RALLY ROUND THE FLAG.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CV, Issue 12536, 25 June 1901, Page 11

RALLY ROUND THE FLAG.

Flags are in themselves perishable things' —just so much silk and stuff attached -tor a staff or pole of wood, bound to decay, in the course of time, to say nothing of’ the chances of the battlefield ; but the prin-. ciples and ideas they represent, as well as; the stirring stories that circle round them,' prompt ns to guard and preserve them so long as it may be possible to do so. There? fore it is that the flags of our Army, once" the period of what may be called their., active service is past, have been given a place of honour in our cathedrals, in our, churches, in the castles of great nobles whose names or whose lands are associated,, with particular regiments, cx in military institutions, such as the Museum of the,. Royal United Service Institute. It may* be doubted if churches are exactly the best repositories for these war-worn flags? for many of our ecclesiastical buildings are damp and dusty, and, the colours bnca hung upon the walls, no very special car* appears to be taken of them. A striking,j instance of the effect of neglect and care-1 lessnes's on the part of church authoritiej was seen in the fact that the. flags which; had been taken from the French durmi the campaigns of Marlborough, and whicl had been deposited for preservation in SI Paul’s, were so little regarded that a hun ; dred years later nothing of them remain?' - but naked staves and poles. At the pri.v sent time there may be noticed in St Pauli two almost ban poles, all that is left of the, old colours of the Royal Fusiliers (City of; London Regiment). The term colours is used to denote the flags of infantry regiments, while the insignia of cavalry are known as standards or guidons, the last-named being forked or “swallow-tailed.” Prior to the reign of William 111., each troop in a regiment of horse had its standard, and every, company of foot its colour. The number was then reduced to three for each battalion of infantry, and in Queen Anne’s time to two. One of the two flags was called the Queen’s colour, the other was designated the regimental. A few regiments, however, in India still have three flags, as, for example, the 20th Madras Native Infantry, which has for its third colour a flag cap-’ tured from Hyder, Ali. In our .army today each regiment has its “Queenls Colour,” a,, flag having upon it i the Union. Jack with the the Imperial 'crown in the centre, and the number of the regiment beneath in gold, and its regimental Colour, which, as a rule, is .of the colour of the facings of the uniform of the regiment; in the upper corner is a small Union Jack,- and the rest of the ground of the flag bears the badges and devices conferred upon the, regiment by Royal authority, as well as the names of the battles in which it has.takeiy, part. The army flags .are made of silk. It may be notld in passing, that our naval,, flags arfe made of bunting. Some exceptions to the general use of army flags must be observed. ; Both' Hussar and Lancer, regiments are without, standards, nor have the Royal Artillery and Ikigineers ’ any, colours. ,1, The 'flags of the Army no longer plajf the very important part they formerly did in time of war. Like everything -tHatt t calculated to attract the attention of an.. ’ enemy, they have, disappeared from (the' field," and are seen no more, except on parades.' The last great war in which the" flags were carried was the Crimea, but tEe Queen’s colour and the black regimental colour of -the 58th (how 2nd battalion Northamptonshire) waved' over them ■at Laing’s Nek in. the Boer war of 1881. The principal use of the army flag was to sexV9 as a rallying point. The Duke of Wellington, when presenting a new set of colours to the 72nd Highlanders in 1842, emphasised this, feature. “ You are henceforth,” he said, "to consider the colours, as your headquarters, anu in every circumstance, and in all times of privation and distress you will look to them as your rallying, point.” The familiar words -Rally round the Flag “ had in those - days not merely a figurative significance,, but. embodied in the most literal sense one of the chief principles of the conduct of war; The preservation of the flag was no mere matter of sentiment; it was vital to the success* ■ of an army in the field. And so mar grudged no sacrifice, no matter what, t* save the colours. The most heroic deed have been done in their defence. . There fore, when we behold old war-flag-s in oh churches and elsewhere, let ns not forgewhat is the, meaning and what is the stor; of these dumb but eloquent memorials A .moth-eaten rag on a worm-eaten pole, It does not look likely to stir a man's sou?. ’Tis the deeds which were done ’ne’aih th" moth-eaten rag, ‘ "When the pole was a staff and the rag wa« 6 flag.