The Dannebrog is the name given to the white cross which the Danish king Waldemar was supposed to have seen in the red sky on the night before he met the Livonians in battle. His encounter was successful, and he therefore looked upon the cross as a sign sent to him from heaven. So deeply impressed was he by the apparition that he straightway accepted it as a national symbol, and it has been chosen as the badge of the “Green Howards” owing to their patron being our honoured Queen Mother.
The battle honours are: Malplaquet; Alma; Inkerman; Sevastopol; Tirah; South Africa, 1899-1902; Relief of Kimberley; Paardeberg.
The colours of the 4th battalion are shown in Fig. 31.
The Lancashire Fusiliers.—Facings, white.
R.C.—The Sphinx, superscribed “Egypt,” placed below the union wreath, and, within the circular badge, the Red Rose. The motto is “Omnia audax” (Daring everything).
The battle honours are: Dettingen; Minden; Egmont-op-Zee; Maida; Vimiera; Corunna; Vittoria; Pyrenees; Orthes; Toulouse; Peninsula; Alma; Inkerman; Sevastopol; Lucknow; Khartoum; South Africa, 1899-1902; Relief of Ladysmith.
The colours of this regiment have been subjected to more than ordinary vicissitudes. They were burnt in order that they should not fall into the hands of the enemy when forced to surrender at Saratoga; they were lost during the retreat from Corunna, but happily found again on reaching Portsmouth, and in the Crimea they were riddled by the Russian bullets.
At the Royal United Service Museum may be seen one of the old colours, dating from the time when the regiment was known as the 20th, or East Devonshires. It is exhibit No. 3,084, and bears the inscription:—
“Portion of the Colours of the 20th Regiment, presented to it in 1803 by Colonel Robert Ross, the hero of Bladensburg; they were retired from service in 1815. The 20th fought under them at the victory of Maida in 1806, and they led the Regiment in the following memorable battles of the Peninsula War: Vimiera, Corunna, Vittoria, the Pyrenees, Nivelles, Orthes, and Toulouse.”
The Royal Scots Fusiliers.—Facings, blue.