| Description
| These were the second set of colours presented to the 90th Perthshire Volunteers (later Light Infantry) and the first to be carried into battle. The colours consist of a silk Union Jack flag with an embroidered floral motif in the centre and four Sphinxes with the battle honour Egypt above them.
The 90th Perthshire Volunteers were raised by Thomas Graham in 1795 and were presented with their first set of colours shortly after, on presenting them Thomas Graham said: “the defence of these colours is a sacred trust that l need not dwell on; the honour of the regiment is in your hands, and depends on the exertion of your attention, perseverance and courage.” After the Act of the Union in 1801 new colours were issued showing the new flag. It was these colours which were carried into action in Egypt in March 1801 and then later saw action in Martinique and Guadeloupe. By the time new colours were issued to the Regiment in 1817 the previous colours were reduced to shreds and were then given back to Thomas Graham. They were then placed by a representative of Thomas Grahams' in St Giles Cathedral in a ceremony in 1882 were they hung along the aisle for many years.
In 2010 these colours were found at St Giles and donated to the museum. The colours were in a particularly bad state; the silk was very dirty and dusty and had also become distorted from many years of being hung in St Giles. There had also been two attempts over the years to repair some of the damage to the original silk; this was done firstly by attaching new silk fabric however this newer silk was now in a worse state than the original and had begun to split and break down. Later the colours were encased in netting to try and contain the original silk, however it had also later began to break down and was also obstructing the view of the original silk and embroidery.
Professional conservation of the Colours was then carried out to both clean the original silk and remove the silk and netting added on during the repairs. A new silk colour was then produced with the original silk and embroidery stitched over the top in their original positions. |
