Design of a Liverpool Scottish Pipe Banner for the City of Ieper

The Arms of Ieper

Arms of the City of Ieper (Ypres) Belgium - click to enlargeThe full achievement of Ieper is shown on the right and the French Croix de Guerre and the British Military Cross awarded to the town after the First World War bay be seen suspended below the shield. The crown shown should be a mural crown representing ramparts (Ieper is a walled and moated city) rather than a form of a ducal crown as shown here.

The Shield of Arms to be Used on the Banner

A banner was commissioned for presentation to the town of Ieper (Ypres) when the Liverpool Scottish memorial at Bellewaarde Ridge near Hooge was dedicated in July 2000. It shows simply the arms of Ieper on the reverse with a regimental badge on the obverse. The blazon is 'Gules, a cross vair and on a chief argent a patriarchal cross of the field' . Vair is a heraldic 'fur' and its blue and white pattern represents squirrel skins. In this case, the arrangement is unusual in that the orientation of the 'bells' is different in the vertical arm of the main cross when compared with the side arms of the cross. The historical precedent for this is shown in the arms displayed on a seal of 1305 for the nearby town of Bailleul (now in France). The full achievement of Ieper is shown on the right and the French Croix de Guerre and the British Military Cross awarded to the town after the First World War bay be seen suspended below the shield. The crown shown should be a mural crown representing ramparts (Ieper is a walled and moated city) rather than a form of a ducal crown as shown here.

Seal of the Lord of Bailleul c 1305 showing differing orientation of the vair pattern on the crossn

 

 

 

Sketch design for Ieper banner (obverse) - click to enlarge