The Flags of the World: Their History, Blazonry, and AssociationsHulme, F. Edward (Frederick Edward)
History
The Flags of the World: Their History, Blazonry, and Associations
Hulme, F. Edward (Frederick Edward)
Flags
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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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