Last modified: 2020-04-25 by rob raeside
Keywords: civil defence (britain) |
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Sir Gerald W. Wollaston, Garter King of Arms, thought that the Union Jack
was a royal flag and should be flown only on royal and government buildings.
He proposed that there should be a land flag equivalent of the Red Ensign, and
suggested that it might be quarterly blue and white with the Union in first
quarter, and for civil authorities, a badge in the fourth quarter. He received
no support for this idea, but adapted it when asked to design flags for the
National Fire Service and Civil Defence Service.
The Civil Defence flag was quarterly blue and yellow with a Union first
quarter and a Tudor crown in colour above yellow letters C D in the fourth
quarter. Garter wrote that quarterly flags should be square but that, as when
flying, part of the flag was concealed, it was desirable to have the length
greater than the depth. He proposed 5 : 3 as a good compromise. The flag was
approved by King George VI on 11 August 1943, and first used on Battle of
Britain Day, 26 September 1943.
The flag was printed in one piece, which included the Union canton, but not
the Civil Defence badge. The latter was stencilled on two pieces, and sewn on
separately. The Scottish Office thought that there might be a problem in
Scotland, since Garter had no jurisdiction there, but Lyon King of Arms raised
no objection to its use. One flag was issued to each scheme-making local
authority in England, Wales and Scotland. Any additional flags were to be made
locally with no reimbursement.
by Martin Grieve
In 'The Book of Flags' by Campbell and Evans, the flag is illustrated with
proportions of 2 : 1, and no badge in the fourth quarter. The text notes that
the "fourth quarter may bear the Crown and the letters 'C D' in gold". It is
possible that for ease of construction the locally-made flags omitted the
badge, and changed the proportions; stock Union Jacks for the canton being
more readily available in 2 : 1 than in 5 : 3.
The first image above is based upon a photograph, published in the Civil Defence
Magazine Vol.13 No.7 July 1961, captioned "Wimbledon Unit (Sub.Area 53D (1))
C.D. Corps rehearsing the ceremony of Trooping the Colour, 8 April 1961."
[Photograph from R.C'Ailceta's Scrap Book in Flag Institute Library, details
of design
from National Archives (PRO) HO 144/22003 and HO 186/2636]
David Prothero, 2 April 2004
image located by Bill Garrison, 25 August 2014
I have just found out that Civil Defence was officially 'stood down' in 1968,
which was a euphemism for disbandment. There is still a British Civil Defence,
which is now a non-government volunteer organization that supports the emergency
services, but doesn't get a penny from the government! In any case, this Civil
Defence doesn't use the old CD Ensign.
Miles Li, 12 November 2003