A heraldic walk in Derry

As yesterday was a nice day I decided to take a walk around the city centre of Londonderry, Northern Ireland's second city but in my opinion its capital in terms of history.
It might be useful to read this post before from 2012 before reading here as I will reference a few points in it. Starting in the waterside I walked over the double deck blue and white Craigavon Bridge, the top deck features the city coat of arms every few feet.

Towards the end of the bridge is the plaque commemorating its opening

On this plaque is old arms of Northern Ireland and those of the city:

Moving into the old walled city I passed the courthouse featuring the Royal coat of arms from 1801-1816.

Next to the building you can see behind, St Columb's Cathedral

Before the gates of the Cathedral's main drive and on the gate itself (the pic here was taken from inside the gate in order to avoid the sun) are the arms of the former Church of Ireland diocese of Derry (currently paired with Raphoe) on either side of the gate are the city's arms

 and the arms of the Honourable the Irish Society who originally built the church

Inside the gate is the notice board with times for both worshipers and visitors again featuring the diacoses arms

aswell as the Cathedral's seal still in use:

a quick walk in some of the adjourning streets of the walled city and we notice the street name signs feature the city arms.

Onto the city walls themselves, and you will notice a fine collection of 17th & 18th century cannon. Most of these were at various stages provided by the City of London livery companies who financed the plantation city. while the later guns of this period were simply inscribed with the company name the earlier ones bore the London coat of arms, which is still recognisable.

Nxt stop along the walls is the Apprentice Boys Memorial Hall. Here there are two versions of the city arms. One on the balcony with the date of the hall's extension

And higher up the arms appear in a roundel with the text "Apprentice Boys of Derry - No Surrender" around it. Note that on this variant of the arms only half of the St George Cross is used.

heading down the walls to between Magazine Gate and Shipquay Gate overlooking the Guildhall are more cannon with the London arms, however two here are significantly older dating from around 1590 and are distinguished by the Tudor rose and crown, although on both this badge is much faded and worn, however the outline of it can still be traced.

The next and last great building we come to is the Guildhall where the council meets and where civic functions are held. From the walls we see that the building is crested with a crowned lion holding the shield of the Kingdom of Ireland. Below this side by side are the city arms and those of the Irish Society

At the base of the adjoining clock tower is the main entrance featuring a very ornate version of the city coat of arms

I confess to not really knowing what the other shields are. The very top one appears to be the arms of the City of London impaled with the Carpenters Guild, the bottom left looks like a variant of the Sherwood arms of which I am not entirely clear on the city connection. The far right is either a cross of St George possibly from the London arms but with the sword worn away or the De Burgh arms who were the Norman Earls of Ulster. 

Along the top of the ground floor windows is a ring of carved oak leaves with three shields, bearing the arms of Ireland, Londonderry and Ulster. 

arms of the city

arms of the kingdom

arms of the province 

I didn't go into any of the buildings mentioned here maybe I'll do that another time as I know they all have heraldry and other symbols on the inside too

Shelvetop Shed Model Railway

One of my great passions is rail transport and so it is not surprising that one of my hobbies is railway modeling. So here is a post about my model railway 'Shelvetop Shed' which some readers might find of interest. Now my layout is not a very big one in fact it can comfortably occupy the top of a large bookshelf (hence the name), however its present location is currently on top of the dining room table.
The layout is a 00 scale inglenook shunting puzzle, measuring 118cm x 31cm.
The theme is some country sidings on the British Railways network some time in the 1950s/early 1960s, that is in the process of being run down although still being relatively busy. Most of the stock I use on the layout is naturally British Railways stock however I am not terribly strict on the theme and often use private owner and Irish stock as well as some pre nationalisation locomotives on it from time to time.
The main aim of the layout is not to recreate a region or period in time but rather provide an amusing platform to conduct shunting (or switching to use the American term).
The layout is self contained in a homemade plywood box that is open on one side to allow viewing and at the top to allow light in as well as the physical placement of motivepower and rolling stock onto the tracks as there is no off scene fiddle yard.

Birds Eye view of Shelvetop Shed layout

The 'surface' on the layout is constructed on plywood and sits on top of a layer of polystyrene insulation. Power is provided to directly to two lines, the headshunt on the top left of the above picture and the headshunt on the bottom right. The points (switch) in the centre is electrically isolated from the top track connecting the engine shed and headshunt. The points are not powered but operated manually via craft wire that connects to the points through holes drilled in the wood.

A Tri-Ang dock shunter and kitbashed Irish J15 0-6-0 shunting. Note the switches for the points protruding from the side of the layout itself.

 Also of importance are three Pecco shunting ramps which are used to uncouple waggons without the need to handle them.

View of the workmans hut & shed (formerly a coach) note the view of the uncoupling ramps (the one in the background by the old coach has since been removed). 

The trees are homemade as is the back wall, most of the ballast and scatter is from woodland scenics as is most of the foliage, The track is pecco but has been carefully coloured in to look more realistic. The British Railways land rover is from Oxford Diecast and the former coach now shed is a cheap HO scale Lima coach which I bought on ebay for the principle some of 99p (most of my stuff is second hand off ebay and bought on the cheap). The buffersops are tri ang ones I got cheap on ebay, although they required the grips to be sanded down a bit to fit my pecco track, the water crane outside the shed is also a second hand tri ang item.

Tri-ang buffer stops in front of a wargame scenery fence adapted for the layout

A Mainline J72 tank engine rests outside the engine shed, Note the water crane

There are no buffer stops at the shed end of the layout the rail end carefully hidden by foliage to give the impression that the track continues on through the trees.

An 8F and a Jinty at work shunting

An 8F couples onto a train

Hampshire Flag

Flag of Hampshire (Flag Institute Facebook Page)

The flag of the traditional English county of Hampshire is officially official. The Flag Institute accepted the flag's registration in the UK Flag Registry yesterday (12/03/19). This leaves Herefordshire and Leicestershire as the only traditional English counties that don't formally have a flag. 
British County flags are becoming more and more popular, England and Wales are pretty well covered, however plenty of work still needs to be done in Scotland, as only four of the counties on the mainland have registered flags. I am naturally a little bit disappointed that the British County flags campaign leaves out Northern Ireland, although some might point out the Gaelic Colours of Irish Counties I have stated before that these are not county flags as they don't really exist outside the GAA, and are impractical as they are nearly all bicolours which are not even unique to that county! A place where flags are at best sensitive i think that Cross Community county flags(and other civic flags) would be advantageous in Northern Ireland as proved by the former flag used by the former Down District Council.
The Hampshire Flag is a red and yellow horizontal bicolour with a saxon crown on the top bar and the Lancashire rose on the bottom. It was conceived by Jason Saber with help from Brady Ells. The rose and crown are historic symbols associated with the county said to be traced to the Battle of Agincourt but arguably dates to the Earl of Lancashire who held estates in the county under Henry III. Red and Yellow colours were related to the historic uniform colours of the Royal Hampshire Regiment and are often still used by county sports teams.
The flag bears some resemblance to the county council arms granted in 1992 although it uses the St Edwards Crown rather than a historic Saxon one.
On a side note I've changed the name of the blog as I want to write on wider subjects that are of interest to me not just flags, although flags will continue to be a subject of this blog.

America re-adopts the Union Jack

The Union Jack of the United State of America

I admit that the title is a bit of click bait, for two reasons; by America I mean the US Navy and when I say re adopt, it never actually unadopted it completely.
The flag in question is not the national flag of the United Kingdom but rather one of the Jacks (flag flown from a jack staff on the bow of a ship) of the United States.
The US Navy has this month released NAVADMIN 039/19 which has ordered all ships (with on or two unique exceptions) to cease using the "First Navy Jack" and replace it with the Union Jack.
The order states

"This NAVADMIN directs the display of the Union Jack in lieu of the First

Navy Jack aboard Navy ships and craft. All U.S. Navy ships shall display the

Union Jack in accordance with section 1259 of reference (a) beginning at

morning colors on Tuesday, 4 June 2019. Reference (b) will be updated to

reflect this change."

This flag is in basically the canton of the USA flag used as a flag in its own right. Its a blue flag bearing 50 white stars. Versions of this flag with the appropriate number of stars have been used for most of the USN's history. The date being the anniversary of the battle of Midway in the Second World War.

The Jack currently in use at time of writing by commissioned USN ships is called the First Navy Jack. This is a flag of thirteen alternating red and white stripes on which is emblazoned a rattle snake below which is the text "DON'T TREAD ON ME" This flag was actually first introduced in 1975 for the Bicentenary of the USN. Despite its name it was not the first jack of the USN (although similar but different flags were used by the colonial and continental naval forces in the revolutionary war). It was adopted as the Jack of the US Navy on September 11th 2002 to signal the war on terrorism and used ever since.

The 'First Navy Jack' of the United States Navy

However only commissioned ships of the USN adopted the First Navy Jack, non commissioned support and axillary vessel continued to use the Union Jack, as did ships of the US Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

No doubt some might like the so called First Navy Jack, it is not a historical flag and was invented as a temporary commemorative flag, and while some might see this reversion to the Union Jack as a symbolic end to the War on Terror, however I see it as a the USN readopting it's traditional flag.

The First Navy Jack will not disappear completely however as the USS Constitution (the oldest commissioned warship afloat) and USS Blue Ridge (which is I think the oldest commissioned US warship in active service) will continue to use it, and I believe this order does not affect uniform patches (at least not immediately). 

Irish Volunteer Uniforms 1

Its been a while since I posted last. But here is another post today and it is (as is the case with most of my posts) the result of a board nerd/history buff with a book and a laptop.
I recently bought the book 'Irish Regiments 1683-1999' by R G Harris, which is more or less the history of all the Irish regiments of the British Army past and present.
Near the front (I have not yet finished reading it) of the book is an interesting section which lists the varrious Volunteer Corps which a sort of citizen army, and details their uniforms where known.
There where no illustrations of these uniforms themselves (although there were photos of buttons, helmets and some other relevant items). So I decided to correct this to try and put a basic visual aid to the descriptions and this is what I have done so far.
Use of Bearskins, Cavalry helmets and Light Infantry Caps are based on the assumption that the Volunteers mirrored British Army practice as headgear is rarely described. However looking at period paints it does appear that at least some Grenadier units of volunteers wore bearskins and most appeared to wear bicorn hats rather than tricorns. Unless stated the badges are also fictional, however they are based on and keeping with the spirit of actual Volunteer badges. 

County Cork

Counties Clare & Kerry

County Limerick 

Thats all I have so far. I am also considering expanding the blog beyond its flags and symbols genre although those topics will continue to feature, as a way of getting more posts out 

Royal Engagement

Following yesterday's news of the engagement between HRH Prince Henry of Wales (aka Prince Harry) and Meghan Markle, there has been much conversation on the matter. Where will the wedding take place, what will the dress be etc etc However I have been wondering what coat of arms Meghan Markle will use as a member of the Royal Family?
Usually she would impale her arms or her father's arms impaled with Prince Harry's. 
I am not aware if she or her father are entitled to arms so I thought I would have ago at designing a marital coat of arms:

 I read Wikipedia and one or two newspaper articles on the subject both of which are not always the most reliable sources. However as the news only broke yesterday this was all I had time for, so I might return to the subject later and add to or adjust the design.
A quick google search for "Markle Coat of Arms" reveals designs that seem to predominantly feature red an white bars, also according to Wikipedia Meghan Markle is descended from John Hussey, 1st Baron Hussey of Sleaford who used a blazon of "barry of six ermine and gules:"

I also read in the Daily Mail that Meghan's German ancestors used a blue coat of arms with a gold feather (or is it a quill?) between two fleur de lis, this also seems to be generic arms associated with the German name Markle:

I combined the elements from these arms into a single unique blazon for Meghan. It keeps the ermine and keeps the feather between the fleur de lis, I also think the red white stripes in a blue border gives it a bit of an American look which i think is appropriate given Meghan is a proud a mixed-race American.

American State Flag Redesigns Part 2

The second part of the American States flags post redesigning state flags based on a standard template. For Part 1 click here.

North Dakota

The design in the fly is a banner of the state coat of arms and is hence exempt from the no stars rule, as the stars are heraldry.  However I believe use of the state coat of arms are restricted by North Dakota law. So I also made an alternative based on the arrow head shape of the shield.

Ohio

The current Ohio flag is very creative, but unfortunately dosn't fit the template, which is certainly one of the drawbacks of this approach. The waves on this flag represent the Ohio River which is the state's namesake. The heraldic depiction of the wings represent the fact the Ohio is officially the birthplace of aviation. Although the first powered flight took place in North Carolina, Ohio is the birth state of Orville Wright one of the inventors of the aeroplane.

Oklahoma 

This is very much based on the current state flag as I actually like most of the symbols depicted on it, just the way they are depicted.  Given the symbolism of the blue field as representing the Choctaw flag, the first flag adopted by native Americans, I decided to make an exception from the one shade of blue rule. I like the symbolism of the crossed peace pipe and olive leave two traditional symbols of peace form two traditions. I also like the use of the native shield. 

Oregon

This flag keeps the beaver on the reverse of the current state flag. The white and green bars represent an old wagon road and is representative of the Oregon trail. The colours are also reflective of the Cascadia flag. 

Pennsylvainia

My first redesign for a Pennsylvania flag features a banner of the arms of William Penn, who was the state's namesake, receiving a large royal grant of land for a colony in 1661, which became one of the USA's founding 13 states.

Another alternative design is blue and features the famous 'Liberty bell' inside the shape of a keystone reflecting the state's nickname. The yellow colour reflects the flags the Philadelphia Light Horse and the blue for the colour of the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment  and red for the flags of the 1st Pennsylvania Rifles and Hanover Assositaors. All were regiments in the US War of Independence. 

Rhode Island

At first I thought the anchor was a rather generic symbol, however then I learnt that it featured in the seal since colonial times (1640s) and symbolises hope. I have based the flag on the flag of the continental army's Rhode Island Regiment. However blue and white was also used in the flags of other colonial Rhode Island units. 

South Carolina 

The South Carolina flag is probably one of the oldest state flags, being in uses in one form or another since 1775. I really only added a star in the hoist to bring it into the template design as I didn't feel it need any modification. 

South Dakota 

The sun has appeared in all South Dakota flags, the black triangles representing the black hills where the famous Mount Rushmore monument is. 

Tennessee

This flag is based on the 1897 flag, with the three colours representing the three main regions of the state, which is also what the stars on the current state flag also symbolise.  

Utah

I've kept the bee hive form the current flag and seal. The two half hexagonal patterns in the hoist not only continue the bee theme (honey cone shape) but also represent the six states that border Utah. The blue and white stripes in the centre have a dual meaning. First they reflect historical Utah flags like the dessert flag, kimball/Maguire flag and Mormon God's kingdom flag  . It also reflects train tracks that symbolises the first transcontinental railway which was formed by two companies (Central Pacific Railroad and Union Pacific Railroad) that met at Promontory point, Utah. This is also represented by the golden spike which connected the rail lines of the two companies together, thus uniting the nations infrastructure and by extension uniting the states. 

Vermont

although I think the 'Green Mountain Boys' flag would make a great state flag it doen't fit the template so I took the tree from the current state flag and seal placed it on a white shield. The green field is in reference to the green mountain flag. 

Virginia

The St George Cross and the historic royal arms of England, Scotland and Ireland come from the coat of arms of the Colony of Virginia. The shield of which is still used in the arms of the Senate of Virginia but defaced with a gavel. Likewise I defaced the flag with the spear going through a crown taken from the current state seal. I also dropped the crowns from the individual shields. 

Although based on historical and current heraldry, I thought four shields made the flag too busy. So an alternative design of three shields is also available. The shields in question are the historic royal arms of England, which would have been used by Elizabeth I whom the state is named after, and the arms of Sir Walter Reighley who named and founded the first English colony in Virginia. 

Washington

Based on General George Washington's coat of arms, but with the two red striped coloured blue and green in reference to the Cascadia flag to distinguish it from the flag of Washington DC. 

West Virginia

A white field with a blue border similar to the current flag. The crossed pic axe and axe are from the state seal and represent the farmer and the minor, in turn representing agriculture and industry. 

Wisconsin

The arrow stripes represent the state motto 'forward' and reflect badger stripes. Badger being the state animal which is why the fly feature a rampant badger. 

Wyoming

With the exception of the seal in the centre the Wyoming flag is one of the better state flags and I saw little need to change it. The only change I made (apart from removing the seal) was replace the whole buffalo with just the head outline. However this is just my personal taste and a full buffalo flag would also work well. 

Well thats all the flags of all 50 United States redesigned to a standard template I hope you enjoyed them. Please feel free to comment