The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-02-13
A THE WORLD OVER.
THEIR ORIGIN AND THE MEANING
THEY HAVE CoNE Tn,trlTE a.,

Dtmnrout Etnoo OF EInEe-Nuo boyot bNnntnfe
us Really n Banner, White y Standard n
Something Very DiHerspt = Heraidry aps
EIag DesiEnins - Neison's Famous signal.
Every one who has read English history has
R,ad Of Nelson's famous signal before the bat.
tie Of Trafalgar, England expects that every
man will do his duty" There has been some
suggestion that the Admiral really signalled
NELSON" instead Of England" and that his
rienal was edited by some friend, but tho usual
ana historical version puts England in the
Arst place. There was signalling before Mel
sons time. James, Duke Of York, signalled by
code when no was Lord, High Admiral Of Eng.
land as far back as 1865. and Kompenfeldt of
Royal George fame improved on James's sys-
tenn. But ono Of the earliest signal systems
was invented by the British Admiralty In 1899
and introduced at once into Nelson's feet. By
this code, which had ten flags, representing the
numerals from 1 10 10 (O) inclusive, the f-
mous Trafalgar signal was sent.
Signals and flags are described In q recent
book by an En~glishman, r. Edward Hulme, who
puts letters after mis- name to signify that he 10
q fellow Of the Linnean Society and also q fellow
of the Society Of Antiquarioa Over here peo-
pie who 20 In for heraldry scientifically don't
say much about Il, because We don't think
much Of h~eraldry. but Mr.. Hulme has written
books on heraldry and ornament, and he has
taken up flags and studied them historically,
hersldically, and sentimentally. Luckily for
him, though the flags of one nation differ from
those Of every other nation. the signal flags arc
international In character. so that when he has
described them or told about them rs English.
no does not have to say anything about their
French or other character.
OF course, Mr.. Hulmo devotes most Of his
space to British flags, but he treats other flags
fairly. First among banners came religious
----.. .,zI n. ahA 4 ha r,,p NJ rnnat,nttnA
the banner of Duke William Of Normandy, and
the orifamme of France. Then came heraldio
devices, and in time these were modified until
We have the modern flag.
In the early days OF chivalry the banner was
the chief flag. 1t was q square has, and should
have varied in size according to the rank of its
owner. Thus an emperor's. banner should have
been six feet square; a kings, five; q princes
or q dukes. four, while the banner Of an earl,
marquis. viscount, or baron should have boon
three feet square. On the banner wore the
arms OF the owner. Then came the kings ban
ner, now called the royal standard. Mr..
Hulme insists. just for the sake of principle,
that the royal standard is really the royal ban.
ner. 1t bears the arms of the sovereign, just as
the ordinary banner bore those of q duke or
baron. Whether 1t was originally six feet or
five feet square Mr.. Hulme doesn't say. He
seems to imply that 1t. was square. although
modern royal standards arc oblong, like mod.
erp flags.
The knights flag was q pennon. q small swal-
low-tailed flag; he was not q big enough man
to have q banner. But when q knight had done
some brave deed. on the field Of battle, his SOW.
ereiRn. II present, might make him q knight. ban
neret by tearing of the points of the flag. ana so
making 1t roughly into q banner. A knight
banneret must not be COMPOUNDED with a bar
onet. Edward !. made the first knight-banneret.
Charles. /. made Col. John Smith one in 1912,
and the next one was made by George II. on the
field of Dettingen in 1743. James vi. and l.,
who couldn't bear the sight of q sword. devised
the rank of baronet, and sold 1t to all Corners at
&1,095 apiece.
Now. q standard. accordinssto Mr.. Hulme, real.
" 10 this: A.iag of noble dimensions, that shall
always have the cross OF st. George placed next
to the pole, that shall be divided horizontally
into two or moro. stripes Of colors-the prevail
ing oolors Of the owners arms. or Of his livery,
that shall bear his motto and badges and be
richly fringed, its length much greater than its
width, and Its ends split and rounded off. Mr..
make. . Scottish, standard. that Of St. Pntrici
the castle and lion of CASTLE and Leon. II placed
next TO the pole. would mako a French and a
have more than one BANNER. since:his banner Sn9 rU %as
composed OF his heraidic arms. but u person
could have two or three standards: Thus Henry
VII. had at Bosworth field. In 1885. at least
since those were the Tudor livery colors, but one
VASES peinte aS1 a d dcnne eiFs Rowe" ana q third III tps BANNER INNER
OF this King bore g silver greyhound between
tho great embroidered banner OF England, the
banners OF Wales. Ireland. Chester. and Corn.
wall. and the standards of the dragon, grey
hound, and falcon, were displayed.
From the proper lengths OF standards 1t is cyl
dent thai, they were meant to stand, not to be
points in battle. A kings standard was to be
eight yards long, a dukes seven, a marquis's
whose banner might be four yards long.
knights who were not kniRhts-bannere bore
tthoaSh som @s had rune onc p r1fne o only AND snS P othors;
20, pendants. Mr.. Hulme prefers to call thom)
as now, they were peculiar to ships, and in
those days were wider than they are now. One
with a homeward-bound pennant nearly 500 feet
long; and not more than a foot wide at the stat.
Of tho day had a CRETE stremour XII yardes In
length and viii yards in brede."
7, tn isS,r only other 1tnm fla fsF Et to be noted ! is the Euidon.
In medieval days It was spelled guydhomme.
troops Sfrs a cavalry .SSi resim s%sD iii All o o9r su ID ons
Airy, but in the British army the senior troop
carries n crimson silk guidon, called the
queen u, Wnlle inc Otner troops carry KuldOnB OF
the same color as the facings of the reRimental
uniform
Flag deyising is really a branch of herald
ry,'' says Nj. Hulmo, and should be in accord
ance with Its laws, both in the forms and the
colors introduced. Yellow in blazonry Is the
equivalent of geld, and white Of silver. and II Is
one of tho requirements of heraldry that color
shall not be placed upon color. or metal upon
metal" Apart from the conventionality of this
rule, 1t 10 correct artistically, 40 can be seen by
contrasting the effect Of the French tri.color.
whore the red and the blue are separated by the
metal, white, with that of the Haytian flag,
where tho red and the blue are in iuxtaposition.
Further IL is easier to distinguish a flag de-
signed heraldicallly from one designed without
attention to the laws OF hlazonry; and that fact
Is probably at the bottom OF the heraldic rule.
Red, white. and blue are the cominonest colOrs
In flags; yellow Ia not uncommon; orange occurs
only once, in the flag of the Orange Free State.
green occurs q few times, and black IL still less
frequent.
Tho origin of the Union in the British flag is
well known. The red upright cross is that Of
81, George, for England; the red diagonal cross
Is that of st. Patrick for Ireland; and the white
diagonal. that peeps out below 81. Patrick's, Is
that of st. Andrew for Scotland. There was a
great row over tho arrangement of tho Union
nag, long before the cross OF st. Patrick was