The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Duke of Edinburgh’s standard reflected his links to Scotland
The Duke of Edinburgh’s standard reflected his links to Scotland – the fourth quarter of the flag contains the arms of the City of Edinburgh.
Philip was made the Duke of Edinburgh shortly before his wedding, by his future father-in-law George VI.
The first three quarters of the standard show his lineage – with lions and hearts on a yellow background representing Denmark, a white cross on blue representing Greece, and his anglicised family name Mountbatten represented by two black “pales” – stripes.
The standard pays tribute to his birth heritage as a prince of Greece and Denmark, his family name and the title he was given just before his marriage in 1947.
It has been draped across Philip’s coffin which remains at rest in the private chapel of Windsor Castle.
Philip’s coat of arms featured a man holding a club, clad in a loincloth made from a lion’s skin.
The figure is described by the College of Arms as a “savage”, “crowned with a chaplet of oak leaves”.
It has been suggested that the figure depicts the Greek god Hercules.
On the other side is a Battenberg/mountbatten lion “queue force” – with a split tail – and “gorged” – meaning around its neck – with a blue Naval Crown to represent Philip’s naval career.
The coat of arms, granted by George VI in 1948, bore the motto “God is my help” as well as the motto of the Order of the Garter, “Honi soit qui mal y pense”, which translates as “Evil to him who evil thinks”.