206
NOTES AND QUERIES, [ii s. xn. SEPT. 11, 1915
jyet, of no distinct Order, despite its patron
saint in St. David. It, however, equally has
its badge, the red dragon, still worn by some
of the Welsh regiments.
Again, these component parts of the United Kingdom have their separate floral emblems : the rose for England, the thistle for Scotland, the shamrock for Ireland, and the leek for Wales ; all of which are, more or less, sported by loyal individuals of those several nations on their respective saints' days.
Your correspondent J. T. T. (p. 110) .suggests that green is the colour connected with St. Andrew, as being the colour of the Scottish Order of the Thistle with which St. Andrew is associated. It would certainly seem that dark green is now the colour of the ribbon of the order, though prior to its revival by Queen Anne in 1703 it would appear to have been a light blue. This is a subject, I think, which is worthy of further consideration.
I was quite unaware until I read B. D.'s statement (p. 49) that " blue was formerly worn at St. George's tide." And as your correspondent gave no reason for this, and as I was anxious to know why the actual colours of St. George, namely, white and red, or either of them, should not have been used instead, I consulted what authorities I had to hand in the endeavour to trace the -origin of the custom ; and here again the principle suggested by J. T. T., namely, the colour of the ribbon of the Order, would seem ~to govern. B. D.'s statement certainly is borne out by authority. Brand's ' Popular Antiquities ' (Ellis' s edition, 1813), vol. i. p. 165, has, strange to say, only one reference to St. George's Day (23 April), and it is a short one : "It appears that blue coats were formerly worn by people of fashion on .St. George's Day."
Hone in his ' Every-Day Book ' (ed. 1866), -vol. ii. p. 268, gives fuller particulars under .date 23 April : -;-
" On St. George's Day people of fashion were accustomed, even to the beginning of the nine- teenth century, to wear coats of cloth of blue, being the national colour in honour of the national saint. This, however, seems to be a reasonable conjecture for the custom. Mr. Archdeacon Nares, however, and other antiquaries are at a loss for the real origin of the usage, which is ancient. In old times there were splendid pageants at this festival."
And again at p. 269 :
" St. George's Day at the Court of St. James's is a grand day, and therefore a collar day, and observed accordingly by the knights of the different orders."
Chambers in his ' Book of Days ' (vol. i.
p. 539) helps, I think, to make the reason
of the custom more clear. In speaking of
St. George, the English patron saint, he
says :
" While in the calendars of the Greek and Latin churches he shared the twenty-third of April with other saints, a Saxon Martyrology declares the day dedicated to him alone ; and after the Conquest his festival was celebrated after the approved fashion of Englishmen. In 1344 this feast was made memorable by the noble Order of St. George, or the Blue Garter, the institution being inaugurated by a grand joust."
At the present time, apart from the cus- tomary ceremonies that may be observed at St. George's Chapel at Windsor and at other places on St. George's Day, amongst loyal Englishmen the red rose is largely worn. To this day the Society of Antiquaries of London, whose armorial bearings denote the cross of St. George, annually elects its governing body on 23 April, a custom that existed prior to its removal to its present head-quarters at Burlington House. Boutell (' Heraldry, Historical and Popular,' 1864) states that the ribbon of the Order of St. George appears originally to have been black, but that Queen Elizabeth changed it to a light blue, and by George I. it was again changed to dark blue, of which hue it still continues.
The crosses of the three patron saints are red on a white ground for St. George, a silver saltire on an azure field for St. Andrew, and a white saltire on a red ground for St. Patrick. One would have thought that, in the absence of anything taken from the respective national armorial insignia, the national colours would be those derived from the badges of the national saints as here given ; but, if your correspondents are correct, this is not so. Why should the colours of the national armorial insignia have been passed over ? The late Dr. Woodward in his ' Heraldry, English and Foreign ' (1896), vol. i. p. 69^, says :
" Gules and azure have each the first place assigned to them by various heralds, on the ground that the tinctures of the arms of the Sovereign must be the most honourable. According to this reasoning azure would hold the first place in France and gules in England."
These tinctures or colours form the " field " of the armorial bearings of France and England respectively, and by parity of reasoning the national colour of Scotland' should be gold, and of Ireland blue.
The ribbon of the Order of St. Patrick appears to be light blue. Green, however, is popularly supposed to be the national colour of Ireland, though it has no place in the arms of the sovereign nor in the Crder
