LIVING FLAG DISPLAY

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 54, 5 March 1927, Page 11

LIVING FLAG DISPLAY

HOW IT ■ WILL BE DONE

• Great expectations have boon formed of the, Living Flag display by over 4000 school children, to take placo at Nbwto.wn Park on Monday afternoon in the presence, of Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of York.

The-.ehildren, who will be drawn from the upper standards of the city and suburban schools, will .bo attired in red, white,.;and blue'hoods- specially mado for the purpose; those for the children on the:outer-cdgo beingmado to reach downjfco the ankles.so as to ghio tho' maximum effect.

The children, who • will bo entirely Tinder tho control of their respective headmasters and teachers, will bo embarked in specially reserved tramcars from the nearest point to their schools and transported in comfort -with nonstop runs to.Newtovvn Park, arriving there from ; 2.15 p.m. onwards.' On alighting they will be marched into specially marked squares on the ground, and will there be rested until 2.45. p.m., being, in the meantime entertained by the massed bands, who will bo attired in the brilliant Wembley uniforms, and will march and counter-march, playing, the tunes for which Wembley is famous. ■

On tho arrival of Their Eoyal Highnesses at 2.45 p.m., the children will immediately form the living Union Jack, which, as in 1924, will be done in. less than flve minutes. They will then sing tho National Anthem, concluding this with a sudden transformation scene in which they will, . most appropriately, form the word "Welcome." All (hen will remove their hoods, wavo them, and give hearty cheers for the Royal visitors. Resuming their flag hoods the children will then do the full "knees bend" in stages, which will give tho effect of the Living Union Jack waving in tho breeze. They will then sing "The Empire Flag," a stirring song, composed by A. C. Mackenzie. They will then do four right turns, giving the spectators a full view of the hoods from all angles.

The whole display of tho flag, from the beginning of its formation until the end, will only occupy 20 minutes. The children will then resume their squares and Their Royal Highncssos Will drive around them. 3,' They "win then hp treated to a "close-up" view of, tho costly, pageantry which has arrived from London, including the "Historic Queens of the Ages," who will parade with their maids of honour, and ladies and soldiers of their respective periods. Other fmo items will follow, and at 4 p.m., tho children, still under their respective headmasters and teachers, will be re-embarked in their speciallyreserved tramcars and taken back to their .homes.

The'marshall for tho flag is Mr. J. B. Hopkirk, and Mr. E. Douglas Taylerj Director of School Music, will act as conductor.