Return to Heritage Resources Saint John IndexSearch our Site!Please contact us!ArtillerymanCenturies of Achievement
Return to Main Page (1) of This SectionSection IndexEarly YearsThe Second Fifty YearsLead Up to the Great WarThe Home FrontOverseas ServiceCamp PetawawaWorld War IIPostWarEraTraining and RecruitmentArtillerymanRegimental ColoursCenturies of AchievementRegimental Band89th Battery WoodstockFreedom of the City200 years Celebration Begins200 Years Celebration continuesQuiz PageCredits Page Page13

The Regimental Colours

The use of colours in the British Army dates to 1747. The Canadian Armed Forces' traditions of colours is based on this British model.

The Queen's, or first, Colour symbolizes the unit's loyalty to the Crown. The Regimental, or second, Colour embodies a whole spectrum of ideas, beliefs and emotions which together may be characterized as "The Spirit of the Regiment".
The Colours
Replica Queen's Colour

The Colours, when carried into battle, served two practical purposes - identification and place of concentration. With the advent of more advanced weaponry in the late 19th century, the custom of carrying Regimental Colours in action, ceased. The last Canadian unit to carry its colours in battle was the PPCLI during the Great War 1914 -1918.

The Queen's Colour is a Union Jack with the crown worked in floss, and 1793 beneath worked in figures of gold. The Regimental Colour is a blue ensign with a figure with the words New Brunswick in the centre, encircled by a wreath and surmounted by a crown, wrought in floss, with 1793 in figures of gold.
Replica Regimental Colour
Colours on Parade The Colours are frequently used to lead Regimental Parades.

The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery carries no colours. The guns are its colours. The reason behind this long held tradition is related to the gunner's motto 'UBIQUE', meaning 'everywhere', that is, that the artillery has been present in just about every campaign.

UBIQUE

The custom of the guns being the colors dates from 1722 and the Royal Artillery's practice of designating the largest gun of an artillery train as the flag gun.

When a colour becomes no longer serviceable and is to be replaced by a new colour, the colour is 'laid-up'. Once a colour had been 'laid-up' it is not brought back into service again. When a unit is to be disbanded, or the colours are to be temporarily lodged for safekeeping, the colours are 'deposited'.

The colours of the New Brunswick Regiment of Artillery were presented by the Ladies of Saint John in December, 1861. In an impressive ceremony at the Mechanic's Institute (originally to the left of Stone Church where a parking lot is now located) the colours were presented through Captain Rankine's Battery, followed by at Grand Concert of vocal and instrumental music.

The colours were made by Thomas Newton, of Long Acre, London, of the heaviest and costliest of like. They were presented to Miss Gray, daughter of Col. the Hon. John H. Gray, who presented them to the two junior Lieutenants of the Regiment, Roger Hunter of Captain Rankine's Battery and Martin H. Peters, MD, of Captain Adams' Carleton Battery. LCol S.K. Foster, pledged "the Regiment to a careful watch over the sacred trust it had received fresh from the hands of youth and innocence".

St. John's Stone Church

In September, 1925 the Regiment deposited the colours in Stone Church for safekeeping and as "a memorial to the men of all ranks who served under those colours and to afford an inspiration for patriotic service and sacrifice to all who may worship in Stone Church for all time to come".


The colours were received and placed upon the alter by Rev. A. L. Fleming, Honourary Chaplain of the Regiment.


Return to Main Page (1) of This SectionTop of Page Credits PageQuiz Page200 Years Celebration continues200 years Celebration BeginsFreedom of the City89th Battery WoodstockRegimental BandCenturies of AchievementRegimental ColoursArtillerymanTraining and RecruitmentPostWarEraWorld War IICamp PetawawaOverseas ServiceThe Home FrontLead Up to the Great WarThe Second Fifty YearsEarly YearsSection Index8 More
Centuries of AchievementArtillerymanPlease contact us!Search our Site!Return to Heritage Resources Saint John Index

All pages © Heritage Resources Saint John and New Brunswick Community College - Saint John