Royal Pakistan Artillery Centre Camp Flag..
This Royal Pakistani Artillery Centre flag was the fourth flag in the Zaricor Flag Collection. Acquired from a California military dealer, this is a very early flag from the nascent and formative days of the Pakistani military.
The design of the flag, which features horizontal bands of red over blue charged with a silhouette of a traditional artillery field piece and rammer bearing a unit designation reminiscent of the British Royal Artillery, can be found on the similar artillery flags of Australia, Canada, Fiji, India, New Zealand, Malta, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, and Sri Lanka. These are all nations that, like Pakistan, trace their modern military origins and traditions from the United Kingdom.
This Royal Pakistan Artillery Centre flag can be dated to the period after the independence of Pakistan on 15 August 1947 and 23 March 1956, when all references to Crown or Royal were dropped and the republic was declared.
The origins of the Royal Pakistani Artillery can be found in the Royal Regiment of Indian Artillery, generally known as the Royal Indian Artillery (RIA), which was an administrative corps of the British Indian Army. The RIA saw extensive service during the First World War, in East Africa, Gallipoli, Mesopotamia and Palestine.
The Royal title was conferred upon the regiment in 1945. The partition of India in 1947 resulted in the RIA being divided between the newly formed artillery regiments of India (Royal Regiment of Indian Artillery) and Pakistan (Royal Pakistan Artillery).
The distribution of territorial and military assets during the partition was very uneven. In terms of artillery, Pakistan got a ragtag of units of field, anti-tank, anti-aircraft and medium guns. All of these were of British origin and had seen action during the Second World War. From the outset, Pakistan received neither spare parts nor sufficient ammunition. A few of the critical artillery establishments, including the Artillery Centre and the Artillery School (situated at Muttra and Deolali respectively), were given to India. A Pakistani Artillery Directorate and a School of Artillery were rapidly established, as was the Artillery Centre at Attock.
The method of construction of this flag is consistent with the haste with which the Artillery branch of the newly formed Pakistani Army was created. It is made of wool bunting with cotton insignia and designations; but the flag is a field expedient rather than a professionally made military issue flag. The inscription reads correctly on both sides, but rather than a mirror image as one would usually find on such flags, the lettering on the obverse is simply adjusted upwards to accommodate the reverse; again indicating vernacular rather than professional construction. The flag is designed to be hoisted from a free standing pole rather than paraded and was likely the flag of the nascent Royal Pakistan Artillery Centre when they were first formed at Attock in 1947.
ZFC Significant Flag
Item is Framed
Provenance:
• Royal Pakistan Artillery Centere, circa 1947.
• Purchase by Zaricor Flag Collection, J&S Military Surplus, Moss Landing, CA., 1999.
Sources:
Bokhari, Eas Col (retd) 50 YEARS OF THE REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY, Defense Notes, 17 November 2011, from: http://www.defencejournal.com/july98/50years.htm
History, School of Artillery, Pakistan Army, 17 November 2011, from:
http://www.pakistanarmy.gov.pk/AWPReview/TextContent.aspx?pId=269&rnd=476
History, Artillery, Pakistan Army, 17 November 2011, from:
http://www.pakistanarmy.gov.pk/AWPReview/TextContent.aspx?pId=21&rnd=450
United Kingdom: Royal Artillery Association, Flags of the World, 17 November 2011, from: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/gb-defra.html
Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection
