Flag flying dates

Albuera or Albuhera is a small village in the Spanish province of Badajoz. Just 13km to the south is the site of a famous victory won there on 16 May 1811, by the British and their Portuguese and Spanish allies, under General Beresford, over a French Army commanded by Marshall Soult.

In 1811 Wellington's forces were laying siege to the fortress of Badajoz on the frontier of Portugal and Spain. Marshal Soult, the French Commander in Southern Spain, brought a force of 24,000 men to relieve the garrison. The allied force of 15,000 Spaniards, 12,000 Portuguese and 10,000 British soldiers took up a position at Albuhera to meet the French.

On 16 May 1811, the French attacked to the surprise of the Spaniards. The remaining British Regiments stood firm, but were now greatly outnumbered by the French. The only British reserve was the Fusilier Brigade, commanded by Sir William Myers of the Royal Fusiliers, and composed of the 1st and 2nd Battalions Royal Fusiliers and 1st Battalion the 23rd, or Royal Welsh Fusiliers.

To celebrate England’s historic counties, the new county flag was raised to mark the first Hampshire Day on Monday 15 July 2019, outside the Great Hall in Winchester.

The flag was officially added to the Flag Institute's Registry of Flags on 12 March 2019, after receiving support from Hampshire County Council, the Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire, and many local organisations.

The Hampshire flag design combines a Saxon crown, in reference to the Anglo Saxons who by 927AD had conquered England, and the Tudor Rose in reference to Hampshire’s ancient history and that Winchester was once the capital of England. The colours of golden yellow and red are also associated with the county’s military regiments, still used by our county regiment, The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment.

The feast day of St Swithun, 15 July, was chosen as Hampshire Day to foster pride in the shared heritage and provide an annual opportunity to celebrate the rich and diverse culture of Hampshire communities.

Everyone is encouraged to raise the Hampshire flag and organise Hampshire Day events to demonstrate pride in their local communities and the historic county of Hampshire.

Minden Day is a regimental anniversary celebrated on 1 August by certain units of the British Army. It commemorates the participation of the forerunners of the regiments in the Battle of Minden on that date in 1759.

The celebration of the day involves the wearing of Minden Roses on the regimental head dress, and, in the case of the infantry regiments, the decoration of the regimental colours with garlands of roses.

As the British infantry soldiers returned from the battle they picked roses and placed them in their hats in memory of their fellow infantry men who had fallen in battle.

Two Queen’s Brigades comprising six territorial battalions of the Regiment fought at Salerno. The unique historical significance of this event, coupled with the fact that the Territorial's remained an integral part of the Regiment, demanded that this battle should be commemorated by a regimental anniversary.

The anniversary continued to be celebrated throughout the life of The Queen’s Regiment. When the amalgamation with The Royal Hampshire Regiment took place in 1992, it was agreed that Salerno Day would be the Regimental Day of The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment. This was because in addition to the six territorial battalions of the Queen’s there was a Hampshire Brigade fighting side by side.