The Flags of Our Fighting Army: Including standards, guidons, colours and drum bannersJohnson, Stanley C. (Stanley Currie)
History
The Flags of Our Fighting Army: Including standards, guidons, colours and drum banners
Johnson, Stanley C. (Stanley Currie)
Flags -- Great Britain
The Major’s colour, which serves as that of the King’s for the third
battalion, is like the above, but from the sinister or bottom right hand
corner of the small Jack issues a pile-wavy or, that is, a tongue of
flame worked in gold.
In addition to the foregoing, there are three regimental colours, one
for each of the three battalions. These flags bear the device of the
Union Jack, full size, upon the four red centre limbs of which figure
the Royal Crown, a flaming grenade, certain battle distinctions, and a
special badge.
The special badge varies not only with each battalion, but with every
new flag that is supplied to replace a discarded one. There is a series
of thirty of these badges, each one of which is a company badge of the
Grenadier Guards. They are as follows:—
1st Company.—A golden lion wearing a crown and standing upon another
crown (i.e., the Royal crest as given on the current sixpenny
piece). In the upper staff corner of the colour is placed in all
these flags the company number in Roman numerals.
2nd Company.—A red Tudor rose with a white centre.
3rd Company.—A fleur de lys.
4th Company.—A portcullis with chains hanging from it. This device
was taken by Henry VII. from the badge of the House of Somerset. His
mother, it will be remembered, was Margaret, daughter of John, Duke
of Somerset.
5th Company.—A white rose in a glory or sun. This was the badge of
the Earldom of March.
6th Company.—A thistle and rose, stalked and leaved. It was the
device adopted by James I. to signify the union which had been
effected between England and Scotland.
7th Company.—The harp of Ireland.
8th Company.—The red dragon of Cadwallader, on a green mount. This
device was used by the sovereigns of the united Houses of York and
Lancaster. It was taken by Henry VII. to remind people of his
descent from Cadwallader, whose shield bore the red dragon as a
supporter.
9th Company.—A white greyhound, with a red collar, standing on a
green mount. An old badge belonging to the Earl of Richmond.
10th Company.—A sun in splendour with a human face, a badge selected
by Richard II. when he desired to improve upon the badge of his
father. Richard used a full sun in contradistinction to his father’s
rising or partial sun.
11th Company.—A white unicorn of Scotland, gorged with a golden
prince’s coronet and chain, on a green mount. This was an old badge
of James I.
12th Company.—A white antelope, gorged with a ducal crown and chain,
standing on a green mount—a well known device of Henry IV., son of
John of Gaunt. He appropriated this animal from the escutcheon of
the House of Lancaster.
13th Company.—A white hart, gorged with a ducal crown and chain, on
a green mount; a badge assumed by Richard II. from the devices of
his mother, Joan, daughter of Edmund, Earl of Kent.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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