Worcester Regiment Colours

click photo to enlarge
The original purpose of regimental "colours" or flags was to indicate the rallying points of troops on the battlefield. The loss of the colours was an actual and symbolic loss for a regiment because it was frequently a mark of failure. Fighting in their vicinity often proved to be the most fierce as the enemy sought to secure them and their owners fought to prevent their capture. The tradition of embellishing basic flags with labels naming specific campaigns engaged in by the regiment is a post-medieval phenomenon, and anyone visiting a British cathedral is likely to come upon such colours in one of its many chapels.

Worcester Cathedral's St George's Chapel, not unnaturally, holds a collection of the colours of battalions of the Worcester Regiment. In 1970 it was was amalgamated with the Sherwood Foresters and ceased to be a distinct regiment. The chapel at the cathedral holds flags that date back to the nineteenth century, as well as those from the First and Second World Wars. Light and time inevitably take their toll on the material of the flags and the examples shown in today's photograph are typically discoloured and threadbare, qualities that help the viewer to better understand the passage of time since they were carried into battle.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Sony RX100
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 19.3mm (52mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f3.5
Shutter Speed: 1/13
ISO: 800
Exposure Compensation:  0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Regimental colours

click photo to enlarge

In a south aisle in Beverley Minster hang flags of the East Yorkshire Regiment (The Duke of York's Own). How old are they? Some must be many decades old, others much more ancient. Time is slowly decaying their woven cloth and fading their bright colours. Yet still they record the campaigns of this illustrious local regiment - Oudenarde, Malplaquet, Louisberg, Quebec, Ramilles, and others - names from history books, battles fought by local men recruited from towns such as Beverley, Driffield, Bridlington, Hedon and the city of Hull.

Many of our larger churches have such flags, often as in the case above, of regiments long gone in British Army amalgamations, the banners, and associated plaques and memorials remembering their deeds and their local connections. I suppose it's not only the religious aspect of remembrance that makes such a setting seem appropriate for these artefacts: the timeless character of a minster, a cathedral or a big medieval parish church must also promise a location that will endure and ensure that the sacrifice and achievements of these soldiers will not be forgotten.

I photographed these flags on a day when the glow of the sun was penetrating the darkness of the building, making the stained glass and old stone glow, and illuminating the tattered remnants hanging from their poles.

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 60mm
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/60
ISO: 3200
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On