Flag Facts Flags are part of the history and culture of the world – read on to find out more... The Mystery and the Magic The Clan MacLeod has had its family seat at Dunvegan Castle since about the 12th century. For as long as the clan has been there, so has their flag. A long time ago a chieftain of the MacLeods met and fell in love with a fairy princess. She married the Chief on condition that she return to her fairy folk at the end of a year and a day. They were a happy couple, and before the princess returned to her own people a son was born. One night the small baby awoke and began to cry. Nobody was there to hear him, and for ten minutes he wept out loud. When the nursemaid returned she saw a woman bending over the cradle comforting the baby, wrapping him up in fabric. When he could talk, the boy remembered the night his mother visited. He told his father that the fabric flag could be used by the MacLeods three times when they were in danger and help would come, but on the fourth it would disappear. The chief took this seriously and ordered a casket to be prepared to store the fairy flag. Hundreds of years later the MacDonalds were harassing the MacLeods. Greatly outnumbered the MacLeods gathered on the beach. They unfurled the fairy flag and, as if by magic, their number appeared magnified ten times. The MacDonalds were slaughtered and the flag was returned to its safety in the casket. The flag was used a second time when a terrible plague had killed nearly all the MacLeod’s cattle. With starvation on the doorstep they waved the flag once more, and the herd was miraculously restored to health. Even today it is believed by some that the flag will give protection. During the Second World War, men from the MacLeod clan carried pictures of the flag in their pockets to act as a talisman. It has yet to be used a third time. More Flag facts The idea of burying an unidentified soldier in Westminster Abbey to symbolise the casualties of war, and commemorate those with no other memorial, came from a British Chaplain stationed in France in 1916. Reverend David Railton noticed a grave in a garden in Armentières, marked only with a wooden cross. It bore the inscription 'An unknown British Soldier (of the Black Watch)'. He wrote to the Dean of Westminster in 1920, suggesting that an anonymous soldier be buried there. The Dean liked the idea, and set it in motion. Four bodies of unknown British servicemen were exhumed from the Aisne, the Somme, Arras and Ypres. They were taken to St Pol in Northern France, where the bodies lay covered by a Union Flag each. One was chosen at random to be the Unknown Warrior, and was placed in a plain coffin and sealed. The unchosen bodies were reburied. On 11 November 1920, the coffin, now on British soil, was covered with a Union Flag and placed in a gun carriage drawn by six black horses. A steel helmet, side arms and a belt were added, and it travelled through the crowd-lined streets to the newly-built Cenotaph in The Mall, Whitehall, before making its final journey to Westminster Abbey. Proud American, Betsy Ross, would often tell her children, grandchildren, relatives, and friends of the fateful day when three members of a secret committee from the Continental Congress came to call upon her. Those representatives, George Washington, Robert Morris, and George Ross, asked her to sew the first flag. This meeting occurred in her home some time late in May 1776. In June 1776, brave Betsy was a widow struggling to run her own upholstery business. Upholsterers in colonial America not only worked on furniture but did all manner of sewing work, which for some included making flags. According to Betsy, General Washington showed her a rough design of the flag that included a six-pointed star. Betsy, a standout with the scissors, demonstrated how to cut a star in a single snip. Impressed, the committee entrusted Betsy with making the first flag of the United States of America. General Flag Facts • Symbolic makeshift flags can be traced back over the last 5000 years. • An ancient metal flag from Iran has been found which dates from around 3000 BC. • The oldest known textile flag, found in Egypt, is from the third century AD. • Before modern communication took over, ships used flags to convey complex messages. A ship used to salute another vessel by lowering its flags. Ships failing to do so could be considered as a threat. • The largest Royal Standard flag was made by us here at Flying Colours and is flown above Windsor Castle when the Queen is in residence. • The Union flag should be flown with the broader diagonal band of white uppermost in the hoist (near the pole) and the narrower diagonal band of white uppermost in the fly (furthest from the pole). • The green and white flag of Devon was actually voted for in 2002. The internet voters chose this flag over the others in the running and it won soundly with 49% of the vote. • National Flags came into use in the 1700’s. • The French flag, the Tricolore, designed in 1794 during the French Revolution, was the first three coloured flag. • The Danish flag, called the Dannebrog, was the first cross designed flag. • The
Swiss flag inspired the symbol of the International Red Cross. • The majority of national flags use one or more of only seven basic colours; red, white, blue, green, yellow, black, and orange. • Wales is not represented on the Union Jack because when the flag initially appeared Wales was already united with England. At Flying Colours we offer our customers an exceptionally high standard of service. All of our flag fabrics are MoD approved and we are proud of the commitment we continuously make in ensuring that each and every flag is perfectly and precisely made. We not only make all the traditional flags of the world but also every type and size of flag imaginable. If you would like to order a flag with us please give us a ring on 01423 860007. |
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