperial Navy, +but she has spent on public works over forty million pounds sterling. By +her great trans-continental railway a valuable alternative route to the +East is furnished; she provides graving docks at Quebec, Halifax, and +Victoria; trains an annual contingent of forty thousand volunteers, +supports a military college at Kingston, of whose cadets between eighty and +ninety are now officers in the British Army; and in many other ways +contributes to the well-being of the Empire, that Greater Britain, which +has been not unaptly termed "a World-Venice, with the sea for streets." + +The badges of the various Colonies of the Empire, as shown in the official +flag-book of the Admiralty, are very diverse in appearance; some pleasing +and others less charming, perhaps, than fantastic. It is needless to +particularise them all. Some, like those of Mauritius, Jamaica, and of Cape +Colony (Fig. 127) are heraldic in character, while others--as Barbadoes, +where Britannia rides the waves in a chariot drawn by sea-horses, or South +Australia, where Britannia lands on a rocky shore on which a black man is +seated--are symbolical. Queensland has the simple and pleasing device we +see in Fig. 128, the Maltese Cross, having a crown at its centre. +Newfoundland has a crown on a white disc and the {84} Latinised name _Terra +Nova_ beneath, and Fiji (Fig. 137) adopts a like simple device, the crown +and the word Fiji, while New Guinea does not get even so far as this, but +has the crown, and beneath it the letters N. G. The gnu appears as the +device of Natal; the black swan (Fig. 141) as the emblem of West Australia. +An elephant and palm-tree on a yellow ground stand for West Africa, and an +elephant and temple for Ceylon. British North Borneo (Fig. 132), on a +yellow disc has a red lion, and Tasmania (Fig. 133), on a white ground has +the same, though it will be noted that the action of the two royal beasts +is not quite the same. The Straits Settlements have the curious device seen +in Fig. 131. New Zealand (Fig. 136) has a cross of stars on a blue field. +Victoria we have already seen in Figs. 134 and 135, while New South Wales +has upon the white field the Cross of St. George, having in the centre one +of the lions of England, and on each arm a star--an arrangement shown in +Fig. 138. British East Africa has the crown, and beneath it the golden sun +shooting forth its rays, one of the simplest, most appropriate, and most +pleasing of all the Colonial devices; when placed in the centre of the +Governor's flag it is upon a white disc, and the sun has eight principal +rays. When for use on the red or blue ensigns, the sun has twelve principal +rays, and both golden sun and crown are placed directly upon the field of +the flag. St. Helena, Trinidad, Bermuda, British Guiana, Leeward Isles, +Labuan, Bahamas, and Hong Kong all have devices in which ships are a +leading feature--in the Bermuda device associated with the great floating +dock, in the Hong Kong with junks, and in the other cases variously +differentiated from each other, so that all are quite distinct in +character. In the device of the Leeward Isles, designed by Sir Benjamin +Pine, a large pine-apple is growing in the foreground, and three smaller +ones away to the right. It is jocularly assumed that the centre one was Sir +Benjamin himself, and the three subordinate ones his family. + +With Great Britain the command of the ocean is all-important. By our +sea-power our great Empire has been built up, and by it alone can it +endure. "A power to which Rome in the height of her glory is not to be +compared--a power which has dotted over the surface of the whole globe her +possessions and military posts, whose morning drum-beat, following the sun, +and keeping company with the hours, circles the earth with one continuous +and unbroken strain of the martial airs of England." So spoke Daniel +Webster in 1834, and our ever-growing responsibilities have greatly +increased since the more than sixty years when those words were uttered. +Let us in conclusion turn to the "True Greatness of Kingdoms and Estates," +written by Bacon, a great and patriotic Englishman, where we may read the +warning words:-- {85} + +"We see the great effects of battles by sea; the Battle of Actium decided +the empire of the world; the Battle of Lepanto arrested the greatness of +the Turk. + +"There be many examples where sea-fights have been final to the war; but +this is when princes or States have set up their rest upon the battles; but +this much is certain, that he who commands the sea is at great liberty, and +may take as much and as little of the war as he will, whereas those that be +strongest by land are many times, nevertheless, in great straits. + +"Surely at this day, with us of Europe, the vantage of strength at sea +(which is one of the dowries of this kingdom of Great Britain) is great; +both because most of the kingdoms of Europe are not merely inland, but girt +with the sea most part of their compass, and because the wealth of both +Indies seems, in great part, but an accessory to the command of the seas." + +We are the sons of the men who won us this goodly heritage, and it behoves +us in turn to hand it on to our descendants in undiminished dignity, a +world-wide domain beneath the glorious Union Flag that binds all in one +great brotherhood. + + * * * * * + +{86} + +CHAPTER IV. + + The Flag of Columbus--Early Settlements in North America--the Birth of + the United States--Early Revolutionary and State Flags--the Pine-tree + Flag--the Rattle-snake Flag--the Stars and Stripes--Early Variations of + it--the Arms of Washington--Entry of New States into the Union--the + Eagle--the Flag of the President--Secession of the Southern + States--State Flags again--the Stars and Bars--the Southern Cross--the + Birth of the German Empire--the Influence of War Songs--Flags of the + Empire--Flags of the smaller German States--the Austro-Hungary + Monarchy--The Flags of Russia--The Crosses of St. Andrew and St. George + again--the Flags of France--St. Martin--The Oriflamme--the + Fleurs-de-lys--Their Origin--the White Cross--the White Flag of the + Bourbons--the Tricolor--the Red Flag--the Flags of Spain--of + Portugal--the Consummation of Italian Unity--the Arms of Savoy--the + Flags of Italy--of the Temporal Power of the Papacy--the Flag of + Denmark--its Celestial Origin--the Flags of Norway and Sweden--of + Switzerland--Cantonal Colours--the Geneva Convention--the Flags of + Holland--of Belgium--of Greece--the Crescent of Turkey--the Tughra--the + Flags of Roumania, Servia, and Bulgaria--Flags of Mexico and of the + States of Southern and Central America--of Japan--the Rising Sun--the + Chrysanthemum--the Flags of China, Siam, and Corea--of Sarawak--of the + Orange Free State, Liberia, Congo State, and the Transvaal Republic. + +The well-known Ensign (Fig. 146) of the United States of America is the +outcome of many changes; the last of a long series of National, State, and +local devices. + +The first flag planted on American ground was borne thither by Christopher +Columbus, in the year 1497, and bore on its folds the arms of Leon and +Castile, a flag divided into four and having upon it, each twice repeated, +the lion of Leon and the Castle of Castile: the first red on white, the +second white on red. These arms form a portion of the present Spanish +Standard, and may be seen in the upper staff corner in Fig. 194. In this +same year--1497--Newfoundland was discovered, but the first English +settlement on the mainland was not made until Sir Walter Raleigh took +possession of a tract of country in 1584, naming it Virginia, after +Elizabeth, the Virgin-Queen he served, and hoisting the Standard of Her +Majesty, bearing in its rich blazonry (Fig. 22) the ruddy lions of England +quartered with the golden lilies of France. The Dutch established +themselves, in the year 1614, in what is now the State of New York; the +French, having already founded a colony in Canada in 1534, took possession +of Louisiana, so called after their King Louis, in 1718, while Florida, at +first French, became Spanish, and in 1763 was ceded to England. {87} + +Three ships, bearing the earliest Pilgrim Fathers from England to America, +had already sailed from England in the year 1606, and these were followed +by the historic _Mayflower_ and the _Plymouth Rock_, in 1620. While these +exiles for conscience sake established for themselves a new England in the +west, a colony of Scotchmen in the year 1622 took possession of a tract of +land which they named Nova Scotia. Maryland, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New +Jersey, Carolina, Pennsylvania, and other colonies were successively formed +by parties of Englishmen--the final outcome of peaceful settlement, or the +arbitrament of the sword, being that the greater part of the eastern +seaboard, and the country beyond it, came under the sway of the English +Crown, until injudicious taxation and ill-advised repression led at length +to open discontent and disloyalty, and finally to revolution and the birth +of the great Republic of the West. + +So long as the Colonists owed allegiance to the British crown, one would +naturally have taken for granted that they would have been found beneath +the national flag, but this was not altogether the case. In the early days +of New England the Puritans strongly objected to the red cross on the flag: +not from any disloyalty to the old country, but from a conscientious +objection to the use of a symbol which they deemed idolatrous. By the year +1700, though the Cross of St. George was still the leading device, the +different colonies began to employ special devices to distinguish their +vessels from those of England and of each other.[57] This, though it +indicated a certain jealousy and independence amongst the colonies +themselves, was no proof of any desire for separation from the old country, +and even when, later on, the dispute between King and Colonists became +acute, we find them parting from the old flag with great reluctance. Fig. +142 is a very good illustration of this; its date is 1775. + +In the early stages of the Revolution each section adopted a flag of its +own, and it was only later on, when the desirability of union and +uniformity became evident, that the necessity for one common flag was felt. +Thus, the people of Massachusetts ranged themselves beneath banners bearing +pine trees; the men of South Carolina went in for rattle-snakes; the New +Yorkers adopted a white flag with a black beaver thereon; the Rhode +Islanders had a white flag with a blue anchor upon it; and, in like manner, +each contingent adopted its special device. + +In Fig. 144, one of the flags of the insurgents at Bunker's Hill, {88} June +17th, 1775, we see that the Cross of St. George is still preserved, and it +might well fly in company with Fig. 67, a flag of the London Trained Bands, +except that in the corner we see the pine tree. In Fig. 145 the English +emblem has dropped out and the pine tree has become much more conspicuous, +and in Figs. 147 and 148 all suggestion of St. George or of the red or blue +Ensigns has disappeared. This arboreal device was not by any means a new +one to the men of Massachusetts. We find a mint established at Boston as +early as 1651, busily engaged in coining the silver captured from the +Spaniards by the Buccaneers. On one side was the date and value of the +coin, and, on the reverse, a tree in the centre and "In Massachusetts" +around it. It must be remembered that at the time there was no king to +resent this encroachment on the royal prerogative, and no notice was taken +of it by the Parliament or by Cromwell. There was a tacit allowance of it +afterwards, even by Charles II., for more than twenty years. It will be +remembered that on his enquiry into the matter he was told by some courtier +that the device was intended for the Royal Oak, and the question was +allowed to drop. + +South Carolina adopted the rattle-snake flag at the suggestion of one +Gadsden, a delegate to the General Congress of the South Carolina +Convention in 1776. On a yellow ground was placed a rattlesnake, having +thirteen rattles; the reptile was coiled ready to strike, and beneath was +the warning motto, "Don't tread on me." The number thirteen had reference +to the thirteen revolted States, as it was originally proposed that this +flag should be the navy flag for all the States. As an accessory to a +portrait of Commodore Hopkins, "Commander-in-chief of the American fleet," +we see a flag of thirteen alternate red and white stripes. It has no +canton, but undulating diagonally across the stripes is a rattlesnake. The +idea was not altogether a new one, as we find the _Pennsylvania Gazette_, +in commenting twenty-five years previously on the iniquity of the British +Government in sending its convicts to America, suggesting as a set off that +"a cargo of rattlesnakes should be distributed in St. James's Park, Spring +Gardens, and other places of pleasure." At the commencement of any great +struggle by a revolting people there is often a great variety of device, +and it is only after a while that such a multiplicity is found to be a +danger. Hence we find that prior to the yellow rattlesnake flag, South +Carolina had, with equal enthusiasm, adopted the blue flag with the +crescent moon that we have figured in No. 158.[58] {89} + +In the year 1775 a committee was appointed to consider the question of a +single flag for the thirteen States. This ensign, though it went far +towards moulding these different sections into the United States, was a +curious illustration of that reluctance that we have already referred to, +to sever themselves finally from the Old Country, as the Committee +recommended the retention of the Union in the upper corner next the staff, +but substituted for the broad red field of the rest of the flag thirteen +horizontally disposed stripes, alternately red and white, the emblems of +the union into one of the thirteen colonies in their struggle against +oppression. We have this represented in Fig. 57. It was also the flag of +the East India Company. + +On the final declaration of Independence, when the severance from the Old +Country was irrevocable, and the colonists became a nation, the question of +a national flag was one of the points awaiting solution; but it was not +till about a year afterwards that a decision was come to. The vessels +commissioned by Washington flew the flag we have figured in No. 147; this +was approved in April, 1776, and remained in use some little time, as did +also the one represented in Fig. 149. Sometimes we find the cross and +pine-tree removed and the whole flag nothing but the red and white stripes. +This flag composed of stripes alone was not peculiar to the American navy, +as a flag of similar design was for a long time a well-known signal in the +British fleet, being that used for the red division to form up into line of +battle. + +Anyone looking over a collection of the common pottery made from about a +hundred and fifty years ago up to comparatively recent times will find that +stirring contemporary events are very freely introduced--sea-fights, +portraits of leading statesmen, generals, and so forth. These are often +caricatures, as, for example, the hundreds that may be seen in our various +museums and private collections derisive of "Boney," while others are as +historically correct as the potter's knowledge and skill could compass. +Anyone visiting the Corporation Museum at Brighton will find a jug bearing +the head of Zebulon M. Pike, an American general; trophies of flags are +grouped around this, but the only flag with any device upon it is a plain +striped one. Another that bears the head of Commodore Decatur, U.S.N., has +below it a cannon, on the left a trophy of flags and weapons, and on the +right a ship; and a very similar jug may be seen in honour of Commodore +Parry. In each of these cases the flags in the trophies and on the ships +are simply striped. + +On August 14th, 1777, Congress resolved "that the flag of the United States +be thirteen stripes, alternately red and white, and that the Union be +thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing {90} a new +constellation."[59] This was the birth of the national flag, "the stars and +stripes," and it would appear at first sight to be a final settlement of +the device, though in practice the result did not work out at all +uniformly, the number of stripes being unequal. If we commence at the top +with a white one, we shall have seven white and six red, whereas if we +begin with a red stripe we shall get seven red and six white. Each of these +renderings was for some years in use, until it was authoritatively laid +down that the latter was the arrangement to be adopted. It seems a minor +point, but any of our readers who will re-draw Fig. 146 and transpose the +colours of the stripes, so that the upper and lower edges of the flag are +white instead of red, will be surprised to note how so apparently trivial a +change will affect the appearance of the flag.[60] In like manner the stars +were sometimes made with six points, and at others with five. Even so late +as 1779, we find such a striking variation as a flag bearing stars with +eight points, and its stripes alternately red, blue, and white. The coins +issued during the presidency of Washington had five-pointed stars on them, +but later on they had six points. Nobody seems now to know why this change +was made. + +As nothing was said in this resolution of Congress as to the arrangement of +the stars on the blue field, a further opening for variety of treatment was +found. In some of the early flags they were arranged to represent the +letters U.S., in others they were all placed in a circle, in others again +they were dispersed irregularly, so as the better to suggest a +constellation; and it was finally ordered that they should be placed in +parallel horizontal rows, as we now see them. + +Though the stars did not appear in the American flag until 1777, we find in +a poem in the _Massachusetts Spy_ of March 10th, 1774, on the outbreak of +the rebellion, the lines-- + + "The American ensign now sparkles a star + Which shall shortly flame wide through the skies." + +{91} + +This poetic and prophetic flight is the earliest suggestion of the stars in +the national flag of the United States. + +It has been held that the American Eagle and the stars and stripes of the +national flag were suggested by the crest and arms of the Washington +family. This statement has been often made; hence we find an American +patriot writing:--"It is not a little curious that the poor, worn-out rag +of feudalism, as many would count it, should have expanded into the bright +and ample banner that now waves on every sea." But that it should be so +seems by no means an established fact. No reference is made to it in +Washington's correspondence, or in that of any of his contemporaries. The +arms of the Washington family are a white shield having two horizontal red +bars, and above these a row of three red stars; and this certainly bears +some little resemblance to the American flag, but how much is mere +coincidence, and how much is adaptation it is impossible to say. These arms +may be seen on a brass in Solgrave Church, Huntingdonshire, on the tomb of +Laurence Washington, the last lineal ancestor who was buried in England. He +was twice Mayor of Northampton, in 1533 and in 1546, and the first +President of the United States was his great-great-grandson. He was a man +of considerable influence, and on the dissolution of the monasteries Henry +gave him the Priory of St. Andrews, Northampton. In the troublous times +that succeeded, his son John went to America, and lived for some twenty +years on the banks of the Potomac. + +Another theory that has been advanced is that the blue quarter was taken +from the blue banner of the Scotch Covenanters, and was therefore +significant of the Solemn League and Covenant of the United Colonies +against oppression, while the stripes were a blending of the red colours +used in the army with the white flags used in the navy. We give the theory +for what it is worth, which we venture to say is not very much; but as it +was advanced by an American writer, we give it place. + +Should our readers care to consider yet another theory, they may learn that +the genesis of the star-spangled banner was very much less prosaic. Prose +has it that a Committee of Council, accompanied by General Washington, +called on Mrs. Ross, an upholstress of Arch Street, Philadelphia, and +engaged her to make a flag from a rough sketch that they brought with them, +that she in turn suggested one or two practical modifications, and that at +her wish Washington re-drew it there and then, that she at once set to work +on it, and in a few hours the first star-spangled flag was floating in the +breeze; but the poet ignores the services of Mrs. Ross altogether, and +declares that {92} + + "When Freedom from her mountain height + Unfurled her standard to the air, + She tore the azure robe of Night + And set the stars of glory there. + She mingled with its gorgeous dyes + The milky baldric of the skies, + And striped its pure celestial white + With streakings of the morning light: + Then from his mansion in the sun + She called her eagle-bearer down + And gave into his mighty hand + The symbol of her chosen land." + +This view was expressed by another great American in the words:--"As at the +early dawn the stars shine forth even while it grows light, and then, as +the sun advances, that light breaks out into banks and streaming lines of +colour, the glowing red and intense light striving together and ribbing the +horizon with bars effulgent, so on the American flag stars and beams of +light shine out together. Where this flag comes, and men behold it, they +see in its sacred emblazoning no ramping lions, and no fierce eagle, no +embattled castles, or insignia of imperial authority: they see the symbols +of light: it is the banner of dawn; it means Liberty!" + +We have clearly now got a long way from the establishment in Arch Street. +This flag, which, after such glowing passages as the foregoing, we should +almost expect to find too sacred a thing for change or criticism, has +undergone some few modifications in its details, though the original broad +idea has remained untouched. + +As the first conception was that each of the original thirteen States was +represented in the national flag by a star and a stripe, other States, as +they came into the Union, naturally expected the same consideration: hence +on the admission of Vermont in 1791, and Kentucky in 1792, an Act was +passed which increased the number of stars and stripes from thirteen to +fifteen. Later on came Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, and so forth, and the +flag was presently made to consist of twenty stars and stripes, but it was +found to be so objectionable to be thus continually altering it that it was +settled in the year 1818 to go back to the original thirteen stripes, but +to add a star for each new State. Hence the stripes show always the +original number of the States at the birth of the nation, while the stars +show the present number in the Union. + +It is interesting to trace the growth of the country, Illinois being +enrolled in the Union in 1818, Alabama in 1819, Maine in 1820, Missouri in +1821, Arkansas in 1836, Michigan in 1837, and so on; but suffice it now to +say that by 1891 the original thirteen had {93} grown to forty-four, and it +was announced that on and after the 4th of July of that year the national +flag should bear this latter number of stars. As there are still several +territories awaiting promotion to the rank of States, the constellation is +even yet incomplete. + + "A song for our banner! The watchword recall + Which gave the Republic her station; + United we stand, divided we fall, + It made, and preserves us, a nation! + The union of lakes, the union of lands, + The union of States none can sever; + The union of hearts, the union of hands, + And the flag of our Union for ever." + +The most striking modification of the flag is seen in the Revenue Service. +We have still the silver stars on the azure field and the stripes of +alternate red and white, but in this special case the stripes, instead of +being disposed horizontally, are placed vertically, a slight enough +difference apparently, but one which makes a striking alteration in the +appearance of the flag. + +The pendant of the United States Navy is shown in Fig. 151; the stars in +it, it will be seen, are reduced to the original thirteen, while the +narrowness of the flag permits but two of the stripes. + +The American Jack is simply the blue and white portion of the National +flag, Fig. 146, made into a separate flag. + +The Commodore's broad pendant is a swallow-tailed blue flag, with one white +star in the centre. The Admiral's flag, hoisted at the main, is shown in +Fig. 143; the Vice-Admiral's flag, hoisted at the fore, has three white +stars on the blue field; and the Rear-Admiral's flag, hoisted at mizen, has +two arranged vertically over each other. + +While in some nationalities the flag of the war navy differs from that of +the mercantile marine--as in the case of Great Britain, Germany, and +Spain--in others the same flag is used. This is so in the United States, +France, etc. + +The Chief of the State, whether he be called Emperor, King, President, or +Sultan, has his own flag--his personal Standard--and this special and +personal flag, in the case of the President of the United States, has on +its blue field an eagle, bearing on its breast a shield with the stars and +stripes, and beneath it the national motto, "_E pluribus unum_." As it has +been suggested that the employment of the eagle as a symbol of the State +was derived from the crest of Washington, it may not be inopportune to +state that the crest in question was not an eagle at all, but a raven. The +idea of the eagle, together with the word "Senate," and many such similar +{94} things, no doubt arose from their use in ancient Rome, and afforded an +illustration the more of the pseudo-classicalism that was raging in the +eighteenth century in France and elsewhere. + +The eagle appears on many of the early flags of America. Fig. 150 is a +curious example of its use. In an old engraving we see a figure of Liberty +defended by Washington, and above them this flag. In another old print +before us we see Washington leaning on a cannon, and behind him a flag +bearing the stars and stripes, plus an eagle, that with outstretched wings +fills up much of the field, having in his beak a label with the "_E +pluribus unum_" upon it, with one foot grasping the thunderbolts of War, +and the other the olive-branch of Peace. + +Both these eagle-bearing flags, it will be seen, are associated with the +President; but in many of these early examples there seems no necessary +connection. Thus in one instance we see a busy ship-building scene, and +while the ship in the foreground has at stern the stars and stripes, at the +bowsprit it bears a Jack that is identical with the blue and white portion +of Fig. 150. + +In a Presidential Standard proposed in 1818 the flag is quartered. In the +first quarter are twenty white stars on a blue field; in the second quarter +is the eagle and thunderbolt; in the third a sitting figure emblematic of +Liberty; in the fourth, seven red horizontal stripes alternating with six +white ones. We found the flag figured in an old American book, but are +unable to say whether such a flag was ever actually made, proposition and +adoption not being altogether the same thing. + +History repeated itself on the secession from the Union, in the year 1860, +of North and South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, +Louisiana, Virginia, Texas, Arkansas, and Tennessee. There was the same +desire at first for individuality in the different flags adopted by the +seceding States, the same unwillingness to break wholly away from the old +flag, that we have seen as features in the first revolt. + +Louisiana adopted the flag shown in Fig. 156; this was emblematic of the +origin and history of the State, Louisiana having been settled by Louis +Quatorze in 1718, ceded to Spain at the peace of 1763, restored to France +in 1802, sold by France to America in 1803, and admitted as a State of the +Union in 1812. The Spanish Flag, Fig. 192, is red and yellow, hence the +golden star on the ruddy field, while the stripes of red, white and blue +are the colours found in the flags of France and America. + +On the election of President Lincoln in November, 1860, South Carolina, by +vote of Convention, proclaimed her resumption of independence as a +Sovereign State, and on the 17th of the month the new State Flag, having a +green Palmetto palm in the centre of a {95} field of white, was hoisted in +Charleston amidst the ringing of bells, a salute of one hundred guns, and +every possible sign of public rejoicing. In January, 1861, the flag shown +in Fig. 155 was substituted, the old crescent moon of the first rebellion, +1775, reappearing, but in the _Charleston Mercury_, of January 29th, 1861, +we read that "the Legislature last night again altered the design of the +State Flag. It now consists of a blue field with a white Palmetto palm tree +in the middle. The white crescent in the upper flagstaff corner remains as +before, but the horns pointing upwards. This may be regarded as final." +This flag is shown in Fig. 159. Fig. 160 is the flag of Texas--"the lone +star" State. + + "Hurrah for the Lone Star! + Up, up to the mast + With the honoured old bunting, + And nail it there fast. + The ship is in danger, + And Texans will fight + 'Neath the flag of the Lone Star + For God and their right." + +When it became necessary, as it almost immediately did, to adopt one flag +as the common Ensign of all the Confederate States, a special committee was +appointed to consider the matter, and to study the numerous designs +submitted to them. On presenting their report the Chairman said--"A flag +should be simple, readily made, and capable of being made up in bunting; it +should be different from the flag of any other country, place, or people: +it should be significant: it should be readily distinguishable at a +distance: the colours should be well contrasted and durable: and lastly, +and not the least important point, it should be effective and handsome. The +Committee humbly think that the flag which they submit combines these +requirements. It is very easy to make; it is entirely different from any +other national flag. The three colours of which it is composed--red, white, +and blue--are the true Republican Colours; they are emblematic of the three +great virtues--valour, purity, and truth. Naval men assure us that it can +be recognised at a great distance. The colours contrast admirably, and are +lasting. In effect and appearance it must speak for itself." The flag, thus +highly and justly commended, was first hoisted on March 4th, 1861, at +Montgomery. It is represented in Fig. 152, and was quickly known as the +"Stars and Bars."[61] Even the _New York Herald_ admitted that "the design +of this flag is striking, and it has {96} the merit of originality as well +as of durability." The circle of white stars was intended to correspond in +number with the States in the Confederacy, but no great attention seems to +have been paid to this. The flag may be seen engraved on the paper money of +the different Southern States, and on other Government papers. In one +example before us the stars are seven in number, and in another nine are +shown, the number of seceding States being eleven. + +While the "Stars and Bars," Fig. 152, was quite a different flag from Fig. +146, the "Stars and Stripes," it was found that, nevertheless, in the +stress of battle confusion arose; so the battle flag, Fig. 153, known as +the "Southern Cross," became largely adopted, though its use was never +actually legalised. Here, again, we find that though eleven should be the +proper number of the stars, they are in our illustration thirteen, while in +one example we have found seventeen. It would be found in practice very +difficult to make a pleasing arrangement of eleven stars; given a central +one, and two on either side of it in the arms of the cross, and we get nine +as a result, with three on either side it will total to thirteen, and with +four it must take seventeen. In a few instances it may be seen without the +red portions--a white flag with the blue cross and white stars. One great +objection to the Southern Cross was that it was not adapted for sea +service, since being alike in whatever way it was looked at, it could not +be reversed in case of distress. To obviate this difficulty, at a Congress +in Richmond in 1863 the form seen in Fig. 154 was adopted--a plain white +flag having the Southern Cross as its Union; but this, in turn, was +objected to as being too much like a flag of truce, so to meet this, in the +following year, it was ordered that the space between the Union and the +outer edge of the flag should be divided vertically in half, and that the +outer half should be red: an alteration that may have been necessary, but +which greatly spoiled the appearance of what was, before this, a handsome +and striking flag. As the struggle came to an end in the following year, +the "Stars and Bars" and the "Southern Cross" perished in the general +downfall of the Southern cause--the victories of Fredericksburg, +Chancellorsville, Shenandoah Valley, Chattanooga, and many another +hard-fought field, and the brilliant strategy of Lee, Beauregard, +Longstreet, Jackson, Early, Hood, and many another gallant commander, being +all in vain against the unlimited resources of the North. Over six hundred +and fifty thousand human lives, over seven hundred millions of pounds +sterling, were spent in what an American writer delicately calls "the late +unpleasantness." + +The Americans, jealous of the honour of their flag, have sometimes, to our +insular notions, a rather odd way of showing it. Some {97} of our readers +will remember how an American, some time ago, undertook to carry the flag +of his country through England. Whatever visions he or his compatriots may +have had of his defending it gallantly against hostile attack were soon +proved to be baseless. Englishmen, _cela va sans dire_, have no hostility +to the Americans, and the populace--urban, suburban, and rural--everywhere +entered into the humour of the thing, and cheered the gallant sergeant and +his bunting wherever he appeared. All the risk and terror of the exploit +melted away in general acclamation and hearty welcome. An Englishman told +us that in descending a mountain in Norway he met an American carrying +something rolled up; he unfolded it, and displayed the Stars and Stripes, +and said that he had brought it to plant on the summit of the mountain. Why +he should do so is by no means apparent: but still, as it pleased him and +hurt no one else, it would be churlish, indeed, to demur to so innocent a +pastime. Our friend courteously raised his hat to the symbol of the great +daughter nation over the ocean, whereupon the American heartily +reciprocated, saying, "Thanks, stranger; and here's to the Union Jack."[62] + +When the French declared war against Prussia, on July 16th, 1870, they were +entirely unprepared for the enthusiasm and unity with which the various +German States rallied together against the common opponent. It was thought +that the Southern and Catholic States would, at least, be neutral, if they +did not side with France against a Power that, during previous conflict +with Austria, had laid heavy hand on those that had then taken sides +against her. But this, after all, had been but a quarrel amongst +themselves; and the attempt of France to violate German soil was at once +the signal for Germans to stand shoulder to shoulder in one brotherhood +against the common foe. The separate interests and grievances of Bavarians, +Saxons, Hessians, Badeners, Brunswickers, Wurtemburgers, Hanoverians, were +at once put aside, and united Germany, in solid phalanx, rose in +irresistible might. In the great historic Palace of Versailles, in the hall +dedicated "to all the glories of France," the Confederate Princes of +Germany, headed by the King of Bavaria, {98} conferred on the King of +Prussia the title of Emperor of Germany, bestowing on him the duty of +representing all the German States in international questions, and +appointing him and his successors the Commander-in-chief of the German +forces. Thus, on January 17th, 1871, amid the acclamation of the allied +Sovereigns and the deep bass of the cannon in the trenches surrounding the +beleagured capital of the common enemy, the principle of German unity +received its seal and consummation. + +The War Ensign of the Empire is represented in Fig. 207. The colours of +Prussia, black and white, and the Prussian Eagle enter largely into it, and +perhaps it may at first sight appear that these symbols of the Prussian +State are even a little too conspicuous, but it must be borne in mind that +it is to the Sovereign of this State the headship of all is given, and that +the vital interests of Prussia in the matter may be further illustrated by +the fact that while she has a population, in round numbers, of thirty +millions, Bavaria has but five, and Saxony three, while the Wurtemburgers +and Badeners between them make up about another three millions, and no +other State in the Empire comes at all near these figures. Prussia has over +130,000 square miles of territory to fight for, while Bavaria has but +29,292, and the next largest, Wurtemburg, has only an area of 7,531; in +every way, political, commercial, or what not, the interests of Prussia are +overwhelmingly predominant. + +The flag of West Prussia is the black, white, black, shewn in Fig. 211, +while the East Prussian flag is made up of but two horizontal strips, the +upper black and the lower white. Hence the well-known war song, "Ich bin +ein Preussen,"[63] commences, + + "I am a Prussian! Know ye not my banner? + Before me floats my flag of black and white! + My fathers died for freedom, 'twas their manner, + So say those colours floating in your sight." + +{99} + +The black, white, and red canton in the staff-head corner of the flag is +also made into an independent flag, as at Fig. 208, and used as a "Jack" in +the Imperial Navy, while this same flag, Fig. 208, minus the cross, is the +flag of the Mercantile Marine. On the 25th of October, 1867, on the +establishment of the North German Confederacy, at the conclusion of the +Austro-Prussian campaign, the King of Prussia sanctioned a proposal for a +flag common to all. We find in this decree that "the confederate flag +henceforth solely to bear the qualification of the national flag, and as +such to be exclusively on board the merchantmen of the Confederacy, shall +be composed of three equilateral stripes horizontally arranged: the colour +of the top one being black, the middle stripe white, and that of the bottom +stripe red." On the inclusion of the South German States on the formation +of the German Empire, the latter still more potent and august body retained +the Confederacy Flag for its mercantile marine. Up to the year 1867 no +German national flag had ever flown on the ocean, as the various States and +free cities had their special colours of merely local value. + +The responsible Minister of the Crown, in a speech delivered in the Diet in +1867, stated to the members that the combination of colours was emblematic +of a junction of the black-white Prussian flag with the red-white ensign of +the Hanseatic League. This league of the sea-ports of Germany was organised +in 1164 for their mutual defence and for the interchange of commercial +advantages. As its strength and reputation increased, many other cities +sought to be admitted, but international jealousies disintegrated the +League, and by the year 1630 it was reduced from sixty-six cities to +three--Lubeck, Hamburg, and Bremen. These three Hanse towns still retain +special privileges. The red and the white in the German flag represents the +commercial prosperity of the nation, while the black and white symbolises +the strong arm of the State prepared to protect and foster it. The flags of +these three cities still retain the old colours, Lubeck being half white +and half red, Bremen red and white stripes, and Hamburg a white castle on a +red field. + +The arms of the Hohenzollerns are quarterly arranged. The first and fourth +quarters are themselves quartered, black and white for Zollern, while the +second and third quarters are azure with a golden stag for Sigmaringen. +Friedrich VI., the first of the Hohenzollerns, the Burggraf of Nürnberg, +became Friedrich I., Elector of Brandenburg, in 1417. There were twelve in +all, of these Hohenzollern Electors, and Friedrich III., the last of these, +became in 1701 the first King of Prussia. All the succeeding Sovereigns +have been of the same house, so that the black and {100} white in the flag +of to-day is the black and white that for over five hundred years has been +emblazoned in the arms of the Hohenzollerns. + +The cross on the flag (Figs. 207 and 208)--the "iron cross" so highly +prized as the reward of fine service--is the cross of the Teutonic Order, +and dates from the close of the 12th century. The history of the Teutonic +Order, in its connexion with Prussia, is dealt with very fully in the first +volume of Carlyle's "Frederick the Great." + +The Imperial Standard of Germany has the iron cross, black with white +border, on a yellow field, in the centre of all being a shield bearing the +arms of Prussia, surmounted by a crown and surrounded by the collar of the +Order of the Black Eagle. The yellow groundwork of the flag is diapered +over in each quarter with three black eagles and a crown. The arms of the +cross stretch out to the four edges of the flag. + +The Admiral's flag in the Imperial German Navy is square, and consists of +the black cross on a white ground--the cross, as in the standard, extending +to the edges of the flag. The Vice-Admiral's flag is similar, but has in +the upper staff-space a black ball in addition, while the Rear-Admiral has +the same flag again, but with the addition of a black ball in each of the +quarters nearest the mast. The Chief of the Admiralty has a white flag +again with the cross in the centre, but in this case there is a +considerable margin of white all round, and four red anchors are placed so +that they extend in a sloping direction from the corners of the flag +towards the inner angles of the cross. We get the characteristic black and +white again in the burgee of the Imperial Yacht Club, which is thus +quartered, an upright line meeting a horizontal one in the centre of the +burgee, and thus giving a first and fourth black quarter and a second and +third white one. The signal for a pilot again is a white flag with a broad +border of black; if our readers will take a mourning envelope with a good +deep margin of black to it, they will see the effect exactly. + +German vessels engaged in trade on the East African coast fly the black, +white, red, but in the centre of the white stripe is a blue anchor placed +erect, while the Imperial Governor in East Africa substitutes for the +anchor the black eagle. The German East Africa Company's flag is white cut +into quarters by a narrow and parallel-edged cross and a red canton with +five white stars on it in the quarter nearest the masthead. + +While we find amongst the minor States of Germany Oldenburg, Fig. 204, with +a cross-bearing flag, the greater number are made up of stripes disposed +horizontally, and either two or three in number. Thus Fig. 199 is the +white-green of Saxony, Fig. 200 {101} the black-red-yellow of Waldeck, Fig. +202 the blue-white of Pomerania, Fig. 203 the black-red of Wurtemburg, Fig. +205 the red-yellow-blue of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Fig. 206 the blue-yellow +of Brunswick, Fig. 209 the green-white of Saxe-Coburg Gotha, Fig. 210 the +blue-red-white of Schomberg Lippe, Fig. 212 the red-white of Hesse. Others +that we have not figured are the red-yellow of Baden, the white-blue of +Bavaria, the yellow-white of Hanover, the yellow-red of Elsass, the +red-yellow of Lothringen.[64] To these, others might be added: +Sleswig-Holstein, Brandenburg, Posen, Silesia, etc., all agreeing in the +same general character. + +The Imperial Standard of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy is yellow, and has +in its centre the black double-headed eagle and a bordering all round +composed of equal-sided triangles turning alternately their apices inwards +and outwards; the first of these are alternately yellow and white, the +second alternately scarlet and black. On the displayed wings of the eagle +are the arms of the eleven provinces of the empire. + +The war-ensign of the monarchy in represented in Fig. 213; it is composed +of three equal horizontal bands of red, white, red, and bears in its centre +beneath the Imperial crown a shield similarly divided. This flag originated +in 1786, when the Emperor Joseph II. decreed its introduction. This shield +was the heraldic device of the ancient Dukes of Austria, and is known to +have been in existence in the year 1191, as Duke Leopold Heldenthum bore +these arms at that date during the Crusades. + +The "Oesterreich-Ungarische Monarchie," to give it its official title, is +under the command of one Sovereign, who is both Emperor of Austria and King +of Hungary, but each of these great States has its own Parliament, +Ministry, and Administration. Austria had long held the Hungarians in most +unwilling subjection, and the disastrous outcome for Austria of the war +with Prussia made it absolutely essential to make peace with Hungary, the +Magyars seeing in the humiliation of Austria the opportunity that they had +long been awaiting of becoming once again an independent State. A +compromise was effected in February, 1867, by which the Hungarians were +willing to remain under the rule of the Emperor of Austria, but only on +condition that he submitted to be crowned King of Hungary, and that in the +dual monarchy thus {102} created they should have absolutely the same +rights and freedom as the Austrians. The Austrian flag, as we have seen, is +red-white-red, while the Hungarian is red-white-green, and a commission +being appointed to consider how these two flags could be blended into one, +introduced on March 6th, 1869, as the result of its deliberations, the +Austro-Hungarian national flag that we have represented in Fig. 214. + +The Austrian provinces have chiefly bi- or tri-color flags, the stripes +being arranged horizontally. Thus Bohemia is red-white; Tyrol is white-red; +Dalmatia is blue-yellow; Galicia is blue-red; Croatia is red-white-blue; +Istria yellow-red-blue. + +We are so used in England to the idea that cheering is a spontaneous +product that it seems strange to find that the official welcome by the +Austrian fleet to their Emperor is a salute of twenty-one guns, followed by +fifteen hurrahs. Each rank has its special limit of honour; thus a minister +of State or field-marshal is saluted by nineteen guns and eleven hurrahs; a +general by thirteen and seven, while a commodore drops to eleven and three; +ambassadors, archbishops, consuls, all have their definite share of +gunpowder and such specified amount of shouting as is held to be befitting +to their position. + +The Imperial Standard of the Czar of all the Russias is the brilliant +yellow and black flag represented in Fig. 226. The introduction of the +black two-headed eagle dates back from the year 1472, when Ivan the Great +married Sophia, a niece of Constantine Palæolagus, and thence assumed the +arms of the Greek Empire. On the breast of the eagle is an escutcheon +bearing on its red field in silver the figure of St. George slaying the +dragon, the whole being surrounded by the collar of the Order of St. +Andrew. On the displayed wings of the eagle are other shields, too small +for representation in our figure, bearing the arms of Kiow, a silver angel +on an azure field; of Novgorod, two black bears on a golden shield; of +Voldermirz, a golden lion rampant on a red shield; of Kasan, a black wyvern +on a silver ground, and so forth. The flag of the Czarina is similar, +except that it has a broad blue bordering to it. + +A new Standard is made for each Czar. It was originally borne before him in +battle, but this custom has fallen into disuse, and it is now deposited +with the rest of the regalia. On the heavy gold brocade is embroidered the +black eagle, and around this the arms of the provinces of the Empire. From +the eagle that surmounts the staff are pendant the blue ribbons of the +Order of St. Andrew, embroidered in gold, with the dates of the foundation +of the Russian State in 862, the baptism by St. Vladimir in 986, the union +of all Russian possessions under the sceptre of John III. in 1497, and the +{103} proclamation of the Empire by Peter the Great. Its dedication is a +great religious function, and its sacred character and its appeal to a +lofty patriotism duly enforced. Thus we find the Imperial Chaplain +addressing the present Czar before the consecration of the standard as +follows:-- + +"Divine Providence has resolved, by the right of succession to the Throne, +to entrust to thee, as Supreme Head and Autocrat of the Peoples of the +Empire of all the Russias, this Sacred Banner, an emblem of its unity and +power. + +"We pray the Heavenly Father for the union of all thy subjects in loyalty +and devotion to their Throne and Country, and in the unselfish fulfilment +of their patriotic duties. + +"May this Banner inspire thy enemies with dread, may it be a sign to thee +of Divine Assistance, and in the name of God, of the Orthodox Faith, of +Right and of Justice; may it help thee, in spite of all obstacles, to lead +thy people to prosperity, greatness, and glory." + +After the Benediction, holy water was sprinkled upon the standard, and the +Czar, as the embodiment of the Nation, was again addressed:-- + +"The Almighty has been pleased, in the course of the law of inheritance, to +enthrone you as the Sovereign Ruler of all the peoples of the Russian +nation; this sacred Standard is a token of unity and power. We pray it may +unite all thy subjects in unquestioning loyalty to the Throne and Country, +and in unselfish fulfilment of each duty of a subject. May it be to thee a +sign, terrible to the foes of Russia, of the help given by the Lord God to +the glory of His Holy Name, that, through Orthodox Faith, notwithstanding +all limitations, thy people may be led to prosperity, greatness, and glory; +so shall all nations know that God is on our side." + +The Russians venerate St. Andrew as their patron Saint, believing that it +was he who carried the doctrines of Christianity into their midst. Origen +asserts that he preached in Scythia. Peter the Great instituted under his +name and protection, in the year 1698, the first and most noble order of +Knighthood of the Russian Empire as a reward for the valour of his officers +in the war against the Ottomans. The badge is the X-like cross of St. +Andrew displayed upon the Imperial Eagle and pendant from a broad blue +ribbon. We have already seen that St. Andrew is the Patron Saint of +Scotland also, but in Scotland the cross, Fig. 92, is white upon a field of +blue, while in Russia, Fig. 217, it is blue upon a field of white. This +flag, Fig. 217, is the war ensign, the flag of the Imperial Navy. + +The creed of the Russian Church extols the worship of Saints, and amongst +the numerous subjects of veneration St. George takes {104} rank next to St. +Andrew himself. Hence we see his presentment on the Standard of the Czar, +and hence Catherine II., in 1762, instituted an order of knighthood in his +honour. The badge is a cross of gold, having in its centre a medallion with +a figure of the saint slaying the dragon; the ribbon being yellow and +black. St. George, we need scarcely remind our readers, is the great +warrior-Saint of England too, but while we place his scarlet cross, Fig. +91, on the field of white, the Russians reverse the arrangement and place +his white cross on scarlet.[65] + +Fig. 215 is the Russian Union Jack that combines the crosses of St. Andrew +and St. George. Fig. 73 is the British Union Jack that deals with precisely +the same combination. + +The flag of the Russian merchant service is represented in Fig. 218. This +was originally instead of being white, blue, red, a flag of blue, white, +red. Peter the Great borrowed this from the Dutch, amongst whom he learnt +ship-building. The Dutch flag, Fig. 237, it will be seen is a tricolor of +red, white, blue. Peter simply turned this upside down, and afterwards, for +greater distinction, charged the central white space with a small blue St. +Andrew's Cross, as we see in Fig. 219, which represents this early form of +flag. Later on, for still greater clearness of distinction, the blue and +the white strips changed places, and so we get the modern Russian +mercantile flag, as shown in Fig. 218. It was evidently undesirable that +the flag of the great Empire of Russia should be the same as that of a +reversed Dutch ensign--a signal of distress and disaster. + +Based upon these two simple forms, the government Cross of St. Andrew, Fig. +217, and the commercial tricolor, Fig. 218, we get a great variety of +official flags. Thus Fig. 220 is a very happy blending of the two forms in +the flag of a Consul-General, since he is an official of the State, and at +the same time his duties deal largely with commercial interests; and much +the same ground may be taken as regards the blending of the two flags in +Fig. 221, the flag of a Russian Chargé d'Affaires. Fig. 223 is the ensign +of a Russian transport; if of the second division the field of the flag is +blue, and if of the third it is red, in each of these cases the crossed +anchors being white. The Russian signal for a pilot is the Jack shown in +Fig. 215, but with a broad white border to it. {105} + +A Russian Ambassador or Minister Plenipotentiary flies the flag shown in +Fig. 222. In the Imperial Navy we find a considerable variety of flag +types. While the full Admiral flies the Imperial Naval Flag, Fig. 217, that +of the Vice-Admiral has along its bottom edge a horizontal strip of blue, +and that of the Rear-Admiral in the same position a strip of red. The flag +of the Minister of Marine is the official flag, Fig. 217, except that +instead of the four plain white spaces there seen these triangles hold each +of them a golden anchor, the fluke end outwards. There are many other +modifications that we need not here particularise. + +Fig. 216 is the official flag of Poland; the device in the canton in the +upper corner, the white eagle on the scarlet field, is the ancient Polish +flag, when Poland was yet a nation. + +The early history of the French flag is lost in obscurity, and it is not +always easy to trace the various modifications that it has undergone. At +the earliest date of which we have record we find the kings of the Franks +marshalling their forces under the plain blue flag known as the Chape de +St. Martin. Later on the red flag of St. Denis, known as the oriflamme, +came into use, and was held in great popular esteem, until by the tenth +century we find it accepted as the national flag, though the blue flag +still held its ground as a recognised flag. We may, in fact, assume that as +the Russians placed themselves beneath the protection both of St. George +and also of St. Andrew, so the French felt that a double claim on saintly +assistance would be by no means amiss. + +The Chape de St. Martin was originally in the keeping of the monks of the +Abbey of Marmoutiers, and popular belief held it to be a portion of the +actual blue cloak that the legend affirms the Saint divided with the beggar +suppliant. The Counts of Anjou claimed the right to take this blue flag to +battle with them. We find it borne by Clovis in the year 507 against +Alaric, and again by Charlemagne at the battle of Narbonne; and time after +time it led the hosts of France to victory. When the kings of France +transferred the seat of government to Paris, the great local Saint, St. +Denis, was held in high honour, and the scarlet flag of the Abbey Church of +St. Denis gradually ousted the blue flag of St. Martin, and "St. Denis" +became the war-cry of France.[66] Fig. 179 is a representation of the +oriflamme from some ancient stained glass, but the authorities differ +somewhat; thus the "Chronique de Flandre" describes it as having three +points and tassels of green {106} silk attached thereto, while an English +authority says, "The celestial auriflamb, so by the French admired, was but +of one colour, a square redde banner." Du Cange gives no hint of its shape, +but affirms that it was simple, "sans portraiture d'autre affaire." All +therefore that seems quite definite is that it was a plain scarlet flag. +The last time that the sacred ensign was borne to battle was at Agincourt +on October 25th, 1415, when it certainly failed to justify the confidence +of its votaries. + +The precise date when the golden fleurs-de-lys were added to the blue flag +is open to doubt, but we find the form at a very early date, and from the +first recognition of heraldic coats of arms this blazon was the accepted +cognizance of the kings of France. We see this represented in Fig. 184. +Originally the fleurs-de-lys were powdered, as in Fig. 188, over the whole +surface, but in the reign of Charles V., A.D. 1365, the number was reduced +to three.[67] + +The meaning of the fleur-de-lys has given rise to much controversy; some +will tell us that it is a lily flower or an iris, while others affirm that +it is a lance-head. Some authorities see in it an arbitrary floral form +assumed by King Louis,[68] and therefore the fleur-de-Louis; while others +are so hard put to it that they tell us of a river Lys in Flanders that was +so notable for its profusion of yellow iris that the flower became known as +the fleur-de-Lys. The ancient chronicles gravely record that they were +lilies brought from Paradise by an angel to King Clovis in the year 496, on +the eve of a great battle fought near Cologne. Clovis made a vow that if he +were victorious he would embrace the Christian faith, and the angel +visitant and the celestial gift were a proof that his prayers were heard +and his vow accepted. As the belief that France was in an especial degree +under Divine protection was a very flattering one, the lilies were held for +centuries in great favour; and the fleur-de-lys did not finally disappear +from the flag of France until the downfall of Louis Philippe in the year +1848, a date within the recollection, doubtless, of some of our readers. +Finality, indeed, may not even yet have been reached in the matter. As the +bees of Napoleon I. reappeared in the arms of Napoleon III., so the +fleur-de-lys may yet again appear on the ensigns of France. By virtue of a +Napoleonic decree in 1852 against factious or treasonable emblems, it was +forbidden to introduce the fleur-de-lys in jewellery, tapestry, or any +other decorative way, lest its introduction might peril the position of a +{107} sovereign who rose to power by lavish bribery, and the free +outpouring of blood. Napoleon the First, and at least by contrast the +Great, when at Auch enquired the reason why many of the windows of the +cathedral were partially concealed by paper, and he was informed that it +was because it was feared that he would be offended at the sight of certain +ancient emblems there represented. "What!" he exclaimed, "the +fleurs-de-lys? Uncover them this moment. During eight centuries they guided +the French to glory, as my eagles do now, and they must always be dear to +France and held in reverence by her true children." + +The white cross frequently appears on the early French flags. Fig. 188, the +flag of the French Guards in the year 1563, is a good example of this. We +find Favyn, in a book published in Paris in 1620, "Le Théâtre d'honneur et +de Chevalerie," writing: "Le grand estendard de satin bleu celeste en riche +broderie de fleurs de lys d'or a une grande croix plein de satin blanc, qui +est la croix de France." Figs. 180 and 181 are taken from a MS. executed in +the time of Louis XII., A.D. 1498, illustrating a battle scene; these two +flags are placed by the side of the fleur-de-lys flag, Fig. 184. When Louis +XI., in 1479, organised the national infantry we find him giving them as +the national ensign a scarlet flag with white cross on it; and some two +hundred years later we find the various provincial levies beneath flags of +various designs and colours, but all agreeing in having the white cross as +the leading feature. Fig. 182, for example, is that of the Soissonois. +Desjardins, in his excellent book on the French flag,[69] gives a great +many illustrations of these. In the Musée d'Artillerie in Paris we find a +very valuable collection of martial equipments from the time of +Charlemagne, and amongst these a fine series (original where possible, or, +failing this copies) of the flags of France from the year 1250. + +The Huguenot party in France adopted the white flag, and when King Henry +III., 1574 to 1589, himself a Protestant, came to the throne, the white +flag became the royal ensign, and was fully adopted in the next reign, that +of Henry IV., the first king of the house of Bourbon, as the national flag. +The whole history of the flag prior to the Great Revolution, is somewhat +confused, and in the year 1669, which we may consider about the middle of +the Bourbon or white flag period,[70] we find the order given by the {108} +Minister of the Marine that "the ensigns are to be blue, powdered with +yellow fleurs-de-lys, with a large white cross in the middle." Merchant +ships were to wear the same flag as the ships of war except that in the +canton corner was to be placed the device of their province or town. Before +the end of the year a new order was issued to the effect that "the ensigns +at the stern are to be in all cases white," while the merchants were to fly +the white flag with the device of the port in the corner. The white flag +was sometimes plain, as in Fig. 183, and at other times provided with +yellow fleurs-de-lys. On the restoration of the Bourbons in 1814, after the +Republic, Consulate, and Empire, the white flag was again the flag of the +nation, and remained so until 1830, its last appearance in France, unless +or until the house of Bourbon again arises to the throne, when the +restoration of the _drapeau blanc_ would probably follow. The white flag +has therefore been the national ensign of France for over two hundred +years. + +In a book in the library of the Science and Art Department, South +Kensington, we found the flag represented in Fig. 185 figured as the French +Standard, with Fig. 187 apparently as an alternative, while the National +flag of France is represented as the tricolor with bordering shown in Fig. +189, and the Admiral's flag is given as pure white. The book is entitled "A +Display of Naval Flags of all Nations." It was published in Liverpool; no +date is given, but we can arrive approximately at this, as the British +Standard is represented as including the arms of Hanover; this limits its +publication to between the years 1714 and 1837. + +The well-known tricolor of France, Fig. 191, dates from the era of the +Revolution and came into existence in 1789. It has, with the exception of +the short Bourbon Restoration, been the flag of France for over a century, +and it remains so to this day, though it underwent some few modifications +ere it settled down to the present form. Thus, for instance, on October +24th 1790, it was decreed that the colour next the staff was to be red, the +central strip white and the outer blue, but on February 15th, 1794, it was +ordered that "the flag prescribed by the National Assembly be abolished. +The national flag shall be formed of the three national colours in equal +bands placed vertically, the hoist being blue, the centre white, and the +fly red." On the Revolution of 1848, the provisional government ordered on +March 5th that the colours were to run thus--blue, red, white, but the +opposition to this was so strong that only two days later the order was +cancelled. In 1790 the tricolor was made the Jack, and the ensign was as +shown in Fig. 190. This ensign was to be common to both the men-of-war and +the flags of the merchant navy, but the arrangement was not of long +continuance. The spirit of change that was felt in every department +affected the flags {109} likewise, and some little time elapsed before the +matter was satisfactorily settled. + +The arms of Paris are a white galley on a red ground, and above this are +three golden fleurs-de-lys on a blue band or strip. On July 14th, 1789, it +was determined that a civic guard of forty thousand men should be raised, +and that its colours should be those of the city, the gules and azure of +the groundwork of the escutcheon, to which, on the proposal of Lafayette, +the white of the royal _drapeau blanc_ was added. + +During the first and second Empire the Imperial Standard was still the +tricolor, but it bore in the centre of the white strip the eagle; and all +three strips were richly diapered over with the golden bees of the +Napoleons. The national flag was the tricolor pure and simple, both for the +Imperial and the Commercial Navy. As the flags of the army were borne on +staffs surmounted by a golden eagle, the term "eagle" was often applied to +these colours.[71] + +On the outbreak of the second Republic in 1848, the people immediately on +its proclamation demanded the adoption of the ill-omened red flag. +Lamartine, the leading member of the provisional Government, closed an +impassioned address with the words: "Citizens, I will reject even to death +this banner of blood, and you should repudiate it still more than myself, +for this red flag you offer us has only made the circuit of the Champs de +Mars bathed in the blood of the people, while the tricolor has made the +circuit of the world, with the name, the glory, and the liberty of your +country." Louis Blanc and other members of the Government were in favour of +the red flag, and at last a compromise was effected and the tricolor was +accepted with the addition of a large red rosette. Louis Blanc, not +unreasonably, as a Republican, pointed out that Lafayette had in 1789 +associated the white of the Bourbon flag with the red and blue of the arms +of the City, and that the tricolor flag was therefore the result of a +compromise between the king and the people, but that in 1848 the king +having abdicated, and monarchy done away with, there was no reason why any +suggestion of the kingly power should continue. Doubtless the suppression +of the flag of the barricades, the symbol of civil strife, {110} of anarchy +and bloodshed, and the retaining of the tricolor was the wiser and more +patriotic course, though it required no mean amount of courage and strong +personal influence to effect the change. + +The Imperial Eagle, so long a symbol of victory, has now in these +Republican days[72] disappeared from the national colours. The flag of the +French army is now surmounted by a wreath of laurel traversed by a golden +dart with the letters R.F. and the regimental number, while on one face of +the flag itself is, in the middle, the inscription "Republique Française, +Honneur et Patrie," each corner being occupied by a golden wreath enclosing +the number of the regiment. The name of the regiment and its "honours" +occupy the other side. + +The pendant of the French man-of-war is simply, Fig. 186, the tricolor +elongated. The Admiral flies a swallow-tailed tricolor, while the +Rear-Admiral and the Vice-Admiral have flags of the ordinary shape, like +Fig. 191, except that the former officer has two white stars on the blue +strip near the top of it, and the latter three. Maritime prefects have the +three white stars on the blue plus two crossed anchors in blue in the +centre of the white strip. The Governor of a French colony has such a +special and distinctive flag as Fig. 96 would be if, instead of the Union +canton on the blue, we placed in similar place the tricolor. There are +naturally a great many other official flags, but the requirements of our +space forbid our going into any further description of them. + +The war and mercantile flags of Spain have undergone many changes, and +their early history is very difficult to unravel; but on May 28th, 1785, +the flags were adopted that have continued in use ever since. Fig. 192 is +the flag of the Spanish Navy; it consists, as will be seen, of three +stripes--a central yellow one, and a red one, somewhat narrower, above and +below. The original proportion was that the yellow should be equal in width +to the two red ones combined. This central stripe is charged, near the +hoist, with an escutcheon containing the arms of Castile and Leon, and +surmounted by the royal crown. The mercantile flag, Fig. 193, is also red +and yellow. The yellow stripe in the centre is without the escutcheon, and +in width it should be equal to one-third of the entire depth of the flag, +the remaining thirds above and below it being divided into two equal +strips, the one red and the other yellow. This simple striping of the two +colours was doubtless {111} suggested by the arms of Arragon, the vertical +red and yellow bars[73] of which may be seen also in the Spanish Royal +Standard, Fig. 194. Spain, like Italy, has grown into one monarchy by the +aggregation of minor States. In the year 1031 we have the Union of Navarre +and Castile; in 1037 we find Leon and Asturias joining this same growing +kingdom, and in the year 1474 Ferdinand II. of Arragon married Isabella of +Castile, and thus united nearly the whole of the Christian part of Spain +into one monarchy. In 1492 this same prince added to his dominions Moorish +Spain by the conquest of Granada. + +Legend hath it that in the year 873 the Carlovingian Prince Charles the +Bold honoured Geoffrey, Count of Barcelona, by dipping his four fingers in +the blood from the Count's wounds after a battle in which they were allied, +and drawing them down the Count's golden shield, and that these ruddy bars +were then and there incorporated in the blazon. Barcelona was shortly +afterwards merged into the kingdom of Arragon, and its arms were adopted as +those of that kingdom. Its four upright strips of red, the marks of the +royal fingers, are just beyond the upper shield in Fig. 194. + +The pendant of the Spanish Navy bears at its broad end a golden space in +which the arms and crown, as in Fig. 192, are placed; the rest of the +streamer is a broad strip of yellow, bordered, as in Fig. 192, by two +slightly narrower strips of red. + +The Royal Standard of Spain, Fig. 194, is of very elaborate character, and +many of its bearings are as inappropriate to the historic facts of the +present day as the retention in the arms of Great Britain of the French +fleurs-de-lys centuries after all claim to its sovereignty had been lost. +In the upper left hand part of the flag we find quartered the lion of Leon +and the castle of Castile.[74] At the point we have marked "C" are the arms +of Arragon. "D" is the device of Sicily. The red and white stripes at "E" +are the arms of Austria; we have already encountered these in Fig. 213. The +flag of ancient Burgundy, oblique stripes of yellow and blue within a red +border, is placed at "F." The black lion on the golden ground at "G" is the +heraldic bearing of Flanders, while the red eagle "H" is the device of +Antwerp. At "I" we have the {112} golden lion of Brabant, and above it at +"J" the fleurs-de-lys and chequers of ancient Burgundy. The upper small +shield contains the arms of Portugal, and the lower contains the +fleurs-de-lys of France.[75] + +The Portuguese were an independent nation until Philip II. of Spain overran +the country, and annexed it in the year 1580 to his own dominions, but in +the year 1640 they threw off the Spanish yoke, which had grown intolerable, +and raised John, Duke of Braganza, to the throne. The regal power has ever +since remained in this family. + +The Royal Standard bears on its scarlet field the arms of Portugal, +surmounted by the regal crown. These arms were originally only the white +shield with the five smaller escutcheons that we see in the centre of the +present blazon. Would the scale of our illustration (Fig. 195) permit it, +each of these small escutcheons should bear upon its surface five white +circular spots. Portugal was invaded by the Moors in the year 713, and the +greater part of the country was held by them for over three centuries. In +the year 1139 Alphonso I. defeated an alliance of five great Moorish +princes at the Battle of Ourique, and the five escutcheons in the shield +represents the five-fold victory, while the five circles placed on each +escutcheon symbolise the five wounds of the Saviour in whose strength he +defeated the infidels. The scarlet border with its castles was added by +Alphonso III., after his marriage in 1252 with the daughter of Alphonso the +Wise, King of Castile, the arms of which province, as we have already seen +in discussing the Spanish Standard, are a golden castle on a red field. + +In an English poem, written by an eye-witness of the Siege of Rouen in the +year 1418, we find an interesting reference to the arms of Portugal, where +we read of + + "The Kyngis herandis and pursiuantis, + In cotis of armys arryauntis. + The Englishe a beste, the Frensshe a floure + Of Portyugale bothe castelle and toure, + And other cotis of diversitie + As lordis beren in ther degre."[76] + +The Portuguese ensign for her vessels of war and also for the merchant +service bears the shield and crown, but instead of the {113} scarlet field +we find the groundwork of the flag half blue, and half white, as shown in +Fig. 196. The choice of these special colours, no doubt, arose from the +arms on the original shield, the five blue escutcheons on the white ground. +The Portuguese Jack has the national arms and royal crown in the centre of +a white field, the whole being surrounded by the broad border of blue. + +Italy, for centuries a geographical expression, is now one and indivisible. +Within the recollection of many of our readers the peninsula was composed +of the Kingdom of the two Sicilies, the Pontifical States, the Grand Duchy +of Tuscany, the Duchies of Parma and Modena. There was also in the north +the Kingdom of Sardinia, while Lombardy and Venetia were in the grip of +Austria. It is somewhat beside our present purpose to go into the wonderful +story of how Victor Emmanuel of Savoy, aided by Cavour, Garibaldi, and many +another noble patriot, by diplomacy, by lives freely laid down on the +Tchernaya, on the fields of Magenta and Solferino, by the disaster at +Sedan, by bold audacity at one time, by patient waiting at another, was +finally installed in Rome, the Capital of United Italy, as king of a great +and free nation of over thirty millions of people. Suffice it now to say +that this Kingdom of Italy, as we now know it, did not achieve until the +year 1870 this full unity under one flag that had been for centuries the +dream of patriots who freely shed their blood on the battlefield or the +scaffold, or perished in the dungeons of Papal Rome, or Naples, or Austria +for this ideal. + +On the downfall in 1861 of the Bourbon Government in the Kingdom of the two +Sicilies before the onslaught of the Volunteers of Garibaldi, the first +National Parliament met in Turin, and proclaimed Victor Emmanuel King of +Italy. The title was at once acknowledged by Great Britain, and, later on, +by the other Powers, and the capital of the rising State was transferred to +Florence. The Papal States were still under the protection of France, "the +eldest Son of the Church"; and the young Kingdom, unable to wrest Rome from +the French, had to wait with such patience as it could command for the +consummation of its hopes. The long-looked-for day at last arrived, when +amidst the tremendous defeats inflicted in 1870 by Germany on France, the +French garrison in Rome was withdrawn, and the Italians, after a short, +sharp conflict with the Papal troops, entered into possession of the +Eternal City, and at once made it the Capital of a State at last free +throughout its length and breadth--no longer a geographical expression, but +a potent factor to be reckoned with and fully recognised. + +Napoleon I. formed Italy into one kingdom in the year 1805, but it was +ruled by himself and the Viceroy, Eugene Beauharnois, he appointed; and on +his overthrow this, like the various other political {114} arrangements he +devised, came to nought. The flag he bestowed was a tricolor of green, +white, and red, his idea being that, while giving the new Kingdom a flag of +its own, it should indicate by its near resemblance to that of France the +source to which it owed its existence. In 1848, the great revolutionary +period, this flag, which had passed out of existence on the downfall of +Napoleon, was reassumed by the Nationalists of the Peninsula, and accepted +by the King of Sardinia as the ensign of his own kingdom, and charged by +him with the arms of Savoy. This tricolor, so charged (see Fig. 197) was +the flag to which the eyes of all Italian patriots turned, and it is to-day +the flag of all Italy. The flag we have represented is the ensign of the +Merchant Service; the flag of the armed forces military and naval, is +similar, save that the shield in the centre is surmounted by the Royal +Crown. The Royal Standard, the personal flag of the King, has the arms of +Savoy in the centre, on a white ground, the whole having a broad bordering +of blue. + +This shield of Savoy, the white cross on the red field, was the device of +the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, an order semi-religious, +semi-military, that owed its origin to the Crusades. In the year 1310 the +Knights captured Rhodes from the Saracens, but being hard pressed by the +infidels, Duke Amadeus IV., of Savoy, came to the rescue, and the Grand +Master of the Order conferred upon him the cross that has ever since been +borne in the arms of Savoy. The Jack or bowsprit flag of the Italian +man-of-war, Fig. 234, is simply this shield of the Knights of St. John +squared into suitable flag-like form. + +The Minister of Marine has the tricolor, but on the green portion is placed +erect a golden anchor. The vessels carrying the Royal Mail fly a burgee of +green, white, red, having a large white "P" on the green; and there are +many other official flags, the insignia of various authorities or different +departments, but lack of space forbids our dwelling at greater length upon +them. + +The war flag of the defunct temporal power of the Pope was white, and in +its centre stood figures of St. Peter and St. Paul, and above them the +cross keys and tiara. Fig. 198 was the flag of the merchant ships owned by +the subjects of the States of the Church. The combination of yellow and +white is very curious. In the banner borne by Godfrey, the Crusader King of +Jerusalem, the only tinctures introduced were the two metals, gold and +silver, five golden crosses being placed upon a silver field. This was done +of deliberate intention that it might be unlike all other devices, as it is +in all other cases deemed false heraldry to place metal on metal. The +theory that these metals were selected because of the reference in the +Psalms to the Holy City, may also be a very possible one--"Though ye have +lien amongst the pots, yet shall ye {115} be as the wings of a dove covered +with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold." However this may be, the +yellow and white of the arms of Jerusalem was adopted by the Papal +Government. + +The Danish flag is the oldest now in existence. In the year 1219, King +Waldemar of Denmark in a critical moment in his stormy career, saw, or +thought he saw, or said he saw, a cross in the sky. He was then leading his +troops to battle against the Livonian pagans, and he gladly welcomed this +answer to his prayers for Divine succour, this assurance of celestial aid. +This sign from Heaven he forthwith adopted as the flag of his country, and +called it the Dannebrog, _i.e._, the strength of Denmark. As a definite +chronological fact, apart from all legend, this flag dates from the +thirteenth century. There was also an Order of Dannebrog instituted in +1219, in further commemoration and honour of the miracle; and the name is a +very popular one in the Danish Royal Navy, one man-of-war after another +succeeding to the appellation. One of these Dannebrogs was blown up by the +fire of Nelson's fleet in 1801. + +The Danish Man-of-War Ensign is shown in Fig. 224. The Royal Standard, like +the Ensign, is swallow-tailed, but in the centre of the cross is placed a +white square, indicated in our illustration, Fig. 224, by dots. This +central, square space contains the Royal Arms, surrounded by the Collars of +the Orders of the Elephant and of the Dannebrog. The merchant flag, Fig. +225, is rectangular. + +In the year 1397, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark all formed one kingdom under +the rule of the latter, but in 1414 the Swedes waged with more or less +success an arduous struggle for liberty, and their independence was +definitely acknowledged in the year 1523. The flag of Sweden is the yellow +cross on the blue ground shown in Fig. 231. The blue and yellow are the +colours of the Swedish arms,[77] and they were then doubtless chosen for +the flag as the colours of freedom and independence. + +Norway had no separate political existence until the year 1814, but in that +year the Norwegians seceded from Denmark, and declared their independence. +Their first flag was still a red flag with a white cross on it, and the +arms of Norway in the upper corner next the flagstaff, but this being found +to too closely resemble the Danish flag, they substituted for it the device +seen in Fig. 230, which it will be noted is still the Danish flag, plus the +blue cross on the white one. The administration of Norway is entirely +distinct from Sweden, and it retains its own laws, but in 1814 the two +Kingdoms were united under one Sovereign. As a sign of the union there is +carried in the upper square, next to the flagstaff in the flags of both +countries, a union device, a combination of the Swedish {116} and Norwegian +National colours. After considerable dispute, the Union Jack shown in Fig. +229 was accepted as the symbol of the political relationship of the two +nations. It is a very neat arrangement, for if we look at the upper and +lower portions we see the flag (Fig. 230) of Norway, if we study the two +lateral portions we find they are the flag (Fig. 231) of Sweden. Both the +Swedish and Norwegian war flags are swallow-tailed, and have the outer limb +of the cross projecting; we may see this very clearly in Fig. 228, where +the main body of the flag is Norwegian. The merchant flag is with each +nationality rectangular; in Fig. 227 we have the flag of a Swedish merchant +vessel. Both in the Norwegian and Swedish flags, as we may note in Figs. +227 and 228, it will be noticed that the Union device is conspicuously +present. The Norwegian man-of-war flag, Fig. 228, would be that of a +Norwegian merchant if we cut off the points in the fly; the Swedish +merchant flag, Fig. 227, would be that of a Swedish man-of-war if instead +of the straight end we made it swallow-tailed. As Sovereign of Sweden, the +King places his arms in the centre of the large yellow cross; as Sovereign +of Norway, in the centre of the large blue cross; hence we get the Swedish +and Norwegian Royal Standards, the one for use in the one country, and the +other for service in the other, the Union device being present in the upper +corner in each case, and the outer portion of the flags swallow-tailed. The +Standard is, in fact, the war flag plus the royal arms. The Post Service +has in the centre of the flag a white square, with a golden horn and crown +in it; the Customs flag has a similar white square at the junction of the +arms of the cross, and in its centre is placed a crowned "T." + +Fig. 232, on the same sheet as the flags of Norway and Sweden, is the +simple and beautiful flag of Switzerland. Like the crosses of St. George, +St. Andrew, St. Patrick, or that on the flag of Denmark, its device has a +religious significance. Gautier tells us that:--"La première fois qu'il en +est fait mention dans l'histoire écrite est dans la Chronique du Bearnois +Justinger. Il dit, après avoir fait l'énumération des forces des Suisses +quittant Berne pour marcher contre l'armée des nobles coalisés en 1339--'Et +tous étaient marqués au signe de la Sainte Croix, une croix blanche dans un +écusson rouge, par la raison que l'affranchissement de la nation était pour +eux une cause aussi sacrée que la délivrance des lieux saints.'" + +Its twenty-two cantons are united by a Constitution, under one President +and one flag, but each canton has its own cantonal colours. Thus Basel is +half black and half white; St. Gallen, green and white; Geneva, red and +yellow; Aargau, black and blue; Glarus, red, black, and white; Uri, yellow +and black; Berne, black and red; Fribourg, black and white; Lucerne, blue +and white; {117} Tessin, red and blue; and so forth. In each case the +stripes of colour are disposed horizontally, and the one we have each time +mentioned first is the upper colour. + +Within the walls of the City of Geneva was held, in 1863, an International +Conference, to consider how far the horrors of war could be mitigated by +aid to the sick and wounded. This Conference proposed that in time of war +the neutrality should be fully admitted of field and stationary hospitals, +and also recognised in the most complete manner by the belligerent Powers +in the case of all officials employed in sanitary work, volunteer nurses, +the inhabitants of the country who shall assist the wounded, and the +wounded themselves--that an identical distinctive sign should be adopted +for the medical corps of all armies, and that an identical flag should be +used for all hospitals and ambulances, and for all houses containing +wounded men. The distinctive mark of all such refuges is a white flag with +a red cross on it--the flag of Switzerland reversed in colouring--and all +medical stores, carriages, and the like, bear the same device upon them; +while the doctors, nurses, and assistants, have a white armlet with the red +cross upon it, the sacred badge that proclaims their mission of mercy. In +deference to the religious feelings of Turkey a red crescent may be +substituted for the cross in campaigns where that country is one of the +belligerents. These valuable proposals were confirmed by a treaty in +August, 1864, signed by the representatives of twelve Powers, and known as +the Geneva Convention. Since then all the civilised Powers in the world, +with the exception of the United States, have given in their adhesion to +it. In 1867 an International Conference was held at Paris for still further +developing and carrying out in a practical manner the principles of the +Geneva Conference, and another at Berlin in 1869 for the same object. One +notable feature of these two Conferences was the extension of the +principles accepted for land conflict to naval warfare. + +Holland, as an Independent State, came into existence in the year 1579. +From 1299 we find the country under the rule of the Courts of Hainault, and +in 1436 it came into the hands of the Dukes of Burgundy, who in turn were +subjugated by the Spaniards. The tyranny and religious persecution to which +the Netherlanders were exposed by the Spaniards led to numerous revolts, +which at last developed into a War of Independence, under William, Prince +of Orange. The Hollanders adopted as their flag the colours of the House of +Orange--orange, white, and blue. At first there was great latitude of +treatment, the number of the bars of each colour and their order being very +variable, but in 1599 it was definitely fixed that the flag of the +Netherlands was to be orange, white, blue, in three horizontal stripes of +equal width. How the orange became {118} changed to red is very doubtful; +Fournier, writing in 1643, we see refers to the Dutch flag as a tricolor of +red, white, blue. + +Fig. 237 represents the Royal Standard of Holland; the army and navy and +commercial flags are similar, except that the Royal Arms are not +introduced. + +During the general effervescence caused by the French Revolution, the naval +flag of Holland had in the upper staff-corner a white canton, charged with +a figure of Liberty, but the innovation was not at all popular, as the +sailors preferred the old tricolor under which the great victories of +Reuter and Van Tromp were gained, and in 1806 it was deemed expedient to +revert to it. + +The brilliant scarlet, yellow, and black tricolor represented in Fig. 236 +is the flag of Belgium. The Standard has, in addition, the Royal Arms +placed in the centre of the yellow strip. The black, yellow, and red, are +the colours of the Duchy of Brabant, and these were adopted as the national +flag in 1831. + +From 1477 onwards we find Belgium under Austrian domination, and in 1566 it +fell into the hands of Spain. In 1795, and for some years following, it was +held by France, and in 1814 was handed over to the Prince of Orange, but in +1830 the Belgians rose against the Hollanders, and before the end of the +year their independence was acknowledged by the Great Powers, and Leopold +of Coburg, in the following year, became first King of Belgium. Within a +month of his accession to the throne, the Dutch recommenced the struggle, +and it was only in 1839 that a final treaty of peace was signed in London +between Belgium and Holland, and its claims to independence frankly +recognised by the Dutch. + +Greece, originally invaded by the Turks in the year 1350, remained for +nearly five hundred years under their oppressive yoke, rising from time to +time against their masters, only to expose their country, on the failure of +their attempts, to the greater tyranny and the most dreadful excesses. Over +ten thousand Greeks were slaughtered in Cyprus in 1821, while the +bombardment of Scio in 1822, and the horrible massacre on its capture, +stand out in lurid colours as one of the most atrocious deeds the world has +ever known: over forty thousand men, women, and children fell by the sword. +Seven thousand who had fled to the mountains were induced to surrender by a +promise of amnesty, and these, too, were murdered. The towns and villages +were fired, and the unfortunate inhabitants, hemmed in by the Turks, +perished in the flames or fell beneath the swords of their relentless foes +if they attempted to escape. Small wonder, then, that the heart of Europe +was stirred, and that Lord Byron and thousands more took up the cause of +Greek independence, by contributions of arms and money, by fiery +denunciation, and with strong right hand. Missolonghi, Navarino, {119} and +many another scene of struggle we cannot here dwell upon, suffice it to say +that at last the victory was won and Greece emerged, after a tremendous +struggle, from the bondage of the Turks, and took its place in Europe as a +free and independent nation, the Porte acknowledging the inexorable logic +of the _fait accompli_ on April 25th, 1830. After a short Presidency under +one of the Greek nobles, Otho of Bavaria was elected King of Greece in +1833, and the new Kingdom was fairly launched. + +The Greeks adopted the blue and white, the colours of Bavaria, as a +delicate compliment to the Prince who accepted their invitation to ascend +the throne of Greece. The merchant flag of Greece is shown in Fig. 233. It +will be seen that it consists of nine stripes, alternately blue and white, +the canton being blue, with a white cross in it. The navy flag is similar, +except that in addition there is placed a golden crown in the centre of the +cross. The Royal Standard is blue with a white cross; the arms of the cross +are not, as in Fig. 233, of equal length, but the one next the staff is +shorter, as in the Danish flag, Fig. 225. In the open space at the crossing +of the arms is placed the Royal Arms. + +The Turkish Empire has undergone many changes and vicissitudes, and has in +these latter days shrunk considerably. European Turkey now consists of +about seventy thousand square miles, while Turkey in Asia, Syria, Asia +Minor, Palestine, Armenia, etc., is over seven hundred thousand.[78] + +The crescent moon and star, Figs. 239 and 240, were adopted by the Turks as +their device on the capture of Constantinople by Mahomet II., in 1453. They +were originally the symbol of Diana, the Patroness of Byzantium, and were +adopted by the Ottomans as a badge of triumph. Prior to that event, the +crescent was a very common charge in the armorial bearings of English +Knights, but it fell into considerable disuse when it became the special +device of the Mohamedans, though even so late as the year 1464 we find +René, Duke of Anjou, founding an Order of Knighthood having as its badge +the crescent moon, encircled by a motto signifying "praise by increasing." +Though the crescent was, as we have seen, originally a Pagan symbol, it +remained throughout the rise and development of the Greek Church the +special mark of Constantinople, and even now in Moscow and other Russian +cities the {120} crescent and the cross may be seen combined on the +churches, the object being to indicate the Byzantine origin of the Russian +Church. + +The crescent may be seen on the coins and medals of Augustus, Trajan, and +other Emperors. The origin of the symbol was as follows: Philip, the father +of Alexander the Great, meeting with many unforeseen difficulties in +carrying on the siege of the city, set the soldiers to work one dark night +to undermine the walls, but the crescent moon appearing the design was +discovered and the scheme miscarried; and in acknowledgment the Byzantines +erected a statue to Diana, and made the crescent moon--the attribute of the +Goddess--the symbol of their city. + +The War Flag of Turkey is the crescent and star on the scarlet field, as +shown in Fig. 239. The flag of the Merchant Service seems less definitely +fixed. In the Official Flag Book[79] of the English Admiralty, Fig. 239 is +given as both the man-of-war flag and the merchant flag for Turkey, Egypt, +and Tripoli, while in an excellent book on the subject, published at Vienna +in 1883, Fig. 235 is given as the flag of the commercial marine; and we +have also seen a plain red flag with a star in the upper corner of the +hoist, and another divided into three horizontal bands, the upper and lower +being red, and the central one green. + +The Military and Naval Service of Tunis has the flag represented in Fig. +240, while the Tunisian commercial flag is simply red, without device of +any kind. + +In a map bearing the date 1502 the Turkish Dominions are marked by a +scarlet flag having three points and bearing three black crescents, while +in a sheet of flags with the comparatively modern date of 1735, "Turk" is +represented by a blue flag with three crescents in white upon it. + +The personal flag of the Sultan, corresponding to our Royal Standard, is +scarlet, and bears in its centre the device of the reigning sovereign: +hence it undergoes a change at each accession to the throne. This device, +known as the Tughra, is placed on the coinage, postal stamps, etc., as well +as on the Royal Flag, and consists of the name of the Sultan, the title +Khan, and the epithet _El muzaffar daima_, signifying the ever-victorious. +The history of the Tughra is curious: When Sultan Murad I. entered into a +treaty of peace with the Ragusans, he was not sufficiently scholarly to be +able to affix {121} his signature to the document, so he wetted his open +hand with ink and pressed it on the paper, the first, second, and third +fingers making smears in fairly close proximity, while the thumb and fourth +finger were apart on either side. Within the mark thus made, the Ottoman +Scribes wrote the name of Murad, his title, and the epithet that bore +testimony to his ever-victorious career. The Tughra remains the symbol of +this, the three upright forms being the three fingers of Murad, the rounded +line to the left the thumb, and the line to the right the little finger; +these leading forms do not vary, but the smaller characters change with the +change of sovereign. This Murad, sometimes called Amurath, ascended the +throne in the year 1362.[80] + +The personal flag of the Khedive of Egypt is green, and has in its centre +the crescent and three white stars. + +By the Treaty of Berlin, July 1878, the provinces of Moldavia and +Wallachia, formerly a portion of the Turkish Empire, and the territory of +the Dobrudscha, were recognised as an independent State, and were formed +into the kingdom of Roumania somewhat later, the sovereign who had +previously held the rank of prince being crowned king in March, 1881. The +flag of Roumania is the brilliant blue, yellow and red tricolor shown in +Fig. 242. + +The flag of Servia, another small kingdom of Eastern Europe, is shown in +Fig. 243; the royal standard is similar, except that the arms are placed in +the centre of the blue stripe. It will be seen that the flag of Servia is +that of Russia, Fig. 218, reversed. By the Berlin Treaty of 1878, Servia +received a large increase of territory, and was created an independent +State, its princely ruler being crowned king in March, 1882. + +The State of Bulgaria is another of the creations of the Berlin Treaty. It +is governed by a prince who is nominally under the suzerainty of Turkey. +Its war flag is shown in Fig. 241; the mercantile flag has no leonine +canton, but is simply a tricolor of white, green, and red. + +Having already dealt with the United States, we propose now to turn our +attention to the other Governments of the New World. The simple and +effective ensign of Chili is represented in Fig. 161. This flag is used +both by the Chilian men-of-war and by the vessels of the mercantile marine. +Fig. 157 is so much of the pendant of a man-of-war as the limits of our +page will permit. The Chilian Jack is the blue canton and white star of +Fig. 161, treated as a distinct {122} flag, and the flags of the various +naval ranks are also blue with a varying number of white stars. + +Fig. 164 is the merchant flag of New Granada; the Government ensign has in +addition the shield of arms in the centre of the blue stripe. It will be +observed that the colours in this tricolor are the same as those of +Roumania, Fig. 242, only differently disposed. New Granada is composed of +nine small States, and in 1863 these bound themselves into a closer +confederation, and changed their collective name from New Granada to that +of the United States of Colombia, and adopted a tricolor of yellow, blue, +and red, only disposed horizontally instead of as in Fig. 164, vertically. +This sounds identical with the flag of Venezuela, but in the centre of the +Colombian flag is placed a different device, and the yellow stripe takes up +half the space, the other two being only half its width. Fig. 165 is the +flag of Uruguay, a State that was formerly a province of Brazil, but +declared its independence in the year 1825. The next flag on our plate, +Fig. 166, is the war ensign of Guatemala: the shield in the centre bears a +scroll with the words "Libertad 15 de Setiembre, 1821," surmounted by a +parrot, surrounded by a wreath, and having behind it crossed rifles and +swords. The merchant flag is the plain blue, white, blue, without the +shield. In the year 1525 the country was conquered by Don Pedro de +Alvarado, one of the companions of Cortes, and it remained subject to Spain +until 1821, when it gained its independence, the "Libertad" of the scroll. +It then went in vigorously for several years of civil war, and the outcome +of this was that the country known under Spanish rule as Guatemala, a +country embracing all Central America, split up in 1839 into five +Republics, all absolutely independent of each other, viz., Guatemala, San +Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. + +The next flag, Fig. 167, is the ensign of Costa Rica: the one represented +is that of the Merchant Service. The war ensign differs from it in having +in the centre the arms of the State, surrounded on either side by a trophy +of three flags, and beneath all a wreath. Fig. 168, the flag of Paraguay, +is very suggestive of the colours of Holland, though the device in the +centre serves to differentiate it. Paraguay is the only State in America +that has no sea-board, and therefore no Mercantile Marine. + +Brazil, discovered by the Portuguese in 1500, remained in their possession +until a revolutionary struggle in the year 1821 ended in favour of the +Brazilians, when an Empire was shortly afterwards established. Compared to +the other States of South America, it has passed through long periods of +rest and prosperity, but of late years its political position has been one +of considerable uncertainty, the Emperor having been dismissed and the +rival {123} ambitions for the Presidentship leading to civil war. These +political changes have necessarily produced modifications in the flag. The +present flag, Fig. 169, is not altogether unlike that of the late Empire, +though in this latter case the yellow diamond on the green ground held a +shield and Imperial crown, flanked by sprays of coffee and tobacco. In the +present flag this yellow diamond has a blue sphere spotted over with stars +and a white band running across it, that bears in blue letters the legend +_Ordem e progresso_.[81] Fig. 173 is the upper portion of the man-of-war +pendant, a blue ground with white stars. Fig. 169 is the ensign, both of +the War and Merchant Navy of Brazil. + +The yellow, blue, and red tricolor, Fig. 170, is the merchant ensign of +Venezuela; the war flag has the same stripes, and in addition the shield of +the arms of the State is placed on the yellow band at the staff corner. +When the Spaniards arrived off the coast in the year 1499, they found on +landing that some of the native Indians were living in huts built on piles, +hence they called the country Venezuela, or little Venice. + +Bolivia, formerly comprised in the Spanish Vice-Royalty of Colombia, +derives its present name from Simon Bolivar, the leader of the revolution +that gained it its freedom. Its commercial flag is shown in Fig. 171; the +war flag only differs in having the arms of the State placed in the centre +of the red strip. + +The familiar green, white, red of Italy is repeated in the flag of Mexico, +but instead of the cross of Savoy, we have the eagle and serpent. The +Mexican merchant ensign is the plain tricolor of green, white, red, the +central device we see in Fig. 172 marking it as the war flag. Mexico was +discovered in 1518, and conquered, with infamous cruelties, by Cortes. +After a lengthened revolutionary struggle, the yoke of Spain was finally +thrown off in 1829, and the independence of Mexico was recognised by all +the great European Powers. + +Peru was discovered by the Spaniards in 1513, and was soon afterwards, +under the command of Pizarro, added to the dominions of the King of Spain. +Peru remained in subjection to the Spaniards (who murdered the Incas and +all their descendants, and committed the most frightful cruelties) until +1826, when the independence of the country, after a prolonged struggle, was +completely achieved. The Peruvian war ensign is given in Fig. 174, the +merchant flag being the plain red, white, red. + +San Salvador, the smallest of the Central American Republics, {124} +established itself in 1839, on the break-up of the Spanish State of +Guatemala. Its flag is shown in Fig. 175. + +The country now held by the Argentine Republic was discovered in 1517, and +settled by the Spaniards in 1553. The war ensign is represented in Fig. +176; the merchant ensign has the three stripes, but the golden sun is +missing. + +The Government of Ecuador has Fig. 177 as its war flag, the merchant ensign +being without the ring of white stars. The last flag on the sheet (Fig. +178) is the merchant flag of Haiti; the Government flag has the blue and +red reduced to a broad border, the central portion of the flag being white. +In the centre of this white portion stands a palm tree, and below it a +trophy of arms and flags, flanked on either side by a cannon. + +The flag of the Cuban national forces in conflict with Spain has at the +hoist a triangular portion of blue, one side of this triangle being the +depth of the flag itself, and on this blue field is a white, five-pointed +star. The rest of the flag is made up of the following horizontal and equal +stripes--red, white, red, white, red. + +Japan--known to the Japanese as Niphon, derived from _Nitsu_, Sun, and +_Phon_, the rising--the Land of the Rising Sun,[82] has adopted this rising +sun as its emblem. Japan claims to possess a written history of over 2,500 +years, but the fairly authentic portion begins with the year 660 B.C., when +the present hereditary succession of rulers commenced. English merchants +visited Japan in 1612, and the Portuguese almost a century before. By 1587 +the converts of the Portuguese Jesuit Missions numbered some six hundred +thousand. At this time some Spanish Franciscans appeared on the scene, and +political and religious discord soon followed. The Japanese ruler took +alarm at the Papal claim to universal sovereignty, and the Buddhist +Priesthood and the English and Dutch Protestant traders fanned the flame of +suspicion and jealousy. This was done so effectually that the Japanese +Government banished all foreigners, and closed the country against them. +This state of things lasted for over two centuries, and it was only in the +year 1853 that Japan was re-opened to the outside world. The flag of Japan, +the rising sun, is represented in Fig. 244. The red ball without the rays +is used as a Jack, in which case it is placed in the centre of the white +field. Fig. 245 is the Standard of the Emperor. The chrysanthemum is the +emblem of Japan, and its golden flower, somewhat conventionally rendered it +must be admitted, is the form we see introduced in Fig. 245.[83] Figs. 246 +and 248 are the transport flag and the guard flag respectively of the +Japanese war marine. {125} + +The Imperial Standard of China is yellow with a blue dragon. The official +flag book of the Admiralty gives the flag of a Chinese Admiral as made up +of the following horizontal stripes: yellow, white, black, green, red, a +blue dragon on a white ground being the canton in the staff-head corner. +The merchant ensign is shown in Fig. 247. Amongst the Chinese flags +captured in 1841, and preserved in the Royal United Service Institution, is +one with a blue centre with an inscription in white upon it, and with a +broad notched border of white; another has its centre of a pale blue and a +darker blue dragon upon it, the whole being surrounded by a broad and +deeply-notched border of red. + +The flag of Siam is scarlet with a white elephant thereon. Before Xacca, +the founder of the nation, was born his mother dreamt that she brought +forth a white elephant, and the Brahmins affirm that Xacca, after a +metempsychosis of eighty thousand changes, concluded his very varied +experiences as this white elephant, and thence was received into the +company of the Celestial Deities. On this account the white elephant is +held a sacred beast, and the Siamese rejoice to place themselves beneath so +potent a protector. The flag of Korea bears the tiger. In the +thickly-wooded glens of the interior, the royal tiger is found in +formidable numbers. + +The flag of Sarawak, a territory of some forty thousand square miles, on +the north-west of Borneo, is shown in Fig. 252. The Government was obtained +in 1842 from the Sultan of Borneo by an Englishman, Sir James Brooke, and +it is still ruled by one of the family, a nephew of the first Rajah. + +In Africa, the only flags that we need particularize are those of the +Orange Free State, Liberia, the Congo State, and the South African +Republic. + +The Orange Free State was founded by Dutch emigrants from the Cape of Good +Hope. It was proclaimed British territory in 1848, but by a Convention +entered into in 1854, the inhabitants were declared to be "to all intents +and purposes, a free and independent people, and their Government to be +treated thenceforth as a free and independent Government." The flag, Fig. +249, is the only one that has orange in it, clearly in allusion to the name +of the State, while the canton of red, white, and blue, equally shows the +pride of the people in their Dutch origin. + +The flag of the Independent Negro Republic of Liberia, is shown in Fig. +250. The population largely consists of freed slaves, emigrants from +America and their descendants, plus the aborigines. The flag, it will be +seen, even to the thirteen stripes, is largely based on that of the United +States, though one would have thought that that would have been about the +last thing they would have selected. {126} + +The Congo Free State in Central Africa was established in 1885 by the King +of the Belgians; its flag is the golden star on the blue ground that we see +in Fig. 251, a device at once simple, expressive and pleasing. + +In 1840, a number of Dutch Boers, dissatisfied with the Government of Cape +Colony, established themselves in Natal, where their treatment of the +natives was so unjustifiable that a general rising was imminent, and the +British Government was compelled to interfere, and itself take charge of +the district. This the Boers resented, so they crossed the Vaal and +established themselves afresh in the wilderness. In 1854, the British +Government recognised the Transvaal or South African Republic, and in 1881 +a fresh Convention was agreed to by which the Boers were confirmed in full +possession of the land, subject to the recognition of the British +suzerainty. The flag of the Transvaal Government is shown in Fig. 253. + +Now have we journeyed the whole world over and found in every land the +emblems of nationality and patriotism. Unfamiliar as many of these may +appear to us, they each represent a symbol endeared to thousands or +hundreds of thousands of hearts, and thus are they full of warm human +interest. For these various strips of gaily-coloured bunting, men have +given without hesitation their lives, have poured out blood and treasure +without stint or count of cost, and wherever they encounter them the wide +world over, the wanderers forget for a while the alien shore or waste of +ocean as their thoughts turn to the dear homeland. + + * * * * * + +{127} + +CHAPTER V. + + Flags as a Means of Signalling--Army Signalling--the Morse + Alphabet--Navy Signalling--First Attempts at Sea Signals--Old Signal + Books in Library of Royal United Service Institution--"England expects + that every man will do his duty"--Sinking Signal Codes on + defeat--Present System of Signalling in Royal Navy--Pilot + Signals--Weather Signalling by Flags--the International Signal + Code--First Published in 1857--Seventy-eight Thousand different Signals + possible--Why no Vowels used--Lloyd's Signal Stations. + +We propose in this, our final chapter, to deal with the use of flags as a +means of signalling; a branch of the subject by no means wanting either in +interest or in practical value. + +The flags used for army signalling are only two in number if we consider +their design, though, as each of these is made in two sizes, the actual +outfit consists of four flags. The large size is three feet square, and the +smaller is two feet square; the larger sizes are clearly more visible, but +on the other hand the smaller save weight and consequently labour; and with +good manipulation and clear weather their messages can be followed by +observers, with ordinary service telescopes, up to a distance of twelve +miles or so. The poles are respectively five feet six inches long and three +feet six inches, and the flags themselves are either white with a blue +horizontal stripe across the centre, or wholly blue. Only one flag is used +at a time, the first being used when the background is dark and the second +when light, so as to ensure under all circumstances the greatest +visibility. + +The person sending the signals should hold the flag pointing upwards to the +left, and with the pole making an angle of about 25°, with an imaginary +vertical line passing down the centre of his body. The signals are based +upon the dot and dash system of Morse. The dot or short stroke is made by +waving the flag from the normal position to the corresponding point on the +right hand, while for the dash or long stroke the flag is waved till the +head of the pole nearly touches the ground. + +The Morse alphabet is so constructed that the letters of most frequent +occurrence are represented by the shortest symbols, and no letter requires +more than four of these for its expression, while figures are all +represented by five signs. {128} + +The letters of the alphabet are thus represented:-- + + A ·- + A (æ) ·-·- + B -··· + C -·-· + D -·· + E · + F ··-· + G --· + H ···· + I ·· + J ·--- + K -·- + L ·-·· + M -- + N -· + O --- + O (oe) ---· + P ·--· + Q --·- + R ·-· + S ··· + T - + U ··- + U (ue) ··-- + V ···- + W ·-- + X -··- + Y -·-- + Z --·· + Ch ---- + +The following code is adopted to represent figures:-- + + 1 ·---- + 2 ··--- + 3 ···-- + 4 ····- + 5 ····· + 6 -···· + 7 --··· + 8 ---·· + 9 ----· + 0 ----- + +A space about equal in length to the dash is left between each letter, and +a time interval of about three times the duration between each word. This +alphabet, once learned, it is evident can be utilized in many ways. +Steamers, by means of short and long whistles, can spell out messages to +each other; seamen, across a harbour, can communicate by waving their arms; +prisoners by opening and shutting their hands. It is also utilised in the +light-flashes of the heliograph, in telegraphy again, and in various other +directions. + +Classes are held at the School of Army Signalling at Aldershot, and from +thence the knowledge permeates the Army and the Auxiliary Forces.[84] The +requirements are steadiness, intelligence, quickness of eye-sight and of +action, and the power to spell correctly; and it takes a man from fifteen +to twenty days, at five hours drill a day, to learn the alphabet and the +proper manipulation of the flags. The standard of efficiency is ten words a +minute with the large flag or sixteen with the small. If our readers will +take the trouble to count the letters in the first sixteen words in this +present sentence they {129} will find that they are sixty-nine in number, +and they will further find, if they take the additional trouble to +translate these letters into Morse, that it will take 105 dots and 60 +dashes to do it. Our readers will probably then go on to conclude that as +it takes one hundred and sixty-five motions of the flag, plus sixty-eight +intervals between the letters to signal these sixteen words, a speed of ten +words a minute is a very creditable performance either for the sender to +work off or for the receiver to read. + +Besides the ordinary spelling out of the words, various arbitrary signs are +used, thus a continued succession of dots ······ is used to call attention +to the fact that a message is going to be sent, and a series of dashes +------ means that it is finished. G means "go on," R is a request to "move +more to the right" and L to "shift a little to the left"; B means "use the +blue flag," and W "use the white flag," K.Q is "say when you are ready," +F.I means that figures are coming, and F.F indicates that the figures are +finished. Those who have to receive the message may see that the background +behind the transmitter is not quite satisfactory for the due observation of +the flags, and they may then flash back H or O, meaning either "higher up" +or "lower down," as the case may be, and in case of any misunderstanding, +they will signal I.M.I, which means "please repeat," and as soon as all is +clear, they will signal R.T, meaning "all right." + +As our man-of-war's-men are also instructed in this system of signalling, +communication can be established during an expedition between the ships and +the troops on shore. The signal for communication is a white pendant with +two black X.X on it. Should this special flag not be forthcoming, the X.X +-··--··- (see code of letters) is flashed at night or waved by the flag by +day, and as soon as the preparative dots ······ have been acknowledged, the +message is dispatched. When the message is of a general character, nothing +more need be done, but when it is intended for a particular vessel, the +communication is preceded by the special sign apportioned to that vessel. + +Though the Morse system has its place, as we have seen, in the drill of our +blue-jackets, it does not altogether meet naval requirements. A man waving +flags on board ship would be a scarcely conspicuous enough object, and +intermediate vessels in a squadron would block out all view of him from +those farthest off, hence naval communications are ordinarily made by means +of flags exhibited from the mast head or other clearly visible position. +Instead of one flag being used, our men-of-war have over forty, and these +are all conspicuously distinct from each other. The messages are not spelt +out, as in land operations, but the flags are used in various combinations, +and the meaning of the signal is found by reference to a {130} code-book. +These flags, it is arithmetically evident, can be transposed and grouped in +some thousands of different ways, and the code-book contains questions and +answers to meet the very varied requirements of naval service, and the +special signal hoist for each. + +The first real attempt at sea-signalling was made during the reign of +Charles II., when a series of signs of the most arbitrary character was +devised, consisting for the most part of flags hoisted in various parts of +the ship, and altering their significance as their locality was changed. +The system was a very cumbrous one, and in 1780 Kempenfeldt, the Commander +of the ill-fated _Royal George_, improved to some extent upon it, but even +then the result was not very brilliant. Lord Howe, in 1792, could only make +a total of one hundred and eighty-three signals. As yet, however, it had +never struck anybody how much simplicity and advantage would be gained by +employing numbered or lettered flags, and then using them in the thousands +of combinations that such a system rendered possible. It is stated by +various authorities--and even authorities have a way of copying from each +other--that flags were numbered for the first time about the year 1799, but +in the Library of the Royal United Service Institution may be seen "An +Essay on Signals, by an Officer of the British Navy," bearing the date +1788.[85] The flags were numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 0, and +they are represented in our illustrations by Figs. 287, 288, 289, 290, 291, +292, 293, 294, 295, and 296. It will be seen that they are all of a very +clear and distinct character. When such a number as 444 was required, it +would appear to be necessary to have three flags like Fig. 290--the No. 4 +of the series--but to avoid this multiplication of identical flags, a red +triangular flag called a decimal, a white triangular called a centenary, +and a blue triangular called a millenary, were used, and these were placed +as required before the unit to be repeated. By this plan 444 would be +expressed by the yellow flag, the No. 4, having below it the red and white +pennants. Sometimes these flags really meant numbers, and then the required +number was hoisted, plus a yellow swallow-tailed flag. Thus in answer to +"How many guns does she carry?" if the response should be fifty, the five +and the nought flags, Figs. 290 and 296, plus the swallowtail or cornet, as +it is technically called, would be hoisted, while the same five-nought +signal, without the cornet, would signify "whole fleet change course four +points to starboard." + +If we want to find the English equivalent of some German word, we turn to +the German-English half of our dictionary, but if we {131} required the +German equivalent of our English word, we should refer to the +English-German part of the book, and signal codes are in like manner +divided into flag-message and message-flag. By the system we are at present +discussing, we should find by referring to the flag-message half of our +book, that the three flags 7, 3, 6, meant, "recall cruisers," while 8, 3, +6, signified "sprung a leak." On the other hand, if we wished ourselves to +send such an order we should turn to the message-flag half of our code +book, and under the heading of "Cruisers," find all the references that +could concern the management of such vessels until we presently found +"Cruisers, recall--7, 3, 6," and then at once proceed to hoist those +particular flags. Only fourteen flags, the ten numerals, the three +pennants, and the cornet, suffice for sending many hundreds of messages, +but the anonymous author adds, "exclusive of this arrangement, I would +propose to have the most current signals in battle made with one flag only, +and these should be used on the day of battle only. A similarity between +these and the flags used as the numerical signals ought as much as possible +to be avoided." Figs. 279, 280, 281, 282, 283, 284, 285, and 286, are +illustrations of some of these. The striking design of the rising sun +signifies "engage the enemy." Fig. 280 is an order for "close action." Fig. +281 is an instruction to "invert the line of battle by tacking," while Fig. +282 is a direction to "force the enemy's line." It is needless to +particularise them all, suffice it to say that each and all are of stirring +significance. Many minds were at work on the urgent problem of an adequate +system of sea-signalling, and numerous plans, therefore, were suggested. It +does not appear that the one we have just referred to as an example of +these endeavours to solve the difficulty was ever adopted. + +The official "Signal Book for the Ships of War," compiled by the Admiralty +in 1799, and afterwards amplified in 1803 by Admiral Sir Hope Popham, is of +immense interest, as it was introduced into the Navy for the first time in +the fleet of Nelson, and it was therefore the code of Trafalgar. In the +copy preserved in the Library of the Royal United Service Museum is +written, "this is a copy of the signal book by means of which the battle of +Trafalgar was fought." All signals are by numbers. In the book in question, +those given have been pasted over others, but some of those underneath are +still visible: thus the flag that once represented one here stands for +five, and the flag that heretofore was three is now seven. "If the +Admiral"--an instruction in the book says--"should have reason to believe +that the enemy has got possession of these signals, he will make the signal +for changing the figures of the flags. The figure, which by the new +arrangement each flag is to represent, is to be immediately entered in +every ship's signal-book," and it is {132} evident that one of these +transpositions has been made here. The ten flags of the code are +represented in Figs. 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277, and 278. +It is very difficult to say really how the flags were arranged for the +world-famed "England expects that every man will do his duty," as the +numerical significance of the ten flags was so often changed during the +exigencies of war. The book we have referred to makes Fig. 270 stand for 1, +Fig. 278 for 2, Fig. 275 for 3, Fig. 273 for 4, Fig. 269 for 5, etc.; and +while it declares that it was by this code Trafalgar was fought, we have no +evidence as to who wrote this statement. It may have been the authoritative +statement of some one at the time in full possession of the facts, or a +mere surmise added a dozen years afterwards by some irresponsible +scribbler. On turning to the "Naval History" of James, Vol. IV., p. 34, we +read "there is not, that we are aware of, a single publication which gives +this message precisely as it was delivered. The following is a minute of +the several flags, as noted down on board more than one ship in the fleet." +He then proceeds to give them, and the arrangement that he follows is that +of our illustration, his 1 being Fig. 269; 2, Fig. 270; 3, Fig. 271; 4, +Fig. 272; 5, Fig. 273; 6, Fig. 274; 7, Fig. 275; 8, Fig. 276; 9, Fig. 277; +and 0 Fig. 278. If he may be accepted as a reliable authority, "England" +was expressed by the flags 2, 5, and 3; "expects," by 2, 6, and 9; "that," +by flags 8, 6, and 3; "every," by flags 2, 6, and 1; "man," by 4, 7, and 1; +"will," by 9, 5, and 8; "do," by 2, 2 and 0; and "his," by 3, 7, 0, those +being the code numbers assigned to those words in the vocabulary. This +necessitated eight distinct hoists, one group of flags for each word, but +singularly enough the code contained no signal for "duty," so that it was +necessary to spell this out letter by letter, making four hoists more, flag +4 being for "d"; 2 and 1 for "u"; 1 and 9 for "t"; and 2 and 5 for "y." As +given in one or two French historical works the signal is equally short and +expressive: "L'Angleterre compte que chacun fera son devoir." The story of +Nelson's signal is best told in the words of the _Victory's_ Signal +Lieutenant, Pasco, the officer who received Nelson's orders to make it. +"His Lordship," Lieutenant Pasco says, "came to me on the poop, and, after +ordering certain signals to be made, about a quarter to noon, said, 'Mr. +Pasco, I want to say to the fleet "England confides that every man will do +his duty."' He added, 'You must be quick,[86] for I have one more to add, +which is for "close action."'[87] I replied, 'If your Lordship will permit +me to substitute "expects" for "confides" the signal will soon be {133} +completed, because the word "expects" is in the vocabulary, and "confides" +must be spelt.'[88] His Lordship replied in haste, and with seeming +satisfaction, 'That will do, Pasco, make it directly.' As the last hoist +was hauled down, Nelson turned to Captain Blackwood, who was standing by +him, and said, 'Now I can do no more. We must trust to the Great Disposer +of all events, and the justice of our cause; I thank God for this great +opportunity of doing my duty.'" And Great Britain that day did not call +upon her sons in vain, nor was the appeal to the God of Battles unheard, +though the rejoicing of victory was turned into mourning at the loss of him +who had so nobly done his duty in the nation's service. + +In the Royal Navy of the present day, a special code, requiring forty-five +different flags, is employed. Figs. 254 to 267 inclusive, are examples of +some of these.[89] This code, we need scarcely say, is of a confidential +nature, and is not published anywhere for all the world to study. The +Commercial code of International signals being now recognised by the +principal maritime States of the world, is, by Queen's regulations, made +use of by our men-of-war when communicating with foreign war-ships, or with +merchant vessels whether British or foreign. The signal codes of the Royal +Navy, when not actually in use, are kept in perforated metal cylinders, so +that in case of capture of the vessel they may at once be thrown overboard. +In the Library of the Royal United Service Institution may be seen the +Signal book of the U.S. frigate _Chesapeake_, with bullets attached to it +for the purpose of sinking it. In the confusion incidental to the capture +of the vessel by H.M.S. _Shannon_,[90] it fell into the hands of the +Britisher. Besides these regulation signals of the American Navy, a second +set, supplied to privateers, was also captured, marked "Strictly +confidential. The commanders of private armed vessels are to keep this +paper connected with a piece of lead or other weight, and to throw the +whole overboard before they shall strike their flag, that they may be +sunk." This also, instead of going to the bottom of the Atlantic, may be +seen within half a mile of Charing Cross. + +Landsmen have a notion, remembering possibly that Nelson went into action +with the signal for close action flying, that when a signal is made it is +to be instantly obeyed, but the present system of signalling is on somewhat +different lines. The hoisting of a signal on the flag ship is preparative. +The ships leading the other columns repeat the signal, hoisting their +colours three-quarters of {134} the way up the mast. The other ships each +hoist their "answering pennants" to show that they have seen and understood +the order. Then when the repeating ships notice that all the other vessels +have answered, they hoist the signal right up as an intimation to the +Admiral that this is the case. Then it is that on the Admiral's ship the +signal is hauled down, thus giving the executive order for its purport to +be obeyed, so that the signal is cautionary of what is coming, and the +manoeuvre is only executed when to the eye no instructions at all are to be +seen. The answering pennant has vertical stripes--red, white, red, white, +red. + +Fig. 268 is the flag used by any vessel that wishes to communicate with a +coastguard station, or hoisted when one coastguard station wants to send a +message to another. Thus when Beachy Head has any notification to make to +the neighbouring post away down at Burling Gap, the first thing to be done +is to hoist at the masthead Fig. 268. When the men on duty at Burling Gap +see this they hoist the answering pennant, meaning "all right, talk away," +and then the arms of the Beachy Head semaphore work vigorously, or the gay +signal flags flutter in the breeze and send their message across the downs. + +War vessels signal to each other at night by means of the Morse system of +short and long flashes,[91] and all the large steamship lines have night +signals peculiar to themselves, thus the night signal of the Orient Line is +red and blue lights burnt alternately. Any vessel seeing this, knows that +they are dealing with this special Line and similarly report themselves, +and after this due introduction proceed to dot and dash to their heart's +content. + +The last two rows of flags on plate XXIII. are signals for pilots. These +are either the two flags standing for P. and T. in the International Signal +Code, a system we have yet to deal with, or it may be a single flag, the +special pilot flag of each nation. Fig. 297 is the pilot flag of the +Argentine Republic; Fig. 298, that of Brazil; Fig. 299, that of Ecuador. +Fig. 300 is the pilot flag of Greece; 301, that of Japan; and 304, that of +Spain. France, Mexico and Chili all adopt a flag like Fig. 278, a white +flag with broad blue border, while Great Britain, Fig. 104, Germany, Fig. +302, Belgium, Fig. 303, Denmark, Fig. 305, Holland, Fig. 306, Sweden, +Austria-Hungary, Italy, all fly the national flag of the country with a +broad white border to it. Russia takes the Jack, Fig. 215, for the same +purpose, and places this {135} white band around it, while the United +States of America takes the star-bestrewn azure canton from the national +flag, Fig. 146, and similarly surrounds it with the broad band of white. + +Penalties are recoverable, as they clearly should be, if any ship uses or +displays signals which may be mistaken for either pilot calls or signals of +distress. + +The United States uses flags for its weather signals at the various +meteorological stations. A violent storm is prognosticated by a red flag +with a black centre. A red pennant signifies "storm approaching station," +while a yellow pennant signifies "call at station for special information." +A plain white flag betokens fine weather and a plain blue one rain or snow, +and there are various combinations of other flags that indicate direction, +intensity, velocity and so forth. It is evident that this employment of +flags could be made a very valuable one. + +Another instance of its use with which we are acquainted, is at the London +office in St. Paul's Churchyard of the _Draper's Record_, one of the +largest in circulation of any trade paper in the world. The citizen of +London may see displayed from its roof by private enterprise the whole of +the forecasts issued by the Meteorological Office, viz., the 11 a.m., the +3.30 p.m., and the 8.30 p.m. for the South of England, which officially +includes St. Paul's Churchyard. A white flag is hoisted for clear weather, +a blue one for rain, while local showers are prognosticated by a flag half +blue and half white. Changeable weather is indicated by a flag like Fig. +267, and a coming fog by a yellow flag with black ball in its centre, like +Fig. 258. Snow is foretold by a flag like Fig. 278, and squally weather by +a swallow-tailed flag, having its upper half black, and the lower white. A +plain red triangular flag is used to indicate temperature; when this is +hoisted above other flags, it indicates rising temperature; when placed +below, falling temperature; and when omitted we are to conclude that things +are stationary. Thus the red flag, then below it the white one, and then +the blue hoisted together, would mean that we might expect warmer weather, +at first fair, but succeeded by rain, while the blue flag above the red +would indicate that wet weather was before us, and a fall of temperature. + +At the 1894 meeting of the National Rifle Association at Bisley a system of +this kind was inaugurated, in order to give those in camp an idea of the +weather that might be expected for the ensuing twelve hours, the hoisting +of a blue flag indicating fine weather or moderate wind, a red one +foretelling stormy weather or strong wind; green, pointing to unsettled +weather or gusty wind, and a yellow flag indicating thunder or rain storms. +For shooting purposes a knowledge of the strength of the wind is very +valuable. {136} + +The development of a code of flag signals seems to have exercised a great +fascination on many minds, and the result has been that until the general +adoption of the International code things had got into a somewhat chaotic +state. Some systems had many excellent points in them, while others broke +down under the strain of practical use. In some cases, too, the claims of +patriotism influenced the choice, it being difficult for an Englishman or +an American to believe that the scheme of a Frenchman or German could +possibly be better than the home-grown article. + +The systems best known in this country are the Admiralty codes of 1808, +1816, and 1826, Lynn's in 1818, Squire's in 1820, Raper's in 1828, +Philipps' in 1836, Eardley Wilmot's in 1851, the code of Rogers, the +American, in 1854, the French code of Reynolds in 1855, and the system +devised by Marryat in 1856, all being superseded by that of the Board of +Trade. + +The International code of signals was prepared and first published in +April, 1857, in accordance with the views and recommendations of a +Committee appointed by the Lords of the Privy Council. Three members, +Admiral Beechey, Captain Robert Fitzroy, and Mr. J. H. Brown, the +Registrar-General of Seamen, were named by the Board of Trade; one member, +Admiral Bethune, by the Admiralty; an elder brother, Captain Bax, was +appointed as a member by the Trinity House; Mr. W. C. Hammett and Captain +Halstead were the members named by Lloyds; while the Liverpool Shipowners' +Association, and the General Shipowners' Society, each, by the nomination +of a member, had a voice in the discussion. + +After a deliberation of more than a year, the examination of the thirteen +then existing codes and due attention to any practical suggestion made to +them, a mature and valuable scheme was promulgated. Eighteen flags in all, +viz., one burgee, four pennants, and thirteen square flags, were employed, +and these represented the consonants of the alphabet. These are depicted in +the three upper rows on plate XXIV. Figs. 307 to 324, the letter it stands +for in the code being placed by each flag. These flags are combined in +various ways, either in twos, threes, or fours, and are always read +downwards, thus Fig. 325 must be read B.D.T.F; if we read it the reverse +way, as F.T.D.B, it would have an entirely different significance. + +Of the two-flag signals we have three varieties. Should the burgee, Fig. +307, be uppermost it constitutes what is termed an attention signal; thus +the hoisting of B.D signifies, "What ship is that?" If the upper flag be a +pennant C.D.F. or G it is a compass signal; thus G.F means +west-north-west-half-west. If a square flag be uppermost it is an urgency +signal; thus, N.C signifies "am in distress," or N.J "am driving, no more +anchors to let go." {137} + +Signals made with three flags are not classified according to the upper +flag; they relate to subjects of general inquiry or communication of news. +In the lower portion of Plate XXIV. we have given five examples of these. +Fig. 330, flags B.P.Q, asks "Do you wish to be reported?" while the +hoisting of P.D.S, see Fig. 332, replies, "Report me to Lloyds' Agent." +Fig. 333, H.V.F, asks, "Do you want assistance?" while Fig. 334, G.B.H, +enquires, "Has any accident happened?" Fig. 331, made up of flags V.K.C, +gives the reassuring answer to both enquiries--"All safe." As weather +signals, we find "barometer rising" indicated by G.F.W; "barometer falling" +by G.H.B; and "barometer standing," by G.H.C. Fine weather is +prognosticated by the group H.M.S; a breeze off sea is foretold in the +combination H.S.V; and a breeze off land by H.S.W. + +Signals composed of four flags are divided into different sections again, +according to the form of the uppermost flag employed. If this upper flag be +either of the pennants C.D or F, it indicates that the signal is what is +called vocabulary. If the upper be the burgee--the letter B of the code--it +is a geographical signal; thus, any vessel beating up channel and seeing +Fig. 325, made up of B.D.T.F, hoisted from a lighthouse, would, even if +uncertain before, know their position, as this signal is the one specially +assigned to the Eddystone. Fig. 326, the letters B.D.P.Q, signifies that +the vessel flying it hails from the port of London, while B.F.Q.T. is +Edinburgh, and so on. All names of ships are expressed by four letters, +thus N.V.B.Q is the code signal (Fig. 327) of the steamship _Germanic_; +M.N.D.L (Fig. 328) that of the _Hesperus_; and Fig. 329, made up of +G.R.C.T, is the special grouping assigned to H.M.S. _Devastation_. All +these names are recorded in the Shipping List, so that two vessels passing +each other in mid-ocean are able at once to determine each others' names if +within sighting distance of the flags run up. Should we see a stately liner +coming to port, flying M.T.L.Q, we recognise that it is the _Australia_ of +the great Peninsula and Oriental Line, but if she runs up L.H.T.B then she +is the Orient Company's boat _Orotava_. Some names occur frequently, thus +other _Australias_, belonging to various owners, are distinguished by the +code signals R.L.H.V, J.T.G.K, M.P.F.C, M.Q.N.G, M.T.W.D, W.F.T.N, etc., +etc. Figs. 355, 356, 357, 358, 359 are all code signals of various +_Australias_. While the Peninsular and Oriental Company has also a +_Victoria_, K.M.Q.F., they have no monopoly of the name. There are numerous +other boats of that popular designation, but even when vessels have the +same name no two vessels ever have the same code letters assigned to them. +Other _Victorias_, for example, are differentiated, as W.Q.M.N., L.S.H.R, +K.P.G.Q, M.K.C.H, M.S.P.B, M.Q.C.J, L.D.F.H, T.R.B.N, K.J.H.P, T.D.R.F, +etc., etc. Figs. 350, 351, 352, 353, {138} 354 are all _Victorias_; and +Figs. 360, 361, 362, 363, 364 are the flag-signals of various _Britannias_. +Our readers will see at once how distinctive they are. Figs. 335 to 349 +inclusive are the special flags of well-known steamships of the Peninsular +and Oriental, the Orient Line, and the _Compagnie Générale +Transatlantique_. + +Should the vessel be a yacht, it is the _Aline_ if she shows the flags +P.W.N.D; the _Star of the Sea_ if her signal is T.N.B.H; but if it is the +_Meteor_ we shall be aware of the fact from her hoisting the four flags +L.C.T.P. The flag signal of the _Valkyrie_ is L.F.M.G. + +Applications for the allotment of a code-signal, for the purpose of making +ships' names known at sea, should be made, if of the United Kingdom, to the +Registrar General of Shipping, Custom House, and, if belonging to a Colony, +to the Registrar at the port to which the vessel belongs. If a ship to +which this International Code Signal has been alloted is reported wrecked, +lost, or sold to a foreigner, and her register is in consequence cancelled, +the signal letters allotted to her are also cancelled, so that if the ship +is afterwards recovered or re-purchased from foreigners, either in her +original or some other name, new signal letters will be necessary, and the +owner must make application anew for another allotment, as the signal +letters the vessel originally bore may have been in the interval +re-allotted. + +The flags to be hoisted at one time never exceed four, and it is an +interesting arithmetical fact, that, with these eighteen flags, never using +more than four at a time, over seventy-eight thousand different +combinations can be made. With these flags, only using two at a time, 306 +different arrangements can be made, while by using three at a time we get +4,896 possibilities, and by using four at a time, we can make 73,440 +changes; a total in all of 78,642 variations made from these simple +elements. Marryat's code, prior to the introduction of the International, +being the one most in use, twelve out of its sixteen flags were, to save +expense, incorporated in the new code. Their significance was, however, +entirely changed. Marryat's flags, too, were numerals, while the +International code, as we have seen, has its flags named after the letters +of the alphabet. + +Proposals are in the air to add eight new flags to the code, the X, Y, and +Z, and the five vowels, since it is held that even the great number of +combinations now possible may in time not suffice. The reason for the +absence of the vowels is a somewhat curious one. Directly vowels are +introduced we begin to spell words, and it was found that amongst the +thousands of combinations possible, would be presently included all the +profane, obscene, and otherwise objectionable four-letter words of the +whole world. To hoist D.B.M.N could offend no one's susceptibilities, but +to {139} run up the signal D.A.M.N in response to an enquiry is quite +another matter, and it must be remembered that as this code is used by all +civilised nations, a word that is merely meaningless in one country might +be most offensive in another. An English Captain might hoist as a necessary +signal J.A.L.P. or F.L.U.M. and see no possible objection to it, but "jalp" +or "flum" might to the people of some other nationality carry a most +atrocious significance. + +It is a practical necessity that all connected with the sea should +understand the use of the International code, therefore, the Lords +Commissioners of the Admiralty require that all Royal Naval Reserve men who +act as Masters or Mates of ships should be instructed in its working, and +the Board of Trade makes like requirements from all candidates for Masters' +or Mates' Certificates. Its International character is a most valuable +feature, as by its use two captains, say a Dane and a Greek, or a Russian +and a Spaniard, who, on the quay, could not comprehend a word of each +other's language, can at sea, by this common flag-language, come to a +perfectly clear understanding of each other's need, or impart any +information required. It is the only code used at the signal stations +around our coasts. Lloyds' have thirty-three of these signal stations at +Dover, Beachy Head, Lundy Island, Dungeness, Flamborough Head, St. +Catherine's Point, North Foreland, and other conspicuous points on our line +of ocean traffic, and abroad again at Aden, Ascension, Gibraltar, Bermuda, +Honolulu, Suez, Perim, Malta, Teneriffe, and elsewhere, and here too, the +International is the only code recognised. + +This "Lloyds," that we may see daily referred to in the newspapers, is a +Corporation that, amongst other marine business, distributes shipping +intelligence. A Mr. Edward Lloyd, in the seventeenth century, kept a coffee +house in Tower Street, which in time from the daily gathering there of +merchants, captains, and others interested in marine affairs, became a +centre for shipping and underwriting news and business. In the year 1692 it +was moved to Lombard Street, and in 1774 the coffee supplying part of the +business was abandoned and rooms were taken in the Royal Exchange. During +the wars with Napoleon, the Government was often indebted to the Committee +of Lloyds' for the earliest information of important events all over the +world. Lloyds' has its agents in every port, and by its complete +organisation and the potent aid of the telegraph, the shipping business of +the world is brought day by day before us. Vessels spoken far out on the +ocean are reported by the vessel that spoke them immediately on its arrival +at any port. Thus a sailing-vessel journeying from London to Vancouver may +be five months or more before it touches land, {140} but during that time +it is sighted by other vessels from time to time, and these report having +seen it, and that all was well on board. So the mother knows that her son, +who is parted from her by thousands of miles of ocean, has got thus far in +health and safety; and the owners of the vessel learn that their venture +has so far surmounted the perils of Cape Horn and the other dangers of the +deep. The good ship is drawing nearer at each report to the end of her long +voyage, and on arrival at last off Vancouver, as the land is sighted, the +signal flags run up once more to the masthead, the news of her coming is +flashed across continent and ocean, and the London newspaper of the next +morning contains the brief notification that far exceeds to anxious hearts +all else of interest its broad pages may contain. + +Familiarity, though it may not necessarily breed contempt, dulls the sense +of the wonder of it all, and yet how marvellous it is! We have before us +the _Standard_, that came into our hands about seven o'clock this morning, +and we find from it that yesterday the _Glenshiel_ had arrived at Hong +Kong, that the _Arab_, from Cape Town, had just put in at Lisbon, that the +_Sardinian_, from Quebec, had reached Moville, that the _Circassian_ was +safely at New York, that the _Orizaba_, speeding on to Sydney, had at 2 +a.m. passed the desolate shores of arid Perim, that the _Danube_, from +Southampton, had at 6 a.m. entered the harbour of Rio Janeiro. Of this, and +much else of the same tenor, may we read in a space of a quarter-column or +so of the paper as we sit at breakfast and see pass before us a panorama of +world-wide interest and extent; and to accomplish this result, the flags we +have figured have been a potent factor. + + + +Though we have covered much ground, it must have been patent to all readers +who have thus far companioned us that much detail was necessarily omitted, +unless our book had to grow to the dimensions of an encyclopædia. It would +probably, for instance, take some fifty figures or so to give all the +distinctive flags of the various government departments, official ranks, +etc., of a single Great Power. We trust nevertheless that while our labours +have been by no means exhaustive, they have been instrumental in showing +that there is much of interest in flag-lore, and that an increased +knowledge and appreciation of our subject may be one result of our pleasant +labours, and prove full justification for our work. + + * * * * * + +{141} + +INDEX. + + A. + Aargau, flag of 116 + "Acta Sanctorum," the 38 + Admiral's flag, R.N. 56 + Admiralty, flag of the 71, 72 + Agincourt, battle of 106 + Agincourt, flags at 5 + Agnus Dei, as device on flag 22 + _Ailsa_, flag of the yacht 73 + Allan Line, flag of the 75 + Allotment of code signals 138 + Ambulance flag 117 + Ancient Irish harp 33 + Anchor as badge 63, 71, 87, 100, 114 + Andrew, cross of St. 4, 35, 42, 43, 45, 53, 116 + Andrew, St., of Scotland 37, 42, 44 + Andrew, St., of Russia 103, 104 + Andrew, St., order of 102 + Anne, Standard of Queen 35 + Annunciation on flag 4 + Answering pennant 134 + Antelope as a device 16 + Antiquity, standards of 2 + Antwerp, device of city of 111 + Anvil as device on flag 7 + Argentine Republic, flag of 124 + Armada, defeat of the 3 + Arms of Canada 81, 82 + Arms of Washington 91 + Army, flags of the 61 + Army signalling 127, 128, 129 + Arragon, arms of 111 + Articles of War 56 + Assaye, special flag for 65 + Assyrian standards 2 + Athene, owl of 2 + Australian Steam Navigation Company's house flag 74 + Austro-Hungarian flags 101, 102 + Avondale flag 43 + Awdeley, standard of Sir John 17 + + B. + Bacon on sea-power 84, 85 + Baden, flag of 101 + Badge 9, 13, 15, 21, 62, 66, 67, 83, 84, 117 + Bahamas, Badge of the 84 + Balmoral tartan 1 + Banner, its nature 10 + Banneroll, kind of flag 18 + Bannockburn, battle of 44 + Barbadoes, badge of 83 + Barcelona, arms of 111 + Bar, banner of Sir John de 11 + Bardolph, banner of Sir Hugh 11 + Basel, flag of city of 116 + Bavaria, flag of 101, 119 + Bayeux tapestry, flags represented in 19, 22 + Bear as a device 1, 2 + Beau-seant of Knights Templars 24 + Beaver as a device 1, 30 + Bede on flags 4 + "Beehive of the Romish Church" 3 + Bees of the Napoleons 106, 109 + Belgium, flags of 23, 118 + Bermuda, badge of 84 + Berne, flag of 116 + Beverley, flag of 5 + Birkenhead, burning of the 64 + Black and white flag of Prussia 98 + Black as a flag colour 7, 24, 25 + Black Swan, device of the 84 + Blackwall line of shipping 74 + Black Watch, the 62 + Blenheim, battle of 64, 66 + Blue blanket of Edinburgh 42 + Blue ensign 40, 56, 73, 78, 83 + Board of Trade, flag of the 71 + Bohemia, flag of 102 + Bolivia, flag of 23, 123 + Bombardment of Scio 118 + Boots and shoes on a flag 7 + Bordered Jack 48, 58 + Botetourte, banner of Sir John 11 + Bourbon kings, the 107 + {142} + Brabant, lion of 112 + Brass of Sir John Daubernoun 18 + Brazil, flag of 23, 24, 123 + Brazil, pendant of 20 + Bremen, flag of port of 99 + _Britannia_, flag of the yacht 73 + British East Africa, device of, 84 + British Guiana, badge of 84 + British North Borneo, badge of 84 + Broad pendant 56 + Brunswick, arms of 35 + Brunswick, flag of 101 + Buckles as device on flag 7 + Bugle-horn as a device 15 + Builder's square on flag 6 + Bulgaria, flag of 121 + Bunker's Hill, battle of 87 + Bunting as material for flags 22 + Burgee, variety of flag 19, 73 + Burgundy, flag of 111, 112 + Burning of rebel colours 70 + Butler's "Lives of the Fathers" 39 + Butterflies as a flag device 17 + + C. + Campbell on the national flag 54 + Canada, Dominion of 10 + Canada, flags of Dominion of 80 + Canadian Pacific steamship line 75 + Candlemakers' flag, the 7 + Canterbury Cathedral, flags in 66 + Cantonal colours 116 + Cape of St. Martin 105 + Cape St. Vincent, action off 41 + Castle Line, house flag of the 75 + Castle on flag as a device 111, 112 + Cavalry standards 65 + Cavers standard, the 43 + Ceylon, device of the Colony of 84 + Chapel of Royal College, Chelsea, flags in 3, 66 + Chaucer, quotation from 12, 18 + Cheering to order 102 + Cherbourg, flag of port of 75 + Chili, flag of 121 + Chili, pendant of 20 + Chinese flags 125 + Chrysanthemum flag of Japan 124 + Coastguard flag 134 + Codes for flag-signalling 136 + Coffee plant on flag 123 + Coins, devices on 2, 88, 90, 120 + Colombia, flag of United States of 122 + Colonial Defence Act 78, 79, 80 + Colonial flags 20, 40, 78 + Colonies, value of 76, 77 + Colour party 64 + Colours, Queen's 61, 65, 67 + Colours, regimental 61, 65, 67 + Colours used in flags 23 + Columbus, flag flown by 86, 111 + Commodore's broad pendant 56 + Commonwealth flags 48 + Company or house flags 74, 75 + Compasses as a device 6 + Compass signals 136 + Confederate States of America 27, 94, 95 + Congo Free State, flag of 126 + Conquest of Ireland 33 + Consecrated banner 3, 103 + Constantine, Labarum of 2, 3, 51 + Consular flag 71 + Consul-General, Russian, flag of 104 + Cornet, variety of flag 19, 130 + Costa Rica, flag of 122 + Courtenay, banner of Sir Hugh de 11 + Covenanter flags 24, 43, 91 + Crescent as device 11, 15, 88, 95, 119, 120 + Croatia, flag of 102 + Cromwell, arms of 35 + Cromwell, funeral of 19 + Cross of St. Andrew 4, 35, 42, 43, 45, 53, 116 + Cross of St. George 4, 10, 14, 16, 35, 39, 41, 45, 48, 53, 84, 87, 116 + Cross of St. Patrick 4, 51, 53, 116 + Crown of Charlemagne 35 + Crowns of Ireland 33 + Cuba, flag of 124 + Culloden, battle of 70 + Cunard Line, house flag of 74 + Customs Department, flag of 71 + Czarina, standard of the 102 + Czar, standard of the 102, 103 + + D. + Dalmatia, flag of 102 + Dannebrog, the 115 + Demerara and Berbice Steamship Company 74 + Denis, St., flag of 5 + {143} + Denmark, flags of 115 + Derivation of word flag 8 + Desjardins on French flag 107 + Devitt and Moore house flag 74 + Diana, crescent of 119 + Diplomatic Service, flag of 71 + Dipping the flag 25 + Dragon as a device 17, 125 + Drayton, quotation from 15 + Durham, St. Cuthbert of 5 + + E. + Eagle as a device 41, 91, 93, 94, 98, 101, 102, 105, 109, 110 + Early Spanish flags 27 + East Africa Company, German 100 + East India Company, flag of 47, 89 + East Kent Regiment, flags of 66 + East Prussia, flag of 98 + Ecclesiastical flags often pictorial 4 + Ecuador, flag of 124 + Eddystone Light flag signal 137 + Edinburgh Cathedral, flags in 68 + Edinburgh Trained Bands 42 + Edmonson on flag usage 9 + Edward the Confessor, arms of 34 + Edward III., "King of the Seas" 25 + Edward VI., funeral of 17 + Egypt, ancient, standards of 2 + Egyptian flags, modern 120, 121 + Electoral bonnet 52 + Elephant as a device 65, 84, 125 + Elephant, order of the 115 + Elizabeth, funeral of Queen 17 + Elizabeth, thanksgiving service 3 + Elsass, flag of 101 + Emperor of Germany 98 + Ensign 8 + Ermine as a flag device 24 + Errors in flag-making 58, 59, 60 + Excise, flag of the 71 + Eye as a device on flag 7 + + F. + Facings of the regiment 62 + Falcon as a device 17 + Favyn "Le Théâtre d'honneur" 4, 107 + Fiji, badge of colony 84 + Files represented on trade flag 7 + Flag-book of the Admiralty 120 + Flag-lore valuable 58 + Flagons on trade flag 7 + Flag-signalling 127, _et seq._ + Flanders, badge of 111 + Flashing messages at night 134 + Fleur-de-lys 21, 34, 36, 106, 108, 109, 112 + Flodden, battle of 6 + Florida, settlement of 86 + Florin, arms on the 32 + Fly of a flag, the 10 + Fork and spoon on a flag 7 + Four-flag signals 137 + France, flags of 1, 21, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110 + Franco-German War of 1870 97 + Fribourg, flag of 116 + Frogmorton, standard of 17 + Funeral obsequies, flags at 6, 17, 18, 19, 22 + + G. + Garter, order of the 38 + Gautier on the Swiss flag 116 + Geneva Convention 117 + Geneva, flag of 116 + Geographical signals 137 + George, St., cross of 4, 10, 14, 16, 35, 39, 41, 45, 48, 53, 84, 87, + 116 + George, St., of England 36, 37, 116 + George, St., of Russia 102, 103 + German Unity 97, 98 + Germany, flags of 99, 100 + Globe on flag 63, 87 + Gnu as a flag device 84 + Golden Legend, the 37 + Gonfalon, kind of flag 8 + Government, departments, flags of 71 + Governor-General of Canada, flag of 81 + Governors of Colonies, flags of 81, 84 + Grandison, banner of Sir William de 11 + Gray, quotation from 9 + Greater Britain 77 + Great Seal of Canada 83 + Great Seal of Richard I. 30 + Greece, flag of 119 + Green and white of the Tudors 21 + Green as a flag colour 23, 43, 113, 123 + Greyhound as a device 17 + {144} + Growth of the Italian State 113 + Guards, flags of the 65 + Guatemala, flag of 23, 122 + Guidon, form of flag 21 + Guild flags 6, 7 + Guinea Company's flag 27 + + H. + Half-mast high, flags at 25 + Hamburg, flag of city of 99 + Hammer represented on flag 6, 7 + Hand as a device 2 + Hanover, arms of 29, 35, 52 + Hanover, flag of 101 + Hanseatic League, flag of 99 + Harfleur, siege of 12 + Harleian MS. on flags 16, 21 + Harp of Ireland 4, 29, 32, 33, 34, 49, 54 + Hayti, flag of 23, 124 + Heavenly succour 37, 42, 44, 106, 115 + Henry V., standard of 16 + Henry VII., flags in chapel of 12 + Heraldic Exhibition, Edinburgh 43 + Heraldic requirements in flag devising 23, 54 + Hesse, flag of 101 + Highland tartans 1 + "History and principles of Heraldry" 10 + Hohenzollerns, arms of the 99 + Hoisting one flag over another 25 + Hoist of the flag, the 10 + Holderton, banner of Sir John de 11 + Holland, flags of 117, 118 + Hong Kong, badge of colony of 84 + Horse as a device 2 + Horsham, political colours at 8 + House flags 24, 74, 75 + House of Orange, flag of 117 + Hungary, flag of 23, 102 + + I. + Idolatrous emblem 87 + Illiterate voters, mistakes of 7, 8 + Imperial Eagle 66, 101, 102 + Inscriptions on flags 3, 4, 13, 15, 16, 24, 35, 41, 43, 49, 66, 88, 90, + 93, 122, 123 + International signal code 133, 136, 137, 138 + Investiture of knight-banneret 14 + Invocation of saints 3 + Ireland joined to Great Britain 32 + Iron cross of Germany 100 + Isandlwana, battle of 63, 69 + Istria, flag of 102 + Italy, flags of 23, 113, 114 + + J. + James II., statue of 35 + Japan, flags of 124 + Jerusalem, arms of city of 114, 115 + Jewish standards 3 + Joan of Arc, standard of 4 + Jove, Eagle of 2 + + K. + Karlaverok, siege of 11, 18 + Kasan, arms of province of 102 + Katharine of Arragon flag-making 13 + Kempenfeldt's signal code 130 + Key as a device on flag 15 + Khorsabad, slabs from 2 + Kingdom of Hungary 101 + King's Own Borderers 63 + Kiow, arms of province of 102 + Knights-banneret 14 + Knights of the Bath, banners of 12 + Knights of the Garter, banners of 12 + Knights Templars, banner of the 24 + Köbel, book on costume and flags 101 + Korea, flag of kingdom of 125 + + L. + Labarum of Constantine 2, 3, 51 + Labuan, badge of colony of 84 + La Haye's book on flags 87 + Lamartine on the red flag 109 + Lancer pennon 14, 19 + Landing of Charles II. 47 + Land of the rising sun 124 + Laurel wreath on flag 49, 81 + Lawyers, flag of the 7 + Leeward Isles, badge of the 84 + Leon and Castile, arms of 86, 110, 111 + Liberia, flag of 125 + Liberty, figure of 94, 118 + Lion of Scotland 4, 29, 31, 34 + Lions of England 4, 29, 30, 34 + {145} + Livery colours 7, 14, 17, 21 + Livy on Vexillum 2 + Lloyd's signal stations 139 + Locksmiths, flag of the 7 + London, port of, flag signal 137 + London Trained Bands 41, 67 + Lone Star State, flag of the 95 + Lord Cardross, flag of 16 + Lord High Admiral of England 72, 80 + Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, flag of 71 + Lord Mayor's Show, flags at 19, 20 + Loss of colours at Edgehill 65 + Lothringen, flag of 101 + Louisiana, flag of State of 94 + Louisiana, settlement of 86 + Lozenges as a device on flag 41 + Lubeck, flag of city of 99 + Lucerne, flag of 116 + Lunenburg, arms of 35 + Lydgate, the duty of chivalry 12 + + M. + Maccabees, standard of the 3 + Machyn, diary of 6, 17, 21, 39, 111 + Mackay, extract from 57, 58 + Mail service flag 72 + Mainsail emblazoned as banner 12 + Malplaquet, battle of 64 + Man-of-war pendant 20, 78, 93, 110, 111, 121, 129, 135 + Maple-leaf of Canada 30, 81 + Marmion, quotation from 8, 18 + Martin, description of Western Islands 1 + Marseillaise, the 98 + Marseilles, flag of port of 75 + Martlets on flag 34 + Massachusetts, flag of 3, 87 + _Mayflower_, sailing of the 87 + Mecklenburg-Strelitz, flag of 101 + Mediæval spelling 6, 22 + Mediterranean and New York Company 75 + Merchant flag, red ensign 40, 47, 58, 73, 80 + Merchant Shipping (Colours) Act 58 + Metal-workers, flag of the 7 + Meteorological signals 135 + Mexico, flag of 23, 123 + Milton, quotation from 8 + Minotaur as a device 2 + Minden, battle of 64 + "Mirror for Magistrates," quotation from 15 + Mohammedan flags often green 24 + Monasteries, flags of 5 + Monk, funeral of General 18, 22 + Monogram, sacred, on flag 3, 42, 51 + Monthermer, banner of Sir Ralph 11 + Morse alphabet for signalling 127, 128, 129 + Mottoes on flags 3, 4, 13, 15, 16, 24, 35, 41, 43, 49, 66, 88, 90, 93, + 122, 123 + Mutiny in the Royal Navy 25 + + N. + Napoleon, flags at tomb of 4 + Nassau, arms of 29, 35 + Natal, device of colony of 84 + Naval Discipline Act 56 + Naval Exhibition at Chelsea 41 + Navy signalling 129, _et seq._ + Nelson, funeral of 18, 22 + Neville's Cross, battle of 5 + New Brunswick, arms of province of 82 + Newfoundland, badge of colony of 83 + New Granada, flag of 122 + New Guinea, badge of colony of 84 + New South Wales, badge of colony of 84 + New Zealand, badge of 84 + New Zealand Shipping Company 24, 75 + Night signalling at sea 134 + Nisbet on the tressure 32 + Norie's "Flags of All Nations" 26 + Northallerton, sacred flags at 5 + North German Confederacy 99 + Norway, flag of 115 + Nova Scotia, arms of province of 82 + Nova Scotia, settlement of 87 + Novgorod, arms of province of 102 + + O. + Obsolete flags 8, 22, 26 + Ontario, arms of province of 82 + Orange flag 8 + Orange Free State, flag of 23, 125 + Order of Black Eagle 100 + {146} + Ordnance Department flag 71 + Orient Steam Navigation Company 24, 134 + Oriflamme 105 + Oudenarde, battle of 64 + Owl of Athene 2 + + P. + Palmetto palm on flag 94, 95 + _Pamiot Azof_, flag of the 104 + Papal States, flag of the 23, 114, 115 + Paraguay, flag of 122 + Paris, arms of city of 109 + Passion symbols on flag 6 + Patrick, St., life of 51, 52 + Pendant or pennant, 20, 40, 78, 93, 110, 111, 121, 129, 135 + Peninsular and Oriental Company, flag of 74 + Pennoncelle or pencel 19 + Pennon, nature of the 14, 18, 19 + Pepys, extract from diary of 55 + Percy, banner of Sir Henri de 11 + Percy lion 11, 15 + Percy motto 15, 16 + Percy standard 15 + Persepolis, sculptures of 2 + Peruvian flag 123 + Pictorial flags 4 + Pilgrim Fathers, the 87 + Pilot flag 48, 100, 104, 134 + Pine-apple as a device 84 + Pine-tree flag 87, 88, 89 + Plantagenet livery colours 21 + Pliny on Roman standards 2 + Poland, flag of 105 + Political colours 7 + Political devices on flags 4 + Pomerania, flag of 101 + Popham's signal code 131 + Portcullis as a device 21 + Portobello, capture of 41 + Ports, flags of 75 + Portugal, flags of 112, 113 + Pottery, representation of flags on 89 + Precedence a difficulty 28 + Presentation of colours 3, 66 + President, U.S.A., flag of 93, 94 + Printed flags 23 + Protectorate flag, the 50 + Prussian eagle 98 + + Q. + Quarantine flag, the 25, 59 + Quebec, arms of province of 82 + Queen's colour 61, 65 + Queensland, badge of colony of 83 + Queen's Regulations 54, 55, 64, 71, 78, 81 + + R. + Ramilies, battle of 64 + Rattlesnake flag 1, 13, 87, 88 + Raven of the Danes 13 + Rebel colors burnt 70 + Red ensign 40, 47, 58, 73, 80 + Red flag of revolution 25, 59, 109 + Relics of saints worked into flag 5 + Religious character of early flags 4, 5, 22 + Religious service 3, 103 + Revenue flag, U.S.A. 93 + Rey on the French flag 107 + Rhode Island, flag of 87 + Richard II., standard of 17 + Ridre, standard of Sir William de 11 + Riga, flag of port of 75 + Ripon, St. Wilfrid's banner at 5 + Rolls of arms 10 + Rome, standards of ancient 2, 42 + Roses as a flag device 16, 21 + Rotterdam, flag of port of 75 + Rouen, capture of 5, 38, 112 + Roumania, flag of 121 + Royal Colonial Institute 76 + Royal Horse Artillery of 1813 19 + Royal Marines 63 + Royal Naval Reserve 40, 56, 57, 73, 79, 139 + Royal Navy, flag code of the 133 + Royal Oak on coins 88 + Royal Standard 11, 29, 34, 48, 54, 59, 78 + Royal United Service Museum 24, 125, 130, 131 + Royal Yacht Squadron, flag of the 72 + Royston, political colours at 8 + Russia, flags of 24, 102, 103, 104, 105 + Russian American Company's flag 26 + + S. + Sacred monogram on flag 3 + Salique law, operation of 36 + Salmon as a flag device 82 + Saluting the flag 26, 55, 56 + {147} + San Salvador, flag of 124 + Sarawak, flag of 125 + Sardinia, flag of 26 + Savoy, flag of 27, 113, 123 + Saxe-Coburg Gotha, flag of 101 + Saxony, arms of 35 + Saxony, flag of 100 + Schomburg-Lippe, flag of 101 + School of Army Signalling 128 + "Scotland for ever" 70 + Scots Greys 66 + Scottish grievance as to arms 31, 45, 46, 53 + Scottish variation of Union flag 46 + Scott, quotation from 8, 29 + Servia, flag of 121 + Seven Champions of Christendom, 38 + Seventeenth Lancers 66 + Shakespeare, quotation from 15, 37 + _Shannon_ and _Chesapeake_ duel 90 + Shears as a device on trade flag 7 + Siam, flag of kingdom of 125 + Signal-book of _Chesapeake_ 133 + Signalling by flags 20, 23, 127, _et seq._ + Simon de Montfort, banner of, 12 + Skull and cross-bones device 66 + Sledge flags of Arctic expedition 16 + South Australia, badge of 83 + South Carolina, flag of 87, 88, 94 + Southern Cross 30, 80, 96 + Sovereignty of the seas 25, 26 + Spain, flags of 1, 24, 110, 111, 112 + Spelling, mediæval liberty of 6, 22 + Spenser, quotation from 36 + Sphinx as a badge 62, 63 + Spoon and fork on trade flag 7 + Standard, nature of the 14 + St. Andrew, cross of 4, 35, 42, 43, 45, 53, 116 + Stars and bars, C.S.A. 95, 96 + Stars and stripes, U.S.A. 59 + St. Denis, flag of 105 + Stewart on tartans 1 + St. Gallen, flag of 116 + St. George, cross of 4, 10, 14, 16, 35, 39, 41, 45, 48, 53, 84, 87, 116 + St. Helena, badge of colony of 84 + Storm signals by flags 135 + "Story of Thebes," quotation from 12 + St. Patrick, cross of 4, 51, 53, 116 + Straits Settlement, device of 84 + Streamer, variety of flag 20, 21 + Strictly confidential signals 133 + Stuart, livery colours of house of 21 + Sun as a device 2, 17 + Swallow-tail flag 14, 18, 93, 110, 115, 116, 130 + Swan, black, of Western Australia 84 + Sweden, flag of 115 + Switzerland, flag of 116 + Swynnerton, standard of Sir Thomas de 16 + Sydney, Sir Philip, funeral of 18 + Sidney, Sir Philip, on war 19 + Symbols to express colours 74 + + T. + Tartans, Scottish 1 + Tasmania, device of colony of 84 + Telegraph Department, flag of 71 + Tessin, flag of Canton 117 + _Teutonic_, armament of the 57 + Teutonic order, cross of the 100 + Texas, flag of the State of 95 + Texel, flag of the port of 75 + "The late unpleasantness" 96 + "Theorike and Practike of Modern Warres" 61 + Third Dragoons 66 + Thistle as a flag device 42, 82 + Three-flag signals 137 + Tiger of Korea 125 + Titus, the arch of 2 + Tobacco plant on flag 123 + Torpedo practice flag 133 + Trafalgar, Nelson's famous signal 132, 133 + Trajan's column, standards on 2 + Transport service, flag of the 71, 104 + Transvaal, flag of the 126 + Trefoils as a device 41 + Tressure of Scotland, the 31, 32 + Tricolor of France 40, 108 + Trinidad, badge of colony of 84 + Trinity, banner of the 5, 6 + Trowel on guild flag 6 + Trumpet banners 12, 20 + Tudor flags 17 + Tughra device, the 120, 121 + {148} + Tunisian flags 120 + Turkey, flags of 24, 119, 120 + Twenty-fourth regiment 62 + Tyrol, flag of the 102 + + U. + Union between England and Scotland 45 + Union between Great Britain and Ireland 50, 52 + Union flag 1, 4, 45, 47, 50, 54, 61 + Union flag of Sweden and Norway, 116 + Union Jack 47, 48 + Union Steamship Company's flag 75 + United Italy 113 + United States of America, flag of 86, 89, 90, 91 + Universal code for signalling 28 + Urgency flag signals 136 + Uri, flag of Canton of 116 + Uruguay, flag of 122 + Utilisation of liners as cruisers 57 + + V. + Valence, banner of Sir Aymer de 11 + _Valkyrie_, flag of the yacht 73 + Variation in size a sign of rank 17 + Venezuela, flag of 23, 122, 123 + Venice, obsolete flags of 27 + Versailles, palace of 97 + Vessels spoken at sea 139, 140 + Viceroy of India, flag of 65, 81 + Victoria Cross 63 + Victoria, flag of colony of 80 + Victualling Department, flag of 71 + Virginia, settlement of 86 + Virgin Mary on flag 6 + Vocabulary signals 137 + Voldermirz, arms of 102 + Vowel flags objectionable 138, 139 + + W. + Waldeck, flag of 101 + War cries 37 + War songs 95, 98 + Warriors' Chapel at Canterbury 66, 67 + Washington, arms of 91, 93 + "Watch upon the Rhine" 98 + Waterloo, battle of 70 + Weather signals 135, 137 + Wellington, funeral of Duke of 18, 22 + West Africa, device of 84 + Western Australia, device of 84 + Western Australia, governor's flag 81 + West Prussia, flag of 98 + White cross of France 107 + White elephant of Siam 125 + White ensign 40, 55, 59, 72 + White horse of Hanover 63, 66 + White horse of Kent 36 + White Star Line, house flag of 57, 75 + Why called "Jack" 48 + William III., standard of 35 + Wreath on flag 63, 66, 81 + Wolf as a device 2 + Wurtemburg, flag of 101 + + Y. + Yacht flags 100, 138 + Yellow flag, its significance 24, 59 + York, livery colours of house of 21 + + * * * * * + +{149} + +COLOURED PLATES. + +PLATE I. + +1 Banner of Sir John Botetourte. 2 Banner of Sir Ralph de Monthermer. 3 +Banner of Sir Hugh Touches. 4 Banner of Sir William de Ridre. 5 Banner of +Sir Hugh Bardolph. 6 Banner of Sir John de Holderton. 7 Banner of Sir Henri +de Percy. 8 Banner of Sir Hugh de Courtenay. 9 Banner of Sir Aymer de +Valence. 10 Banner of Sir John de Bar. 11 Banner of Sir William de +Grandison. + +PLATE II. + +12 Percy Flag, Crescent Badge. 13 Arctic Sledge-flag, Expedition of +1875-76. 14 The Percy Standard. 15 Standard of Sir Thomas de Swynnerton. 16 +Arctic Sledge-flag, Expedition of 1875-76. 17 Banner of St. Edmund. 18 +Banner of Simon de Montfort. 19 Banner of St. Edward. + +PLATE III. + +20 Streamer, Tudor Fleur-de-Lys Badge, 1520. 21 Streamer, Tudor Portcullis +Badge, 1520. 22 Standard of Henry VIII. 23 Streamer, Tudor Rose Badge, +1520. 24 Streamer, Tudor Red Dragon Badge, 1520. 25 Pendant of H.M.S. +_Lion_. 26 Pendant of H.M.S. _Tiger_. 27 Pendant of Warship of 1520. + +PLATE IV. + +28 Guidon form of Flag. 29 Abnormal form of Pennon. 30 Lancer Pennon of +present day. 31 Pennon, Royal Horse Artillery, 1813. 32 Flag from Early +German Book. 33 Modification of Pennon form. 34 Flag of H.M.S. _Niger_, +1797. 35 Ecclesiastical Flag, MS. British Museum. 36 Burgee, the Ducal +Shipping Line. 37 Early form of Banner, MS. British Museum. 38 Burgee, +McIver's Shipping Line. 39, 40, 41, 42 Examples from Bayeux Tapestry. 4 +illus. + +PLATE V. + +43 The Royal Standard of King George III. 44 The Royal Standard of Queen +Victoria. + +PLATE VI. + +45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51 Illustrations of perverted ingenuity and crass +ignorance, taken from street decorations on occasions of general rejoicing. + +PLATE VII. + +52, 53 Flags from early Spanish Map in British Museum, 1502. 54, 55 Early +Portuguese Flags, British Museum. 56 The Guinea Company. 57 East India +Company. 58 Early form of Algerian Flag. 59 Russian-American Company. 60 +Early English War Flag. 61 Heligoland Flag during British Possession. 62 +The Flag of Savoy. 63 Flag of the Grand Seigneur. 64 Turkish Flag. + +PLATE VIII. + +{150} 65 Ship Flag, Reign of George I. 66 Early form of Red Ensign. 67 +London Train Bands: The Blue Regiment, 1643. 68 London Train Bands: The +Yellow Regiment, 1643. 69 Flag of Warship, 16th Century. 70 Flag of H.M.S. +_Tiger_. 71 St. George, and Tudor Livery Colours. 72 London Train Bands: +The Green Regiment, 1643. 73 Flag of Union of England and Scotland. 74 +Pendant of H.M.S. _Lion_, 1745. 75 Scottish Blue Ensign. 76 Scottish Red +Ensign. 77 Banner of St. Alban's Abbey. 78 Jack of Warship of the 16th +Century. 79 Suggested forms for Union Flag, 1801. + +PLATE IX. + +80 Early Union Flag, England and Scotland. 81 Commonwealth Flag, England +and Scotland. 82 Commonwealth Flag, England and Ireland. 83 Standard of +Cromwell. 84 Scotch suggestion for Union Flag, 1801. 85 Flag of +Commonwealth. 86 Commonwealth Flag of England and Ireland. 87 Early Form of +Irish Flag, MS. in British Museum. 88, 89 Suggested Forms for second Union +Jack. + +PLATE X. + +90 Union Flag of Great Britain and Ireland. 91 Cross of St. George of +England. 92 Cross of St. Andrew of Scotland. 93 Cross of St. Patrick of +Ireland. 94 Regimental Colours: 24th of the Line, the 2nd Warwickshire +Regiment. + +PLATE XI. + +95 The White Ensign, Man-of-War. 96 The Blue Ensign, Naval Reserve. 97 The +Red Ensign, Merchant Service. 98 Victualling Service. 99 Admiralty Flag. +100 Ranelagh Yacht Club. 101 Yare Yacht Club. 102 Royal Thames Yacht Club. +103 Dublin Bay Yacht Club. 104 Pilot Jack. 105 Board of Trade Flag. 106 +Flag of Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. 107 Customs House Flag. 108 Ordnance +Flag. + +PLATE XII. + +109 Green's Blackwall Line. 110 Cunard Line, Liverpool. 111 Peninsular and +Oriental Company. 112 Australasian Naval Company. 113 Devitt & Moore, +London. 114 Canadian Pacific Company. 115 Donald Currie & Co., London. 116 +Union Steamship Company, Southampton. 117 Mediterranean and New York +Shipping Company. 118 Houlder Brothers & Company, London. 119 White Star +Line, Liverpool. 120 New Zealand Shipping Company. 121 _Britannia_, H.R.H. +the Prince of Wales. 122 _Ailsa_, A. B. Walker, Esq. 123 _Valkyrie_, The +Earl of Dunraven. 124 _Hester_, Major W. H. Gretton. 125 _Dream_, W. H. +Jones, Esq. 126 _Carina_, Admiral Montague. + +PLATE XIII. + +127 Cape Colony, Government. 128 Queensland, Government. 129 Canada, +Commercial. 130 Canada, Government. 131 Badge of Straits Settlements. 132 +Badge of British North Borneo. 133 Badge of Tasmania. 134 Victoria, +Commercial. 135 Victoria, Government. 136 Badge of New Zealand. {151} 137 +Badge of Fiji. 138 Badge of New South Wales. 139 Flag of Viceroy of India. +140 Portion of Pendant, Government Colonial vessels. 141 Governors' Flag, +West Australia. + +PLATE XIV. + +142 American Insurgent Flag, 1775. 143 Admiral's Flag, U.S. Navy. 144 Flag +used at Bunker's Hill. 145 American Pine-tree Flag. 146 The Stars and +Stripes of the United States. 147 New England Navy Flag, 1776. 148 +Massachusetts Flag, 1775. 149 Pine-tree and Stripes. 150 Early American +Flag. 151 Portion of Pendant, U.S.Navy. + +PLATE XV. + +152 Confederate States of America. 153 Confederate, the Southern Cross. 154 +Southern Cross, modified. 155 South Carolina State Flag, 1861. 156 +Louisiana State Flag. 157 Chili, portion of Pendant. 158 South Carolina, +1775. 159 South Carolina State Flag, 1861. 160 Texas State Flag. 161 Chili, +Commercial. 162 Guatemala, Flag of 1851. 163 Guatemala, Flag of 1858. + +PLATE XVI. + +164 Colombia (formerly New Granada), Commercial. 165 Uruguay, General +Service. 166 Guatemala, Government. 167 Costa Rica, Commercial. 168 +Paraguay, Government. 169 Brazil, General Service. 170 Venezuela, +Commercial. 171 Bolivia, Commercial. 172 Mexico, Government. 173 Portion of +Pendant, Brazil. 174 Peru, Government. 175 San Salvador, General Service. +176 Argentine, Government. 177 Ecuador, Government. 178 Hayti, Commercial. + +PLATE XVII. + +179 Oriflamme. 180, 181 Early French forms of Flag. 182 Soissonois Flag. +183 Bourbon Flag. 184 Standard of Charles VI. 185 Standard, French. 186 +Man-of-War Pendant. 187 Standard, French. 188 Flag of French Guards, 1563. +189 Flag of Republic, France. 190 Tricolor of 1790. 191 Modern French +Tricolor. + +PLATE XVIII. + +192 Spain, War. 193 Spain, Commercial. 194 Royal Standard of Spain. 195 +Portugal, Royal Standard. 196 Portugal, General Service. 197 Italy, +Commercial. 198 Papal Merchant (obsolete). + +PLATE XIX. + +199 Saxony. 200 Waldeck. 201 Saxe Weimar. 202 Pomerania. 203 Wurtemburg. +204 Oldenburg. 205 Mecklenburg Strelitz. 206 Brunswick. 207 German Empire, +War Ensign. 208 German Empire, Jack. 209 Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. 210 Schomberg +Lippe. 211 West Prussia. 212 Hesse. 213 Austria, Government. 214 +Austro-Hungarian, Commercial. 215 Russian Jack. 216 Poland. + +PLATE XX. + +217 Russian Man-of-War. 218 Russia, Commercial. 219 Early Form of Russian +Ensign. 220 Russia, Consul General. 221 Russia, Chargé d'Affaires. 222 +Russia, Ambassador or Minister. 223 Russia, Transport Service. 224 Danish +Man-of-War. 225 Danish, Commercial. {152} 226 Russian Imperial Standard. +227 Swedish, Commercial. 228 Norwegian Man-of-War. 229 Union Flag of Sweden +and Norway. 230 Flag of Norway. 231 Flag of Sweden. 232 Switzerland. + +PLATE XXI. + +233 Greece, Commercial Flag. 234 Italian Jack. 235 Turkey, Commercial. 236 +Belgium, Commercial. 237 Holland, Royal Standard. 238 Turkey, Standard. 239 +Turkey, Government. 240 Tunis, Government. + +PLATE XXII. + +241 Bulgaria. 242 Roumania. 243 Servia. 244 Japanese Ensign. 245 Japanese +Imperial Standard. 246 Japanese Transport Flag. 247 Chinese Merchant Flag. +248 Japanese Guard Flag. 249 Orange Free State. 250 Liberia. 251 Congo +State. 252 Rajah of Sarawak. 253 South African Republic. + +PLATE XXIII. + +254 to 267 Fourteen Flags from the Signal Code of the Royal Navy. 268 +Special Flag of the Coast Guard. + +269 to 278 Code of Sir Hope Popham, used by Nelson at Trafalgar, &c. 10 +illus. + +279 to 286 Special Battle Signals, code suggested in 1788. 8 illus. + +287 to 296 Numerical Code. Signal Code of 1788. 10 illus. + +297 to 306 Pilot Signals of various Nationalities. 10 illus. + +PLATE XXIV. + +307 to 324 The Flags of the International Code. 18 illus. 325 The +Signal-hoist for the Eddystone Lighthouse, B.D.T.F. 326 Code-signal for the +Port of London, B.D.P.Q. 327 Code-signal of SS. _Germanic_, N.V.B.Q. 328 +Code-signal of the _Hesperus_, M.N.D.L. 329 Code-signal of H.M.S. +_Devastation_, G.R.C.T. 330 "Do you wish to be reported?" B.P.Q. 331 "All +safe!" V.K.C. 332 "Report me to Lloyd's Agent." P.D.S. 333 "Do you want +assistance?" H.V.F. 334 "Has any accident happened?" B.G.H. + +PLATE XXV. + +335 to 339 Signal Flags of SS. _Australia_, _Arcadia_, _Massilia_, +_Victoria_, _Bengal_. (Are all Vessels in the P. & O.) 340 to 344 Signal +Flags of SS. _Oroya_, _Orient_, _Ophir_, _Orotava_, _Ormuz_. (Are all +Vessels of the Orient Line.) 345 to 349 Signal Flags of SS. _La Touraine_, +_Lafayette_, _Ville-de-Tanger_, _Amerique_, _Saint-Germain_. (Are all +Vessels of the Compagnie Generale Transatlantique.) + +PLATE XXVI. + +350 to 354 Flag-signals of some of the numerous _Victorias_ on the Shipping +List. + +355 to 359 Flag-signals of some of the numerous _Australias_ on the +Shipping List. + +360 to 364 Flag-signals of some of the numerous _Britannias_ on the +Shipping List. + +_The Botolph Printing Works, Crosskey Square, Little Britain, E.C._ + + * * * * * + +NOTES + +[1] "Every Isle differs from each other in their Fancy of making Plads, as +to the Stripes in Breadth and Colours. This Humour is as different through +the main Land of the Highlands in so far that they who have seen those +Places are able at the first View of a man's Plad to guess the Place of his +Residence."--Martin's "Description of the Western Islands," 1703. See also +"Old and Rare Scottish Tartans," by Donald Stewart, all illustrated by +actual pieces woven in silk to a reduced scale. The latest tartan, that of +Balmoral, was devised by Prince Albert in the year 1848. + +[2] In mediæval days the pastoral staff or crook of the bishop often had a +small scarf attached to it. This was known as the vexillum, and was +supposed to be derived from the Labarum, or standard of the first Christian +emperor, Constantine the Great. + +[3] In Favyn's book, "Le Théâtre d'honneur et de Chevalerie," published in +Paris some two hundred and fifty years ago, we read of "Le grand estendard +de satin bleu celeste double en riche broderie de fleurs de lys d'or de +Chypre à une grande croix plein de satin blanc, qui est la croix de France. + +"Le grand estendard Saint Michel ange gardien de la France, de satin bleu +celeste de riche broderie d'or de Chypre, semé d'estoiles d'or. + +"Le grand estendard de l'ordre du benoist Saint-Esprit, faict de double +satin verd à une columbe d'argent, rayonné d'or de riche broderie, le rest +semé de flammes d'or." + +Joan of Arc had a white standard powdered over with gold fleurs-de-lys, and +in the centre a figure of Christ sitting on a rainbow, and holding a globe. +On either side an angel in the posture of adoration, and, underneath, the +words "Jhesu, Maria." On another she had the Annunciation, and the words +"Ave Maria." These were painted at Tours "par James Power, Ecossais, +Peintre du Roi." + +[4] Thus the Cross of St. George would be normally represented as in Fig. +91, but we find it much elongated in Figs. 12 and 14, much widened out in +Figs 27 and 56, and yet more so on the shield of the arms of the Dominion +of Canada in Fig. 129. + +[5] We do not pause to explain the meaning of any heraldic terms that we +are obliged to employ. Such terms may be readily found in any technical +book on blazonry, and we have ourselves, in "The History, Principles and +Practice of Heraldry," gone very thoroughly into the meaning and use of the +various forms that enter into the blazonry of shield or banner, and do not, +therefore, repeat these matters here. + +[6] _i.e._, badges. + +[7] "Lord Gordon has arrived at Nauplia. He has brought the Greeks a number +of ensigns, embroidered by Scotch ladies, and sent by them."--_Salisbury +and Winchester Journal_, December 27th, 1824. + +[8] This crowned key may be seen as early as 1359 on the seal of Sir +Michael de Poynings. + +[9] The bugle horn appears as the crest of Sir William de Bryan on his +brass, 1375. + +[10] In an old pedigree of the family is inscribed the lines:-- + + "Esperance en Dieu, + Trust in hym, he is most true. + En Dieu Esperance, + In hym put thyne affiaunce. + Esperance in the worlde? Nay, + The worlde variethe every day. + Esperance in riches? Nay, not so; + Riches slidethe, and some will go. + Esperance in exaltacion of honour? + Nay, it widderethe away, lyke a flowre. + Esperance en Dieu, in hym is all, + Which is above Fortune's fall." + +[11] The modern flag, known as the burgee, largely used in flag signalling, +is like a shortened pennon. It is sometimes also called a cornet. + +[12] "Now the often changing fortune beganne also to channge the law of the +battels. For at the first, though it were terrible, yet Terror was deckt +and broachie with rich furniture, guilt swords, shining armours, pleasant +pensils, that the eye with delight had scarce time to be afraide; but now +all defiled with dust, blood, broken armour, mangled bodies, tooke away the +maske, and set forth Horror in his own horrible manner."--SIR PHILIP +SYDNEY. + +[13] "A streamer shall stand in the toppe of a shippe, or in the +forecastle, and therein be putt no armes, but a man's conceit or device, +and may be of the lengthe of twenty, forty, or sixty yards."--Harleian MS., +No. 2,358, dealing with "the Syze of Banners, Standardes, Pennons, +Guydhomes, Pencels, and Streamers." + +[14] While thus severe in our judgment on misguided foreigners it is only +just to point out that England itself is responsible for a combination as +horrible as any in the green, red, white, of the special flag that she +bestowed on Heligoland, while it was yet a British possession. It may be +seen in Fig. 61. + +[15] The famous banner of the Knights Templars, called the Beau-seant, had +its upper half black and lower white. The black symbolised the terror it +should be to the foe, and the white amity and goodwill to friends. + +[16] The "house-flags" of the various shipping companies make a great use +of letters: thus the flag of the Orient Steam Navigation Company is white +and divided into four portions by a blue cross. In these four portions are +placed in red the letters O.S.N.C. In Fig. 120 we have the flag of the New +Zealand Shipping Company, where the N.Z.S. Co. are equally conspicuous. Any +reference to a good list of house-flags, such as that published by Griffin, +would reveal scores of illustrations of this feature. + +[17] The map is freely embellished with illustrations. In South America, +for instance four immense crimson parrots about fill up Brazil, while in +Africa the parrots are green. Many of these figured details are very +quaint. + +[18] + + "The dazzling field, + Where in proud Scotland's royal shield, + The ruddy lion ramped in gold."--_Scott._ + +[19] With only one exception the Sovereigns of Scotland never quartered the +arms of any other kingdom with their own. The only exception was when Mary +Stuart claimed the arms of England and placed them upon her standard, and +thus gave irreparable provocation to Queen Elizabeth. + +[20] Brian Boru, who was killed in battle with the Danes, did much to +civilise Ireland; and, amongst other things, introduced the harp. The +ancient Irish harp at Trinity College, Dublin, was long claimed as the +identical instrument of Boru, but it has been proved by the ornament upon +it that it cannot be later than the fourteenth century. The most primitive +representation of the harp in Ireland is in a rude sculpture in a church +near Kilkeny. This is known to date from the ninth century. Though the harp +has ever shone in the poetry of the Irish people, they have but little +claim to it. It has been by no means such a national instrument with the +Irish as with the Welsh. It is one of the most ancient of instruments, +figuring in the mural paintings of Egypt centuries before the Christian +era. + +[21] As may be seen beautifully enamelled on his tomb in Westminster Abbey. + +[22] Another flag was a plain scarlet one, having this inscription: "For +the Protestant Religion and the Liberty of England" in white upon it. + +[23] The following summary may be taken as correct in its broad +facts:--From about 1195 to 1340, the Standard had the lions of England +alone on it. From 1340 to 1377, England and France together. 1377 to 1399, +England, France, and the arms of Edward the Confessor. 1399 to 1603, +England and France. 1603 to 1649, England, France, Scotland and Ireland. +1649 to 1659, Interregnum: a period of change and uncertainty, when divers +changes in the Standard were made that are scarcely worth detailing. 1659 +to 1688, England, France, Scotland, and Ireland. 1688 to 1701, England, +France, Scotland, Ireland, and Nassau. 1701 to 1714, England, France, +Scotland, and Ireland. 1714 to 1801, England, France, Scotland, Ireland, +and Hanover. 1801 to 1837, England, Scotland, Ireland, and Hanover. From +1837, England, Scotland, and Ireland. + +[24] Spenser. + +[25] In the same way, we find the Scottish clansmen rushing to the fray to +the cry of "St. Andrew and our Right." In the ballad of Otterbourne we read +that the Scots + + "Uppon Sent Andrewe loude they crye, + And thrysse they showte on hyght." + +[26] One interesting exception to this is that, on St. George's Day, the +5th regiment (Northumberland Fusiliers) holds full-dress parade, all +wearing the rose, the national emblem, in their headgear, and the officers +on their sword-knots also. The colours, too, are festooned with roses. + +[27] "The x day of January hevy news came to London that the French had won +Cales (Calais), the whyche was the hevest tydyngs to England that ever was +herd of. + +"The xj day of January the Cete of London took up a thousand men, and mad +them whytt cotes and red crosses, and every ward of London found men. + +"The xxj day of January came a new commandement to my Lord Mayre that he +shuld make men redy in harnes with whyt cotes weltyd with green, and red +crosses, by the xxiij day of the same moneythe to be at Leydenhalle to go +forward. + +"The xviij day of May there was sent to the shyppes men in whyt cotes and +red crosses, and gones, to the Queen's shyppes."--MACHYN'S DIARY. + +[28] Thus we have the white, the blue, the white and orange, the green and +red, the purple, the blue and white, the orange and green, the red and +yellow, the red and blue, the red and white, and divers others. The orange +company always took the lead. These companies were for a long time in +abeyance, and were superseded in 1798 by the formation of the Royal +Edinburgh Volunteers, but each year the Magistrates and Council still +appoint one of their number to be captain of the orange colours. His duty +is to take charge of the old colours and preserve them as an interesting +relic of a bygone institution. + +[29] It is remarkable that none of the flags extant bear the motto which +the Parliament on July 5th, 1650, ordered "to be upoun haill culloris and +standardis," _i.e._, "For Covenant, Religion, King, and Kingdom." It is +characteristic that each body claimed independence even in this matter. +Thus the Fenwick flag bore "Phinegh for God, Country, and Covenanted work +of Reformations." Another flag has, "For Reformation in Church and State, +according to the Word of God and our Covenant," while yet another bears the +inscription, "For Christ and His truths, no quarters to ye active enemies +of ye Covenant." + +[30] St. Andrew's day is November 30th. + +[31] The question of the Union between England and Scotland was often +mooted. In the year 1291 Edward I., being victorious in the north, declared +the two countries united, but this did not last long. In 1363 Edward III. +opened negotiations for a union of the two crowns if King David of Scotland +died without issue. In the reign of Edward VI. the matter was again to the +fore, but it was left to Queen Elizabeth to take the decisive step. + +[32] April 12th, 1605. + +[33] Thus in the Royal Standard of Spain, Fig. 194, the arms of Leon and +Castile being In the upper corner next the staff take precedence of honour +over Arragon and all the other States therein introduced. + +[34] In a picture in the collection at Hampton Court, representing the +embarkation of Charles II. from Holland, the ship has a large red flag +charged with the Stuart arms in the centre, but so soon as his position in +England was assured he reverted to the royal standard of his Stuart +predecessors and to the original form of the union flag, a form that during +the Protectorate was widely departed from. + +[35] "Jaque, espece de petite casaque militaire qu'on portait au moyen age +sur les armes et sur la cuirasse."--BOUILLET, "Dict. Universel." + +[36] A contemporary representation of this Long Parliament flag may be seen +on the medals bestowed on the victorious naval commanders, where the +principal ship in the sea-fight represented on the reverse of the medal +flies this flag at her masthead. + +[37] Andrew Marvell on the victory of Blake at Santa Cruz. + +[38] As the year of his birth is scarcely known within a century or so, it +is too much to expect the month or the day, but the day that is assigned to +St. Patrick in the calendar is March 17th. + +[39] In the year 1816, in consequence of the Electorate of Hanover being +raised to the rank of a Kingdom, the Hanoverian Royal Crown was substituted +for the Electoral headgear in the royal arms on the shield and standard. + +[40] A writer in the _Retrospective Review_ in the year 1847, thus relieves +his feelings:--"The banner of St. George, argent, and cross gules is still +borne as part of the English flag, though, from the disgraceful manner in +which it has been amalgamated with the Crosses of St. Andrew and St. +Patrick, it has not only lost all its purity, but presents a melancholy +example of the ignorance of heraldry and total want of patriotism and taste +which must have characterised those to whom we unfortunately owe its +arrangement." + +[41] "All Her Majesty's Ships of War in Commission shall bear a white +ensign with the Red St. George Cross, and the Union in the upper Canton, +and when it shall be thought proper to do so, they may display the Union +Jack at the bowsprit end."--_Queen's Regulations._ + +[42] We read, for instance, in the Diary of Pepys that in the expedition of +the Duke of Buckingham, in the year 1627, against the Isle de Rhé that "the +Duke divided his fleet into squadrons. Himself, ye Admirall, and General in +chiefe, went in ye Triumphe, bearing the Standard of England in ye maine +topp, and Admirall particular of the bloody colours. The Earl of Lindsay +was Vice-Admirall to the Fleete in the Rainbowe, bearing the King's usual +colours in his foretopp, and a blew flag in his maine topp, and was +admirall of the blew colours. The Lord Harvey was Rear Admirall in ye +Repulse, bearing the King's usual colours in his mizen, and a white flag in +the main topp, and was Admirall of ye squadron of white colours." + +[43] On the hoisting of the Ensign all work stops, and all ranks muster on +deck, standing with hand raised to the cap in salute, while the ship's band +plays the opening bars of the National Anthem. + +[44] Charles Mackay. + +[45] Other regiments with green facings are the 5th, 11th, 19th, 36th, +39th, 46th, 49th, 73rd, etc. Regiments with blue facings are the 1st, 4th, +6th, 7th, 13th, 18th, 21st, 23rd, 25th, etc., while buff is found in the +2nd, 3rd, 14th, 22nd, 27th, 31st, 40th, etc. Amongst the regiments with +yellow facings are the 9th, 10th, 12th, 15th, 16th, 20th, 26th, 28th, 29th, +30th, 34th, 37th, 38th, etc. White is met with in the 17th, 32nd, 41st, +43rd, 47th, 59th, 65th. Red is not so common, since the colour is that of +the tunic ordinarily, but we see it in the 33rd, 48th, and 76th. Black is +also less commonly used, but we find it in the facings of the 58th, 64th, +70th, and 89th Regiments. + +[46] The "Black Watch," the gallant 42nd, and other regiments also bear the +Sphinx for their services in Egypt in 1801, where Napoleon received his +first serious check from British troops. + +[47] When a regiment consists of two battalions the distinctions won by +each are common to both, and are, quite justly, the property of the whole +regiment. + +[48] In like manner we find the Royal Marines bearing on their colours an +anchor, first granted to the corps as a badge in the year 1775. The lion +and crown was added to this in 1795. In 1802, in honour of the gallant +share taken by the Marines in the capture of Bellisle, a laurel wreath was +added to the other badges of honour, and in 1827 the motto "_Per Mare per +Terram_" and a globe, surmounted by the word "Gibraltar," was also placed +on their colours, as a testimony to the services of the Marines all over +the world, and notably at the taking of Gibraltar. + +[49] Blenheim, August 2nd, 1704; Ramilies, May 23rd, 1706; Oudenarde, June +30th, 1708; Malplaquet, September 11th, 1709; Dettingen, June 16th, 1743; +Minden, August 1st, 1759. + +[50] This, with many other interesting trophies of war, may be seen in the +Chapel of Chelsea College. The Blenheim Colours are now nearly all consumed +away with age: of one but the staff remains, and many others are now as +tender as tinder. French, Russian, American, Chinese, and many other flags +of former foes may there be seen quietly fading away, as the old national +animosities have likewise done. + +[51] Amongst the various devices seen on the flags of the Parliamentarians, +was one of a skull surrounded by a laurel crown, accompanied by the words +"_Mors vel Victoria_." + +[52] There are the colours of other regiments as well. Those that we +specially refer to above will be found in what is known as the Warriors' +Chapel. We deal with these especially, because, as being the flags of the +territorial regiment, they find, with particular appropriateness, their +resting place in Canterbury Cathedral. + +[53] There is now no Lord High Admiral of Great Britain; his functions are +analogous to those of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army; the last Lord +High Admiral was William IV., who received this appointment when Prince of +Wales. The office is now said to be "in commission"--its functions are +performed by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, a board uniting the +dual control which is exercised over the land Forces by the War Office and +the Horse Guards. Commissions of Naval Officers are not signed by the +Queen, they are headed "By the Commissioners for executing the office of +Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom," etc.; and they are signed by two +of the Lords. + +[54] We find the Royal Yacht Club, in 1815, and the Royal Thames Yacht +Club, in 1835, flying what would be a white ensign if it had but the great +Cross of St. George upon it; an entirely white flag having the Union in the +corner next the staff. One may get a fair notion of its effect by looking +at Fig. 154, but imagining the Union in the place of the device there seen. +The Royal Yacht Club burgee at this period was plain white, without any +device whatever. The burgee of the other Club we have named has undergone +many changes. In 1823 it is scarlet, with the letters T.Y.C. in white; in +1831 the prefix Royal has been gained, and the flag, still red, has the +crown and the R.T.Y.C. in white upon it; while in 1834 we still find the +crown and the same letters, but now, not white on red, but red on white. + +[55] "BY THE COMMISSIONERS for executing the office of Lord High Admiral of +the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, &c. + +"WHEREAS, we deem it expedient that Canadian registered vessels shall be +permitted to wear the Red Ensign of Her Majesty's Fleet, with the Canadian +Coat of Arms in the Fly thereof. + +"We do therefore, by virtue of the power and authority vested in us, hereby +warrant and authorize the Red Ensign of Her Majesty's Fleet, with the +Canadian Coat of Arms in the Fly, to be used on board vessels registered in +the Dominion. + +"Given under our hands and the seal of the Office of Admiralty, this second +day of February, 1892." + +[56] The Maple is to Canada what the Rose is to England, or the Shamrock to +Ireland. Hence, we find it on the coinage, etc. In the Canadian Militia +List before us we find it on the accoutrements of many of the regiments, +enwreathing the motto or device; sometimes alone, and often in association +with the rose, thistle, and shamrock. + +[57] Thus in a French book on flags (La Haye's), published in 1737, we see +a "pavillon de Nouvelle Angleterre en Amerique." This is a blue flag, +having on a white canton the Cross of St. George, and in the first quarter +of this canton a globe, in allusion to America, the new world. + +[58] In September, 1775, Moultrie, the heroic defender of the fort which +still bears his name, devised this the first flag of the State of South +Carolina, the uniform of the South Carolina men being blue, and some of the +regiments having a silver crescent in their caps; but why they had the +silver crescent as a badge no record seems to inform us. + +[59] It may be somewhat of an assistance to our readers if we give a few +chronological details: The obnoxious duty on tea and other articles imposed +by the British Parliament, June, 1767. Tea thrown overboard in Boston +harbour by the discontented populace, November, 1773. The Boston Port Bill, +by which that port was to be shut up until compensation made to the East +India Company for the tea destroyed, passed March, 1774. General Congress +of the colonists at Philadelphia, September, 1774. Revolution, first blood +shed at Lexington, April, 1775. Washington appointed Commander-in-Chief of +the American Armies, June, 1775. Thirteen colonies declare themselves +independent, July 4th, 1776. Independence of Colonies recognised by France +in March, 1778, by Holland in April, 1782, and by Great Britain in +September, 1783. John Adams received as ambassador from America by George +III. in June, 1785, and first ambassador sent from Great Britain to the +United States, in 1791. + +[60] In an old print before us of the fight between the _Shannon_ and the +_Chesapeake_, we see that the latter hoists three American flags, all +having the top and bottom stripes white, and at the foremast a white flag +inscribed with the enigmatical motto, "Free Trade and Sailors' rights." + +[61] + + "Forty flags with their silver stars, + Forty flags with their crimson bars." + WHITTIER, "Barbara Frietchie." + +[62] At a banquet at the Mansion House, when many leading Englishmen and +eminent Colonists gathered together to celebrate St. George's Day, the +American Ambassador, an honoured guest, said that he was very conscious +that he was there at a gathering of the clans. "There was a tradition that +the mischievous boy was generally the favourite of the household. His +mother might confess it openly, his father secretly, but the rest of the +family said nothing about it. Now there was a mischievous boy who broke +away from home something more than a century ago, but let them not suppose +that because he left the home he or his descendants ever came back without +a strong feeling that it is the home." He went on to say that he never met +a body of representative Englishmen, British men, speaking the same +language that he did, without a sense of grave joy and pleasure: the sense +that they were his brethren in a great cause, and that he joined with them, +he and his people, in sustaining the best hopes and aspirations of the +world's civilization. Blood is thicker than water, and all right-minded +Englishmen will read his kindly words with pleasure, and give them +heartiest reciprocation. + +[63] To the Germans, in their campaign against France, this and the "Watch +upon the Rhine" were worth many battalions as a spur and stimulus to heroic +deeds. During the American War both Federals and Confederates owed much to +the influence of stirring patriotic songs. There can be no doubt that the +songs of Dibdin contributed not a little to our own naval victories, and +every cause that is worth fighting for evokes like stirring strains. +Perhaps one of the most marked illustrations of this is the birth of that +grand war-song known as the "Marseillaise." Rouget de l'Isle, its author, +was a captain of French Engineers stationed in Strassbourg on the opening +of the campaign against Austria and Prussia in 1792. On the eve of the day +that the contingent from that city was going to join the main army of the +Rhine, a question arose as to what air should be played at their departure. +Several were suggested and rejected, and Rouget de l'Isle left the meeting +and retired to his own quarters, and before the gathering broke up had +written both words and music of "Le Chant de l'Armee du Rhin." On returning +to the meeting, still in consultation on the various details of the morrow, +he sang his composition, and it was at once welcomed with delight. It flew +like wildfire throughout France, and, owing to the Marseillaise troops +singing it on entering Paris, it derived the name by which it has ever +since been known. Its stirring words and the grand roll of the music +aroused the enthusiasm of the country, and at once made it the battle-song +of France, to be at times proscribed, but never forgotten. + +[64] The book on German costume by Köbel, printed at Frankfort-on-the-Main +in 1545, should be referred to, if possible, by the reader. It is, +unfortunately, a very rare book. The first edition of this splendid volume +contains 144 large illustrations of standard-bearers; the figures are +admirably drawn and very varied in attitude, while the flags they carry are +replete with interest, many of course being now quite obsolete, while +others there represented have come down to us through the three centuries +intact. + +[65] The _Pamiot Azof_, one of the most powerful ironclads of the Russian +Navy, flies at her mast-head the Cross of St. George (white on red), in +memory of the gallant service at Navarino in 1527 of her predecessor of +that name. The Czar Nicholas decreed that all future _Pamiot Azofs_ in the +navy should bear this distinguishing mark of honour. Peter the Great built +the first _Pamiot Azof_ as a memorial of the great siege of Azof, and the +name has been handed down ever since. The influence of that piece of +scarlet and white bunting will doubtless be such that no _Pamiot Azof_ will +ever fall short of the highest expectations that this exceptional honour +would suggest. + +[66] "Clisson, assura sa Majesté du gain de la bataille, le roi lui +répondit: 'Connestable, Dieu le veeulte, nous irons donc avant au nom de +Dieu et de Sainct Denis.'"--_Vulson de la Colombière._ + +[67] In a miniature of Charles II., A.D. 869, in a book of prayers, the +royal sceptre terminates in a fleur-de-lys. The crown of Hugh Capet, A.D. +957, in St. Denis, is formed of fleur-de-lys, as is that of his successor, +Robert le Sage, A.D. 996, Henry I., 1031, and many others. To make the +matter more complicated, we find on the crown of Uffa, first king of the +East Angles, A. D. 575, true fleurs-de-lys. + +[68] One old writer asserts that Louis VII., on setting out in the year +1137 for the Crusade chose the purple iris flower as his emblem. + +[69] "Recherches sur les Drapeaux Français, Oriflamme, bannière de France, +Marques nationales, Couleurs du roi, drapeaux de l'armée, pavilions de la +Marine."--GUSTAVE DESJARDINS, Paris, 1874. + +Another good book to see is the "Histoire du drapeau de la Monarchie +Française," by M. Rey. + +[70] It may be helpful here to append for reference the chronology of the +earlier sovereigns of the House of Bourbon:--Henry IV., "the Great," +ascended the throne in 1589; Louis XIII., "the Just," 1610; Louis XIV., +"the Great," 1643; Louis XV., "the Well-beloved," 1715; Louis XVI., 1774, +guillotined in January, 1793. + +[71] Thus, at a grand military _fête_, on May 10th, 1852, in the Champ de +Mars, on restoring this symbol, we find the Emperor addressing the +troops:--"The Roman eagle, adopted by the Emperor Napoleon at the +commencement of this century, was a brilliant symbol of the grandeur of +France. It disappeared amongst our calamities. It ought to return when +France, raised up again, should no more repudiate her high position. +Soldiers! Take again the eagles which have so often led our fathers to +glory." In 1855, in addressing a detachment of the Imperial Guard prior to +its departure for the Crimea, he exclaimed, "The Imperial Guard, the heroic +representative of military glory and honour, is here before me. Receive +then these eagles, which will lead you on to glory. Soon will you have +planted them on the walls of Sebastopol!" + +[72] First Republic, 1792 to 1799. The Consulate, 1799 to 1804. The first +Empire, 1804 to 1814. The Restoration, Bourbon and Orleanist, 1814 to 1848, +the second Republic, 1848 to 1853, the second Empire, 1853 to 1870, the +third Republic from 1870. + +[73] The diary of Henry Machyn, "Citizen and Merchant Tayler of London," +from which we have already quoted, tells us how the writer saw the "Kyng's +grace and dyvers Spaneards," the said King being Philip of Spain, riding +through the city attired in red and yellow, the colours of Spain. In the +cavalcade, Machyn tells us, were "men with thrumpets in the same colors, +and drumes made of ketylles, and baners in the same colors." + +[74] This quarter of the flag, the arms of Leon and Castile, was the entire +flag of the time of Columbus. Isabella gave the great explorer a personal +flag, a white swallow-tailed ensign having in its centre a green cross and +the letters F.Y. The quartered arms of Leon and Castile are sculptured upon +the monument in Westminster Abbey of Alianore, the daughter of Ferdinand +III., King of Leon and Castile, and the wife of Edward I. of England. The +date of the tomb is 1290. + +[75] The following chronological items may prove of assistance. Crown of +Navarre passes to France, 1276. Ferdinand of Arragon re-conquers Navarre, +1512. Accession of House of Austria to throne of Spain, 1516. Spain annexed +Netherlands, 1556, and, shortly after Philip II., husband of our Queen +Mary, annexed Burgundy. Portugal united to Spain, 1580. Portugal lost, +1640. Philip V. invades Naples, 1714. Charles III., King of the Two +Sicilies, succeeds to Spanish crown, 1759. + +[76] The various heralds and pursuivants in their tabards blazoned with the +lions of England, the fleurs-de-lys of France, or the castles of Portugal. + +[77] Az. three crosses in pale or. + +[78] The Turks, originally an Asiatic people, overran the provinces of the +Eastern, or Greek Empire, about the year 1300, but did not capture +Constantinople until 1453. Thirty years afterwards they obtained a footing +in Italy, and in 1516 Egypt was added to the Empire. The invading hosts +spread terror throughout Europe, and in 1529 and in 1683 we find them +besieging Vienna. Rhodes was captured from the Knights of St. John, Greece +subdued, Cyprus taken from the Venetians: but later on the tide of war +turned against them, and frequent hostilities with England, France, and +Russia led to the gradual weakening of the Turkish power. + +[79] There is such a general impression that officials are so very much +bound up in highly-starched red tape that we gladly take this opportunity +of acknowledging the extreme consideration with which all our enquiries +have been met. The libraries of the Admiralty, the Royal United Service +Museum, the Guildhall, South Kensington, etc., have been placed +unreservedly at our service. The authorities of the Board of Trade, of +Lloyds, of the Royal Chelsea Hospital, of the Royal Naval Exhibition, the +Agents-General of the Colonies, have all most willingly given every +possible information, and we have received from all to whom we have applied +for information the greatest readiness to afford it, and the most courteous +responses. + +[80] The position of Sultan, though one of great dignity, has its serious +drawbacks. This all-conquering Murad was, after all, assassinated; his son +and successor, Bajuzet, died in prison. Isa Belis the next holder of the +throne, Solyman who succeeded him, and Musa, who succeeded Solyman, were +all in turn murdered by their brothers or other relatives. + +[81] "Order and progress." Not a very happily chosen motto, since, as a +Brazilian said to us, such a sentiment might equally be placed on the flags +of all civilized nations, order and progress not being features to take any +special credit for, but to be entirely taken for granted, and as a matter +of course. + +[82] Our English name, Japan, for this land of the Far East, is a +corruption of the Chinese name for it, _Zipangn_, a word of the same +meaning, Land of the Rising Sun. + +[83] There are four Orders of Distinction in Japan; the first is the Order +of the Chrysanthemum, and the second that of the Rising Sun. + +[84] Each spring and summer our Volunteers have long-distance practices. +From the account of one of these now before us, we see that the line +extended from Reculvers on the north coast of Kent, to Aldershot, a +distance of over one hundred miles, messages from one point to the other +being rapidly and accurately transmitted by signalling parties on the +various eminences, such as Beacon Hill, Gravelly Hill, Box Hill, and St. +Martha's Hill, between the two extremities of the line. + +[85] One may see here, too, the signal book of James, Duke of York, dating +about 1665, by means of which most of our sea-fights with the Dutch were +conducted, and also the code introduced by Kempenfeldt. + +[86] The _Victory_ at this time was somewhat less than a mile and a half +from the enemy's line. + +[87] The signal for "close action" was flags 1 and 6. All flag signals are +always read from above downwards; 6 and 1 would mean something entirely +different to 1 and 6. + +[88] "Expects," it will be seen, is expressed by one hoist of flags, while +"confides" would have necessitated the pulling up and hauling down of eight +distinct sets. + +[89] Special hoists are also used for special purposes, thus the display of +the yellow flag, with a black ball on it, is an intimation that torpedo +practice is going on. + +[90] June 1st, 1813. + +[91] This system was introduced by Captain Columb in 1862. On one occasion, +during heavy weather, from a steamer fifteen miles off shore he sent a +message through a station on the Isle of Wight across to Portsmouth, and +received his answer back in thirteen minutes! This was altogether too good +to be gainsaid or shelved, and the system was speedily adopted. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +The following corrections were made to the printed original: + +Table of Contents, Chapter V:--"England expects" printed as "Englands +expects" in original. + +Page 5:--In "a priest of Beverley for carrying": "carrying" printed as +"carring" in original. + +Page 10:--In "we find these charges represented": "charges" printed as +"changes" in original. + +Page 126:--In "their thoughts turn to the dear homeland": "turn" printed as +"turns" in original. + +Page 136:--In "thirteen then existing codes": "thirteen" printed as +"thirteeen" in original. + +Page 138:--In "Our readers will see": "Our" printed as "Ours" in original. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40113 *** |
