BRITISH ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION, 1907-1909


Eric Marshall's sledge flag used on the British Antarctic Expedition 1907–09 ('Nimrod Expedition'), silk, with blue upper and lower panels and a cream central panel, centered by a coat of arms bearing a unicorn head embroidered in red with gold anchor, three fixing loops at the hoist, the blue panels faded on recto, 600mm. square, framed and glazed
|"SLEDGE FLAG TIED IN BACK TO HELP KEEP WARM": a flag carried to 88° south by Nimrod expedition surgeon Eric Marshall.During the expedition, each of the four men of the Southern Party had his own personal flag, clearly visible in numerous photographs reproduced in Heart of the Antarctic (1909): upon their departure from Hut Point on 3 November 1908 (plate facing p.266); when they 'broke the southern record' on 27 November (plate facing p.296); Christmas Day (plate facing p.336, and illustrated above); and at the Farthest South camp, 88°5'S (plate facing p.340). The present flag, belonging to Marshall, features prominently in many of these images.On 9 January 1909, the four men photographed themselves with the Union Jack presented to them by Queen Alexandra, at the Farthest South point, 97 nautical miles from the Pole; it was bitterly windy, and they were in no mood to fly their sledging flags. However, it is likely that Marshall had this flag with him that day: in his diary on 6 January he writes of the plan to "make one last dash without the sledge. Sledge flag tied in back to help keep warm tonight" (SPRI MS 1456/8). Shackleton's Nimrod sledge flag is at SPRI (item Y:2002/2/4) along with the Union Jack flag said to be the one flown at the Farthest South (item Y:2005/5).The tradition of sledge flags dates back to Arctic expeditions of the early nineteenth century. Personal to the explorer, they were often made by wives and mothers, and although they could serve some purpose in identifying sledges and making them more visible from a distance, they were typically reserved for flying on special occasions or, later, for photographs. Clements Markham contributed to their popularity, and Edward Wilson dedicates a page of the South Polar Times to the Discovery expedition flags. (See Barbara Tomlinson, 'Chivalry at the Poles', in Proceedings of the XIX International Congress of Vexillology, 2001, pp.215-221.)Provenance: Eric Marshall; donated by him around 1952 to his alma mater, Monkton Combe School, by whom now offered for sale.