Part 5 (1/2)

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 pa.s.sage:--”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 pa.s.sage 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 t.i.tle 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 Warwicks.h.i.+re, 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 ill.u.s.tration 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 ta.s.sels 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 distinguis.h.i.+ng 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--a.s.saye--should be ent.i.tled 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-s.h.i.+re 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 a.s.saye 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 ta.s.sels and cords are of crimson silk and gold, and each flag bears the Royal or other t.i.tle 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 pa.s.sed, as the tattered colours--storm tossed, torn by shot and sh.e.l.l--are borne in honour to their last resting place, where, strife for ever over, they rest in peace in the Sanctuary of G.o.d, a memorial to all men, until their last shreds fall to decay, of duty n.o.bly 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 G.o.d 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 a.s.sist 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 p.r.o.nounced 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 mult.i.tude 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 n.o.ble 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 G.o.d's ministers ere they were committed to those who were to carry them, as a testimony that, as a nation, we believe in G.o.d, 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 G.o.d'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 a.s.sociations 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 a.s.semblage 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 G.o.d 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.