image located at
www.scran.ac.uk by James Dignan, 2 November 2005
Last modified: 2009-12-26 by rob raeside
Keywords: scotland | fisherman's wedding flag | wedding | france |
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image located at
www.scran.ac.uk by James Dignan, 2 November 2005
[Note image shown at www.scran.ac.uk is artificially stretched horizontally. Image copyrighted by Scottish Fisheries Museum.]
See also:
The image is labeled "Title: Fisherman's wedding flag". Anyone know anything
about this?
James Dignan, 2 November 2005
From http://athens.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-000-198-371-C&scache=3jl2jhlpvh&searchdb=scran:
Wedding flags were used at marriages in fishing communities. The flag would be made by the bride and hoisted from the mast of the groom's fishing boat. After the wedding the youngest member of the crew brought it down. It was said that the state of the flag was an omen for the marriage itself. The flag is made of cotton and has the traditional design of three stripes in red, white and blue. The red stripe was always nearest the mast when the flag was flown.
This flag is in good condition - a good omen perhaps? The flag was last flown
for the marriage of John Clark and Edith Birrell in Anstruther, Fife in March
1991. John Clark was a fisherman on the "Antares" KY23. The original owner
of the flag is unknown but they were often kept by brides as wedding souvenirs.
This flag ... is apparently a signal flag for the letter T; the joke being
that the T signal flag can mean, "Keep clear of me; I am engaged in pair
trawling".
David B. Lawrence, 17 August 2009
