THE RALLYING POINT.

Southern Cross, Volume 9, Issue 51, 8 March 1902, Page 7

THE RALLYING POINT.

A moth-eaten rag on a moth-eaten pole, It does not look likely to stir a man’s soul; ’Tis the deeds which were done ’neath the moth-eaten rag, When the pole was a staff and the rag was a flag.

Tbe rallying point for Britishers is the flag. It was a figurative term, which once had a literal meaning. At one time the colours were carried into battle, and hence to ‘rally round the flag ’ was to defend it. The old Duke of Wellington, when once presenting a new set of colours to a regiment, said —“ You are henceforth to consider the colours as your headquarters, and in every circumstance, and in all times of privation and distress you will look at them as at your rallying point.’ This explains it to a nicety, though the colours are no longer carried into action—more’s the pity—the idea being that they attract the enemy’s notice. The flag, however, still represents the principle and idea of nationality, and will remain the signal of the people for that reason to the end. The churches, cathedrals, and castles of England are crowded with flags, but they are the ragged standards that have been carried into battle in days gone by and are now retired to silently inspire the reverential from great walls perhaps equally historic. Some are nearly intact, as those in the sketch, which are flags of Wellington’s old regiment in Whitehall, bat some are bare poles with nothing left but a faded tassel and a few shreds of silk. They are always made of silk, these colours, and incidentally it may be mentioned that the flags of the navy are always made of bunting. Also, tbe term colours is used to denote the flags of infant ry, as those of cavalry are termed standards.