Last modified: 2005-10-15 by rob raeside
Keywords: board of ordnance | ordnance | master general of the ordnance | cannons | cannonballs | sua tela tonanti |
Links: FOTW homepage |
search |
disclaimer and copyright |
write us |
mirrors
See also:
The Office of Ordnance, created by Henry VIII in 1544, became the Board of Ordnance in 1597. There was no standing army, and its principal duties were to supply guns, ammunition, stores and equipment to the King's Navy. The Great Master of Ordnance ranked immediately below the Lord High Admiral. In 1683 the Board became a Civil Department of State, under a Master General. A shield bearing three field-guns in pale, and three cannon balls in chief was adopted as the Seal of the Board. Being a metal die it was colourless, but paintings of the seal were made in a variety of colours:
by Martin Grieve
The seal was used as the badge on the Red Jack of Ordnance Board vessels
"...; And that such Ships and Vessels as shall be employed for Their Majesties
Service, by
the Principal Officers and Commissioners of [ ]Their Majesties Ordnance [ ]
shall wear a
Red Jack with the Union Jack in a Canton at the upper Corner thereof next the
Staff, as
aforesaid, and in the other part of the said Jack shall be described the Seal
used in such
of the respective Offices aforesaid, by which the said Ships and Vessels shall
be
employed." Royal Proclamation of 12th July 1694.
This was repeated in Royal Proclamations of 1707 and
1801, but the 'Regulations and Instructions relating to His Majesty's Service at
Sea' of 1731, stated that the seal could be placed "in the Body of the Jack or
Ensign". This probably made little difference to the appearance of the flag. A
possible 18th century ensign/jack is shown above.
David Prothero, 17 September 2004
The Board of Ordnance were responsible for supplying the Navy and the Army with
guns, ammunition, and military hardware in general. In 1791 they also began a cartographic survey of the British Isles so that the army would have
accurate maps in case of a French invasion. The definitive sets of British maps
are still known as Ordnance Survey maps.
David Prothero, 16 November 2001
I enclose another Army flag related to the Ordnance, the distinguishing flag of
the Master General of the Ordnance. This post is now also one of the heads of
the Defence Procurement Agency, and the flag is still in use. It is red over
blue, as the Army Board flag, but with the arms in an oval shield, surrounded by
the motto "Sua Tela Tonanti" ("Their weapons are thunderbolts") and a gold
"bound" wreath of oak leaves, with thunderbolts issuing from it at east, south
and west. There is a St. Edward's crown above.
The other Army flag with the Army badge on it is the flag of a military attaché
who is an army officer. This is the Union Flag defaced by the Army badge
(crossed swords with the Royal Crest over them) with a thick red fimbriation
around the badge.
Graham Bartram, 17 September 2004
I had not come across this flag which is not mentioned in a 1960 article
about ordnance flags. The post of Master General of the Ordnance was abolished
in 1855, but appears to have been resurrected as a title for the Fourth Military
Member of the Army Board, which replaced the Army Council in 1964. I guess that
the flag was introduced after 1964.
David Prothero, 18 September 2004
Information on this page and pages linked from it under the title of "Board
of Ordnance" is taken from
"The Army's Navy" by D. Habesch, "The Arms and Flags of the Board of Ordnance" by
J.W. Steeple in Mariner's Mirror, February 1960, and National Archives (PRO)
ADM 1/8574/325, ADM 1/8612/171, ADM 1/21344, ADM 116/353, ADM 116/1063C,
MT 9/205, WO 32/10938, WO 32/13221, WO 32/18153, WO 32/19914.
David Prothero, 29 September 2004
The style of cannons are another mystery here - Campbell and Evans have two
differently-styled cannons on the same page, one for the Army Council and
another for the Ordnance and Royal Artillery. To make matters even more
confusing, these cannons are depicted in different forms in many publications
over a vast expanse of time. I include a montage from David Prothero and myself
in gif-format, based on our research work, illustrating the difference in style
in some publications for reference purposes here.
Martin Grieve, 11 June 2005