From: frankm@microsoft.com (Frank R.A.J. Maloney)
Subject: Re: The story of the Scottish flag
Date: 22 Dec 92 17:16:18 GMT
Organization: Microsoft Windows/DOS Users Ed Group

In article <BzFBq6.BM5@usenet.ucs.indiana.edu> ntaib@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Iskandar Taib) writes:
>In article <1992Dec9.203026.20972@dcs.qmw.ac.uk> mmh@dcs.qmw.ac.uk (Matthew Huntbach) writes:
[deletion]
>
>Speaking of heraldry...
>
>What's that flag you see often flying over Windsor
>Castle that has the three red English lions in two 
>quarters and the Irish Harp in at least one quarter?

That is the royal standard -- the Queen's own flag -- which, I believe,
flies only when she is in residence. I think it dates back to
Victoria's accession in 1837, when the arms of Hanover had to be
removed from the royal standard (Victoria, being a woman, could not
inherit the throne of Hanover).

In 1960 Elizabeth adopted another personal flag for use where the
British symbolism of the royal standard would be inappropriate. It is
blue with a gold fringe, displaying a gold letter "E", surmounted by
the royal crown, and encircled by a chaplet of roses. She used it first
on her 1961 visit to India. This flag is square, rather than
rectangular.

In some Commonwealth countries her flag is formed by the above device
on field of the appropriate national arms. The Queen's personal flags
for Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are colorful and heraldically
interesting each in its own right.

In Canada, the 1961 personal flag centers the royal emblem on a flag
displaying the national arms of Canada: the upper part similar to the
royal standard except the English Lions in the fourth quarter are
replaced by the French fleur-de-lis, and below three red maple leaves
on white field. The return of the fleur-de-lis, while appropriately
recognizing French Canada, is also something of an anachronism insofar
as they were only removed from the royal standard by George III in 1802
when he (finally) gave up all claim to the French throne.

In Australia, her personal flag, approved in 1962, places the royal
emblem in a seven-pointed star upon a field displaying the national
arms, which combine emblems of the six states: a St. George's Cross
with a lion at the center and seven-pointed stars on the arms (New
South Wales); the Southern Cross on blue surmounted by a royal crown
(Victoria); the royal crown in the center of a blue Maltese cross
(Queensland); a native bird, the white-backed piping shrike on yellow
(South Australia); the indigenous black swan on yellow (Western
Australia); the Lion of England in red on white (Tasmania).

In New Zealand, her personal flag, also dating to 1962, places the
royal emblem on field formed by the N.Z.  arms, which combine the
Southern Cross with two heraldic ships and symbols of wealth and
commerce (a sheaf, a sheepskin, mining tools).

>Then there's Henry V's coat of arms - the lions on 
>two quarters and gold fleur-de-lis on blue on the 
>other two quarters?
>

This royal standard was devised by Henry IV, or one very like it, the
significance being that Henry IV reduced the number of fleur-de-lis to
three. This was done because in 1365 Charles V of France had so changed
his standard.  Henry's motive was to show that he claimed not "France
Ancient" but "France Modern". BTW, the French lilies first were place
on an English royal standard by Edward III in 1340; Edward showed that
he considered France to be the more important part of his realm by
quartering the English Lion and the French Lilies and giving the latter
precedence by placing the French arms in the first and fourth
quarters.

-- 
Frank Richard Aloysius Jude Maloney
	"Well, I'm a little muddled." -- Glinda