“The fact that it’s been done using the traditional colours and flowers of the North East is tremendous.
“The idea came from the Northumbrian Association. They were the ones with the vision to replace something that had been lost in the past. It has been done very much in partnership with Durham Cathedral.” The banner was designed by Fiona Raeside-Elliott of Northumbria University using the Adobe Illustrator computer programme. She said she was delighted with the end product.
“My artistic licence was spurred on by the words from the Rites where it describes the banner as being sumptuously wrought with flowers of green, silk and gold,” she said.
The banner will be paraded from the Market Place to Durham Cathedral as part of the traditional St Cuthbert’s Day celebrations on March 20.
Email john.danby@btopenworld.com for details.
Rallying call
THE St Cuthbert’s banner was often in demand, particularly against the Scots, and was famously carried at the Battle of Flodden in 1513.
It was also taken to the Pilgrimage of Grace, when local people protested against the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
The banner was destroyed by the Calvinist wife of the Dean of Durham at the time of the Reformation.
Its replacement will be displayed at Durham Cathedral, close to St Cuthbert’s shrine.
Bells will hang from the banner to call parishioners to worship and on top its pole will sit a silver St Cuthbert’s Cross.
