The School Colours and Chapel.
Oh LORD, Thy Banner floateth o'er us,
Beneath its folds we stand and sing,
In Majesty go Thou before us,
Our Saviour Christ! Our Captain-King.
It is 212 years since the first Dukie crossed the threshold of the School at Chelsea and much of our resulting history resides in our Chapel.It is important that we do not just take it for granted for we should remember that the School was originally created by our illustrious and Royal Founder, Field Marshall, Prince Frederick, the Duke of York, to create an establishment to educate the sons and daughters of those who had fallen in battle under his command, as an act of gratitude for that ultimate sacrifice.
Looking directly above the main body of the Chapel, there are banners which are "o'er us". These are known as Colours, they hold huge significance to us and this is how we weave the honour of holding colours into the fabric of our School life.
The School holds two colours - The Union Jack colour is called the Queen's colour; the blue colour is called the School colour. The Queen's colour is only trooped in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen or her representative; on all other occasions, the School colour is used. It consists of a white Yorkshire Rose, surrounded by the name "Duke of York's Royal Military School" and is enclosed within a wreath of roses, thistles and shamrocks - these symbols clearly define our Duke of York connections and our Britishness.
To hold colours is a prestigious honour bestowed by the Monarch. Ours were presented in 1825 by His Royal Highness, King George IV;
In 1897 by Their Royal Highnesses, The Duke and Duchess of York (who later became George V and Queen Mary);
In 1934–by General Sir Cyril Deverell who later became a Field Marshall and Chief of the Imperial General Staff;
And in1965- byGeneral Sir Reginald Hewitson who was the Adjutant General;
In 2003,His Royal Highness, Field Marshal, the Duke of Kent presented our current colours. When not “on Parade”, these colours are on display in the office ofthe Executive Principal and Commandant of the School.
We also hold two sets of colours from the Royal Hibernian School in Dublin, which was merged with The Duke of York’s in 1924 – their colours have a harp and the motto “Fear God, Honour the King”. Again, these are on display in the chapel.
In the British Army, colours originally served as a rallying point in battle. To ensure that the soldiers recognised their colour, the colours were displayed to them in parades called "Troopings". That is why we, as a School, will carry out our own trooping on "Grand Day" in front of our guest of honour, usually a member of the Royal family or a very senior military officer.
We also have the colours present in Chapel at the start and end ofterm. This is linked to the turning of a page in the Book of Remembrance which rests by the Pulpit. This cements the link between the colours of today and the sacrifices of our former pupils. It also confirms the bond between our School Ceremonial and the history of the Chapel.
In a regiment, Colours carry battle honours reflecting a proud and costly history of service.Our School colours carry no battle honours but our Chapel walls record the names of those 338 Dukies and 81 Hibernians who are known to have given their lives in the service of their country and the campaigns in which they fell. Perhaps we, as Dukies, should consider these campaigns as our battle honours?
It is a tradition that once a colour has been retired it is “laid up”, usually in a museum or a Chapel such as ours. Just like old soldiers and old Dukies, the colours gradually fade away.
Dukies have a sense of pride when they see the colours on parade and when they are brought into chapel we stand silently to attention as “Dukies” to receive them - both as a mark of respect to their Royal origins and in honour of those many thousands of "Dukies" and “Hibernians” who have marched under them.
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