Mayoral Insignia

The Mayor's robes / The Deputy Mayor's robes

The Mayoral robes, which are edged with synthetic fur, are kept for ceremonial occasions such as the Annual Meeting of the Council (Mayor Making), Remembrance Day, Civic Sunday and Freedom of the Borough ceremonies. When the robes are worn the Macebearer must attend.

The Mayor’s Chain and Badge

In 1978 the Basingstoke District Council successfully petitioned the Queen to be made a Borough and the Borough of Basingstoke and Deane was formed.

The Mayor’s Chain and Badge was purchased by local companies (listed below) and presented in 1979.

The chain is made of gold links and was made by Thomas Fattorini of Birmingham.

Subscribers to the cost of Mayor's regalia
Automobile Association, Berry Bros and Rudd Ltd, Burlingtons, Cannon Electric (GB) Ltd, CPG Ltd, Eastbourne Mutual Building Society, Eaton Ltd, Eli Lilly and Co Ltd, Fairway Furnishing Centre, Gordian-Pakord Ltd, Habel of Winchester, Jacksons (Basingstoke) Ltd, Kingdons, K Lamont, Lansing Bagnall Ltd, Littlewoods Organisation Ltd, Macmillan Administration (Basingstoke) Ltd, Marryatt and Scott Ltd, J L Morison Son and Jones Ltd, Motorola Ltd, National Car Parks Ltd, Optrex Ltd, Oxoid Ltd, Parnell Jordy and Harvey, Pearsons, Portals Ltd, Portsea Island Mutual Co-operative Society Ltd, Post Office, Renwicks Travel, E G Routley, J Sainsbury Ltd, Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick and Partners, Securicor Ltd, Smiths Industries Ltd, Snamprogetti Ltd, Southern Gas, SSI Fix Equipment Ltd, Taylor and Francis Ltd, Tesco Stores Ltd, Time and Precision Engineering CO Ltd, Thomas De La Rue and Co Ltd, Tom Hope, Turnergraphic, Unicorn Industries Ltd, Vyne Farm Ltd, Wallis and Stevens Ltd, Wiggins Teape Group Ltd and F W Woolworth and Co Ltd.

The Mayoress’s Chain

This is a recent acquisition and is gold plate. The design is copied from the Mayor’s chain of office that was used prior to the above being obtained, and after 1979 was worn by the Mayoress. However, this became too delicate and a copy was commissioned from Thomas Fattorini. The rose is the Hampshire rose and is linked by gold chains.

Past Mayor/Mayoress’s badges

At the end of the mayoral year the outgoing Mayor and Mayoress are presented with a Past Mayor and Past Mayoress’s badge. These are to be worn on civic occasions.

The Mace

The use of ceremonial Maces has its precedence in the use of the Mace as a weapon of war. Today’s ceremonial maces are a highly ornamental descendant of the prehistoric club or bludgeon. With the introduction of armour amongst fighting people, the wooden club or bludgeon came to be bound with iron and then made of iron and steel and had, by the l2th and 13th centuries, developed into a stylised weapon of a formal nature. The Mace was adopted as a peculiar or special weapon for the Serjeants-at-Arms appointed first by Phillip 11 of France (1180-1223) to guard himself from suspected assassins when he returned to France. A similar bodyguard was instituted by Richard I of England. Curiously the Mace was also the particular weapon of a Bishop or Churchman when he took the field in war. Apparently the argument was that whilst it was not considered sacerdotal for a man of God to shed another person’s blood with a sword or battleaxe, to crack his skull was allowable! It soon became the custom for the King’s Serjeants-at-Arms to have the Royal Arms inscribed or engraved on the knot of the handle end and later it came to be decorated with gold and silver inlay etc. As the King’s Serjeants-at-Arms and subsequently the Serjeants and similar officers allowed to attend on Mayors gradually became less the armed personal bodyguard, and more the Messengers to convey the Royal orders to local authorities, so the Mace with Royal arms inscribed on it which he carried became the obvious and visible token of Royal authority.

In the course of time, the hitting end of the mace fell out of use and the handle end increased in important. This end became highly decorated and the Maces became entirely covered with or made out of precious metals. The Mace was then no longer a weapon of offence but a symbol of authority. Today’s ceremonial Maces are therefore carried upside down.

The custom of having Serjeants maces gave way to the Great Mace or Mayor’s Mace in the mid sixteenth century. Indeed in 1649 by Royal decree, Charles I gave instructions that Civic Maces were to be standardised in ‘forme and patterne’. With the creation of the Commonwealth, Cromwell insisted that the cross and orb that surmounted the head of the Civic Mace be removed and replaced by an acorn.

The Parliamentary Mace, however, fared far worse. It was dismissed, as was Parliament, with a contemptuous ‘take that bauble away’. With the Restoration in 1660 the Monarchy was not only restored but once again the Mace became a symbol of Royal authority.

Whilst both Parliamentary and Civic Maces represent the authority of the crown, tradition differs should royalty be present. In such circumstances, Parliament recognises only the Monarch. Therefore, the Maces of the Houses of Parliament and the Sovereign are never present together. Civic authorities recognise Royalty as an entity and process their Maces in the presence of any member of the Royal Family, although they are carried upside down, or more correctly, the right way up.

Today the absence of the mace from a Council meeting would not invalidate the outcome of the business transacted. This was not always so. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a Mayor could not be sworn in unless the mace was present. In those days it was not unusual to steal and hide the Mace to prevent the election of a Mayor. In 1711 there is a recorded instance whereby a plot was formed by a Tory clique to seize the mace of one famous city in order to prevent a Whig Mayor designate from being sworn in. The Whigs got wind of the subterfuge, stole the Mace from the Guildhall and hid it in a private house until it was taken into the street to allow their candidate to take the Oath of Office.

The Mace precedes the Mayor when entering and leaving the Council Chamber and lies in front of the Mayor when Council is sitting. When the Mayor is settled, the Mace rests horizontally before him with the crown to his right hand, or in the more important direction. In St Michael’s Church there is a holder in the Civic pews for the Mace and in this instance the Mace is placed in an upright position (the crown at the ‘top’).

The Mace is always reversed in the presence of Royalty because the Mace, as the symbol of the Mayor’s authority, is redundant in the actual presence of the Sovereign.

The King Charles (small) mace

This is very fragile and is not used now. It was given to the Borough by King Charles I in 1641 and is made of silver gilt.

The Queen Anne Mace

This is the Mace used now for ceremonial occasions and was presented to the Borough by Queen Anne in 1710. It is made of silver gilt.