From the Desk of The Dean: Easter 2023
The Dean of The Society of St Michael and All Angels
May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy Easter!
For most people, especially here in the UK, the Easter weekend provides a well earned break from work, and hopefully some nicer weather to really make the weekend worth it! Unfortunately, I have found myself working all over Easter again this year, but I have found the time to write this message to all of you who continue to support The Society of St Michael and All Angels, either by donation, or by membership, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your continued support, it is most appreciated.
It is fortunate that Easter almost always falls in the middle of spring, just as everything is beginning to come to life once again. The observance of the resurrection of Jesus comes when the trees are coming out of their winter hibernation and are beginning to bloom; new life is everywhere; daffodils are out; tulips are coming out of the ground; all this as I sit here and write this on the day that the risen Christ burst from the tomb.
But Easter isn’t just one day, Easter is preceded by Holy Week, which is itself preceded by the forty days of Lent. For many people, Lent, Holy Week, and Easter mean nothing at all; for others, it is a very spiritual time indeed. For me, I don’t spend lent flying my most plain and boring flags, or using my oldest and dirtiest halyard. However, I have managed to find a way to celebrate Easter with my flags, without investing in an Easter Bunny adorned flag with bright colours and ‘Happy Easter!’ emblazoned on it (not that it is not a valid way of observing Easter, I just prefer the more traditional observance of the resurrection of Jesus).
On Maundy Thursday, I fly my Royal Standard (yes I do know the protocol, but hey, rules are there to be broken!) before lowering it at dusk, leaving my flagpole empty. My flagpole remains empty throughout Good Friday and Holy Saturday; this is the time when Jesus was crucified, the sky turned black and he was laid in the tomb. On Easter Morning, Christ having risen from the tomb, I fly my immense Royal Standard (it is twice the size of my regular Royal Standard that I flew on Maundy Thursday) in celebration! Of course, this will sound completely bonkers to some, but I am all for people having their own traditions and customs.
If you would also like to share yours please do not hesitate to because I would like to hear from you and maybe even include some of them into future messages, because I want this society to not just be about educating others about flags and the correct ways to fly them, but also about community and cooperation between fellow vexillologists. We are a unique breed of people, flags can tell stories in the most exciting fashion and we are the ones who can tell it, we are the ones who can keep tradition alive! Flags don’t just tell stories, they unite people. The colours of regiments united soldiers in the heat of battle, flags have been a source of patriotism and pride to many in more recent times, I shall not easily forget the wonderful displays of Union Jack bunting and flags for the VE Day 75 celebrations that took place during the Covid-19 pandemic, nor when they came out again for the Platinum Jubilee last year, and it is my sincere hope that they will come out again for the coronation in May.
Myself, I have invested in a Union Jack, defaced with the ‘Coronation logo’ that I shall be flying proudly over the coronation weekend, before raising my immense Royal Standard once again on coronation day, weather permitting of course, although the weather is looking good for the coronation.
The coronation is not just a good excuse for a party, it is an important part of our constitution. The crowning of the monarch is the most solemn, the most elaborate, and the most British of all our ceremonies in this country and it calls for a truly British celebration! There have been 42 monarchs and this will be the 40th coronation since the Norman Conquest (not including consorts); Henry III (1216-1272) was crowned twice; Edward V (1483) wasn’t crowned at all, he famously disappeared, along with his younger brother Richard, Duke of York, as one of the ‘Princes in the Tower’ William III and Mary II (1688-1702) ruled as co-monarchs and were crowned together; and Edward VIII (1936) abdicated before he could be crowned.
The monarch is the most important, yet understated parts of the British Constitution. Many people these days do not understand the constitutional importance of the monarchy and see them only as figureheads. The monarch is the lynchpin in the whole system, in the words of the author and commentator Andrew Gimson, they occupy the space which a dictator would need to occupy. The monarch is our greatest defence against tyranny, and while the coronation is just a formality these days, the king became king the moment his mother, the late queen, died, the coronation is an important part of the national psyche, as is bedecking our houses in union jacks for the occasion and I look forward to seeing many more of these blatant displays of patriotism over the coming weeks!
May I once again wish you all a happy easter and please, if you are a visitor here, know that you are most welcome and do consider joining us or donating.