2 BACKGROUND

The flag in question is the First Guidon of the Royal Canadian Dragoons (RCD), the first cavalry unit in the Canadian army, housed at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Petawawa, Ontario1 (fig. 1). A guidon, from the French word guydhomme or “guideman,” is a small military flag used as a guide to the troops (Smith 1975; Sierksma 1980). The guidon was presented to the regiment in 1901 by the duke of Cornwall and York (later King George V) and was used in ceremonies and parades for years until the regiment was given its second guidon in 1919. The guidon embodies the sacrifices made in the service of Canada and is regarded as being unique and irreplaceable. The First Guidon was recently conserved in the Textile Laboratory of the Canadian Conservation Institute and will be exhibited periodically by the RCD at CFB Petawawa, Ontario.