The Stad Ieper Standard is the gift of the British Royal Regiment of Artillery through its Association to the People of Belgium, in thanks for their Remembrance of its Dead, and for the warm welcome they receive when they come now as visitors.
The Standard was blessed recently by a Priest in Folkestone Kent, from which Port vast numbers of British and Empire forces embarked for France in the Great War, many never to return. On its Journey to St George's, it was paraded at the Menin Gate as a mark of respect on the evening of Monday 3rd December 2018.
In the Great War the Royal Artillery comprised over 900 Regiments and represented in manpower some 20% of the British Army. Four generations later a large proportion of British can thus trace their lineage back to a "Gunner" of the Great War.
On 4th December, Members of the Civic Community, and Representatives of both Belgian and British Forces and their Communities participated in a short service, as this historic Standard was dedicated here at St George's and passed from a British Standard Bearer to a Belgian Standard Bearer who henceforth will parade it at the Menin Gate.