RULES GOVERNING THE FLYING OF CHURCH FLAGS
By a warrant dated 9th February 1938 the Earl Marshal laid down that the flag to be flown upon any church within the Provinces of Canterbury and York was "The Cross of St George and in the first quarter the escutcheon of the Arms of the See in which the church is ecclesiastically situated". In simple words, the flag of St George with the diocesan arms in the top corner nearest to the mast. Questions have been asked about certain details and the Garter Principal King of Arms gave the following directions:-
- The Arms of the diocese are to be placed in the first quarter only (as in the preceding paragraph).
- The shield of the Arms should fill the space and should not be ensigned with a mitre.
- New flags should be made to an approximate ratio of 5 x 3 which is larger than, or more square than, ordinary flags to enable the Arms to be included. Shields may be added to existing flags of St George without altering their shape.
- The shield of Arms should be of the same material as the flag and inserted. The larger charges on the shield are also to be inserted but smaller charges and shading can be applied in oil paint. All heraldry is read from the flagstaff and charges on the shield must face the same way in relation to the staff on both sides of the flag.
- The Earl Marshal's Warrant had the approval of the Archbishops of the day but it does not make it compulsory for the flag to be flown.
The History of Flags
Flags as we know them today quite probably originated from the banners of olden times that, in their turn, were successor to the old standards.
Standards such as the Roman and Persian eagles were used as a national emblem. Mounted on poles or in an emergency on a spear or lance the representation of the eagle, bear, wolf or other creature was carried near to the commander in battle. The reason for this was threefold: to identify, as a rallying point, and also as what might be called a superstition that the figure was a good luck talisman.
Such standards were usually made of gold and/or silver and often encrusted with jewels. They were of great value and apart from the act of valour in capturing one it was a financially worthwhile exercise. Looking at it quite bluntly they were not only a terrific responsibility but also an encumbrance which had to be protected at all times. These standards were also a nuisance and could be confusing, especially to mercenaries. For example, these men knew that they were paid to fight on the side of the troops with, say, a boar for their standard, but what happened if the national emblem of the enemy also happened to be a boar, or a pig? What did they do if the man they were supposed to be fighting was wily enough to produce a quick copy of the standard they were expected to support? Battles in those days were seldom fought by trained soldiers but more often between hordes of armed peasants who had simply been brought to the site, pointed in the right direction and set off whirling their axes at anyone who got in the way.
Banners
With the realisation that standards were neither very practical nor personal came the idea of the individual silk banners. First, before the advent of the silk variety there was a more simple affair which was the same emblem as the old standard cut from coloured cloth sewn on a plain but recognisable ground colour. The Scottish lion on a yellow field is an example of this. The advantage of banners over standards can easily be seen; they were easily replaced, convenient to carry and more readily identified by the troops.
In time banners ceased to be carried exclusively to denote the nation and they became the hallmark of the individual. It was not only armies and soldiers who carried banners, but the Church had its gonfans. Gonfans are banners with a swallow-tail suspended from a transverse bar supported by two upright poles.
Banners in England were mentioned by the Venerable Bede in his description of the meeting between Augustine and Ethelbert, the King of Kent. According to Bede the missionary bishop had a banner with a picture of Christ and emblazoned with silver crosses. This is probably the earliest record of the religious use of a banner in England, certainly by the Church.
Eventually all monasteries and churches had their banners and, as with many Roman Catholic and Anglo-Catholic churches today, these were carried in procession at the time of the patronal festival or special feast days and occasions.
It is recorded that the banners of St Wilfred and St John were displayed at the Battle of Northallerton in the reign of King Stephen. It is also known that King Edward I paid one of the monks at Beverley 8d a day for carrying his banner of St John in the army and a penny a day whilst taking it back to the monastery. Was he the first Army Chaplain? In the Antient Rites and Monuments of the Monastical and Cathedral Church of Durham published in 1672 - there is a wonderful description of the banner of St Cuthbert of Durham. In the detail of the description it mentions that the centre of the banner contained the corporal actually used by St Cuthbert when saying Mass. It was contained in an 18" square white velvet patch-bag bearing a red-velvet cross. It was not the original banner belonging to St Cuthbert but one made in 1346. Unfortunately it had a sad fate at the time of the Reformation when the wife of the Dean burnt it publicly.
Banners with religious motifs were carried by Christian or mainly Christian armies everywhere, often side by side with the national or personal banners of the commanders. In their way they were a simple means of seeking God's protection in battle and at one time they were only carried by monks. The unfortunate thing was that all too often the opposing army made one of its primary objects to capture or destroy the enemy's banners so being a banner carrier was a risky matter. Many monks were killed in battle and in time the demand for monks outgrew the supply of suitable men. Gradually the honour passed into the hands of laymen but where monks could be employed they claimed the right. One should never forget that this was something of a two-edged sword. The presence of the Church gave the impression that the war was just and that the king had a sort of holy seal of approval. At the same time the king knew where he stood in this matter and had to share some of the spoils with the Church.
Although earlier mention has been made of standards as emblems on poles there was a later use of this term. In this article reference has been made to the Battle of Northallerton which was also known as the Battle of the Standards. The battle occurred in 1138 when Bruce and the Scots invaded England and reached Northallerton in Yorkshire. At the height of the battle the Archbishop of York appeared on the field with a standard in the more recent sense. This was a scaffold erected on a cart and the structure had the banner of the sovereign and the consecrated banners of St Peter of York, St John of Beverley and St Wilfred of Ripon.
As wars became more mobile and were fought over long campaigns it was realised that the banners with their silk bodies and hand-embroidering and velvet with gold and silver wire were too good for the rough and tumble. Thus cheaper and more handy versions appeared, carried by one man, often on horseback. These were made of a mixture of dyed wool and silk and had one pole, that which we know today as the pattern of a flag. Even so the same emblems of the early Christians are present in the Union Flag, the red cross of St George, the white cross on a blue ground of St Andrew and the red cross on a white ground of St Patrick.
September 2001
