As June 3, 1915 birthday of King George V approached, the king
made it very clear that there should be no public celebrations. Thousands upon
thousands of soldiers from throughout the British Empire had died or had been seriously
wounded in the preceding 10 months of the Great War making any joyful
celebrations very inappropriate.
The formal dissemination
of the king’s wishes was made by a cable from the Honorable Lewis Harcourt,
Secretary of State for the Colonies, which read:
“It is His Majesty’s
wish that on occasion of His Majesty’s birthday this year flags should be flown,
but no dinners, reviews, salutes or other celebrations should take place.”
In respect to the wishes
of the King, the Hamilton Times, along with many other newspapers across
Canada, decided to help local citizens show their patriotism and acquire flags.
This is the advertisement
which the Hamilton Times published regarding the idea that the showing of flags,
rather than the usual celebrations should happen on the King’s Birthday:
That advertisement was
followed by another in the Times which gave details as to how flags could be
acquired by Hamiltonians.
The ad began with the
following encouragement to acquire a flag from the Times:
“Don’t delay – come today
and get your Union Jack outfit. There’s one especially provided for you, one
for every home, for every patriot, every loyal Son and Daughter in Canada. No
better way exists to show your loyalty to Canada’s sons on the firing line than
by hoisting your Empire’s emblem on your home on the Natal Day of your
Sovereign.”
Readers were given
the option of just purchasing a flag or acquiring a full outfit consisting of
the flag, plus a flagstaff with an ornamental ball, and a case for storing the flag
Readers were required
to cut out a coupon which was to be taken to the Times’ office :
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