The Nassau arms, which formed part of the badges of William of Orange, were bestowed upon the Royal Irish in commemoration of the splendid way in which it stormed the Castle of Namur in 1695, in the presence of the King.
The battle honours are: Namur, 1695; Blenheim; Ramillies; Oudenarde; Malplaquet; Pegu; Sevastopol; New Zealand; Afghanistan, 1879-80; Egypt, 1882; Tel-el-Kebir; Nile, 1884-85; South Africa, 1900-02.
It is well known that the bravery of this and other Irish regiments in South Africa caused Queen Victoria to raise the Irish Guards.
=Alexandra, Princess of Wales’s Own (Yorkshire Regiment).=—Facings, grass green.
R.C.—The Cypher of H.R.H. Alexandra, Princess of Wales, in gold (thereon “Alexandra”), interlaced with the Dannebrog, inscribed with the date 1875, and the whole surmounted by the Coronet of the Princess.
The Dannebrog is the name given to the white cross which the Danish king Waldemar was supposed to have seen in the red sky on the night before he met the Livonians in battle. His encounter was successful, and he therefore looked upon the cross as a sign sent to him from heaven. So deeply impressed was he by the apparition that he straightway accepted it as a national symbol, and it has been chosen as the badge of the “Green Howards” owing to their patron being our honoured Queen Mother.
The battle honours are: Malplaquet; Alma; Inkerman; Sevastopol; Tirah; South Africa, 1899-1902; Relief of Kimberley; Paardeberg.
The colours of the 4th battalion are shown in Fig. 31.
=The Lancashire Fusiliers.=—Facings, white.
R.C.—The Sphinx, superscribed “Egypt,” placed below the union wreath, and, within the circular badge, the Red Rose. The motto is “Omnia audax” (Daring everything).
The battle honours are: Dettingen; Minden; Egmont-op-Zee; Maida; Vimiera; Corunna; Vittoria; Pyrenees; Orthes; Toulouse; Peninsula; Alma; Inkerman; Sevastopol; Lucknow; Khartoum; South Africa, 1899-1902; Relief of Ladysmith.
The colours of this regiment have been subjected to more than ordinary vicissitudes. They were burnt in order that they should not fall into the hands of the enemy when forced to surrender at Saratoga; they were lost during the retreat from Corunna, but happily found again on reaching Portsmouth, and in the Crimea they were riddled by the Russian bullets.