The front face or "outgoing" side of our banner.
King William III
If it ever pleases the reader to see the Belfast 12th of July celebrations then they will undoubtedly agree that the spectacle is as breath taking as it is colourful. Bands, Banner's and Families all enjoying Europe's largest privately sponsored Festival. But it's the Banner's I hope to examine here and more specifically L.O.L 513's banner. Every banner on view will each have it's own history and own identity, and the painting's on these can portray a whole range of different images relating to the uniqueness of that particular lodge. Some may be of Soldier's for a lodge made up of war veterans for example. The banner however of L.O.L 513 has two of the more notorious images in Ulster history and we will address these here:
William was born November 1650, 2 weeks after his father, King William II of the Netherlands had died. He was raised a protestant in the Calvinist tradition and was well educated. Multilingual, William spoke English, French, Dutch, German, Latin and Spanish fluently. His first trip to England was in 1670; around the time Louis XIV of France was attacking the Netherlands. By 1672, Louis had occupied much of the Lowlands but by 1673 William and his armies had succeeded in driving the French from the country and regaining control. Conflict, however, was to continue between William and the French king throughout his lifetime.
When William was 27 years old he married (14th November, 1677) Henrietta Mary Stuart – known as Mary, the daughter of James II (the heir-apparent and brother to the ruling Charles II of England). The union proved to be very popular and also allied William with the English monarchy.
In 1683 Louis XIV of France once again seemed to be directly attacking William when the French king invaded the Province of Orange in France (a province ‘held’ for many years by the Dutch monarchs and thus derived the name ‘William of Orange’). Many Protestants were killed and William saw this act as an incitement to war against the French. Louis XIV appeared to be power-crazy, bent on capturing land for France.
the Boyne river as it is today
When the King of England, Charles II died on February 6th 1685, his brother and William’s Father-in-law was crowned James II. James quickly irritated Parliament and the Army in his single-minded quest to bring back Catholicism to England. Many had not forgotten the rule of Bloody Mary (Mary Tudor) and the massacres of Protestants during her reign, and the powerful and mostly protestant classes feared a repeat under James. This fear was heightened when James’ wife, Mary of Modena, announced that she was pregnant in 1687. Protestants throughout England were alarmed – if Mary had a son, a Catholic dynasty looked inevitable.
Powerful protestant statesmen plotted behind James II’s back and invited William to take the English throne, by force if necessary. William stated that he required a formal invitation from Parliament before he would consider an invasion of England. James and Mary of Modena had meanwhile had a son on June 10th 1658, and this new ‘heir’ was met with great suspicion. Many called the boy, also called James, ‘The Pretender’ believing him to be illegitimate and not James’ true son. The birth of a boy seemed too convenient.
Seven powerful men drew up a formal invitation asking William to take the English throne from his Father-in-law. These men were referred to as the ‘immortal seven’ and included: Lords Dunby, Shrewsbury, Lumley, Devonshire, Compton, Edward Russel and Henry Sidney. With this invitation in hand William accepted and began to organize an invasion of England.
The Protestant Armada sailed from Holland on October 20, 1688 but a storm forced them to return. They tried again on November 1st and with good fortune, fine weather and excellent strategy on their side, William and his fleet of 600 ships reached Dover, in the south of England at noon on November 3rd. Many supporters of the protestant cause were there to greet them. They did not, however land at Dover, but at Brixham, Devon on the 5th November 1688. Williams’ motto ‘I will maintain’ remains Brixham's motto to this day.
By the 9th November Williams army had reached Exeter, where they waited for support to arrive. They waited until the 17th November when Edward Seymour, followed by the Earl of Bath arrived. The Orange Order was founded in