Our military etiquette connected with mourning was really modelled on that in use in the army of Louis XIV., as is proved by a rather singular fact. In 1737 George II. died, and an order was issued commanding the officers and troopers in the British army to wear black crape bands and black buttons and epaulettes. Very shortly afterwards the French Government issued a decree to the effect that, as the English army had "slavishly imitated the French in the matter of wearing mourning, henceforth the officers of the French army should make no change in their uniform, and only wear a black band round the arm." Oddly enough, at the present moment both the French and the English armies wear precisely the same "badge of grief," a black band of crape on the left arm above the elbow.
The Sovereign can prolong, out of marked respect for the person to be mourned, the duration of the period for general and Court mourning.
The following are regulations for Court mourning, according to the register at the Lord Chamberlain's office:--
For the King or Queen--full mourning, eight weeks; mourning, two weeks; and half-mourning, two weeks: in all, three full months.
For the son or daughter of the Sovereign--Full mourning, four weeks; mourning, one week; and half-mourning, one week: total, six weeks.
For the brother or sister of the Sovereign--full mourning, two weeks; mourning, four days; and half-mourning, two days: total, three weeks.
Nephew or niece--full mourning, one week; half-mourning, one week: total, two weeks.
Cousin, ten days; second cousin, seven days.
THE following are the accepted reasons for the selection of various colours for mourning in different parts of the world:--
_Black_ expresses the privation of light and joy, the midnight gloom of sorrow for the loss sustained. It is the prevailing colour of mourning in Europe, and it was also the colour selected in ancient Greece and in the Roman Empire.
_Black and white striped_ expresses sorrow and hope, and is the mourning of the South Sea Islanders.
_Greyish brown_--the colour of the earth, to which the dead return. It is the colour of mourning in Ethiopia and Abyssinia.
_Pale brown_--the colour of withered leaves--is the mourning of Persia.