![[Flag of Suffragette Movement]](../images/g/gb_suffr1.gif)
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image by Marc Pasquin, 4 July 2007In the UK, green, white and purple were the colours of the Women's Social and
Political Union, led by Emmeline Pankhurst, just one of several organisations
involved in the suffrage movement, but perhaps the most militant.
The suffragette banners that are part of the Fawcett Library collection (http://www.thewomenslibrary.ac.uk
although there are none shown currently on the website) in London Metropolitan
University show a variety of colours and symbols. The Women's Freedom league had
a banner in green, yellow and white; the Married Women's Association has one in
green and white; that of the National Union of Societies for Equal Citizenship
is green, red and white; one of the banners of the National Union of Women's
Suffrage Societies is green, gold and white, but another is red and green. Many
banners commemorated famous women, and bore suitable colours and symbolism
according to whoever was being commemorated.
The book to read on suffragette flags is, 'The spectacle of women: imagery of
the suffrage campaign 1907-14' by Lisa Tickner (London, Chatto and Windus, 1987)
Ian Sumner, 18 March 2004
In "100 Years of Women's Banners" there are
a lot of women's flags and banners, including a note on the colours of
suffragists (green and white and scarlet) and suffragettes (green and purple and
white).
Marcus Schmöger, 23 March 2004
![[Flag of Suffragette Movement]](../images/g/gb_suffr2.gif)
image by Marc Pasquin, 4 July 2007
On an episode of the Antiques Roadshow, a woman brought some memorabilia
relating to the suffragettes. One of these was a colour picture showing a woman
holding a flag wrapped around a pole. While the orientation of the flag is
unclear, it is clearly divided green-white-purple. It might be horizontally
divided (as shown at top of page) but another item that was brought was a medal
issued by the organisation given to women who participated in a hunger strike,
the ribbon of which was divided vertically green-white purple.
Marc Pasquin, 4 July 2007
A photo in the Museum of London, dated 1914, shows a group of suffragettes
with a flag vertically divided, see:
http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/piclib/pages/bigpicture.asp?id=1005
Jan Oskar Engene, 5 July 2007
I think that the Suffragettes' flag was derived via the Suffragists from the
Chartists who had a purple, white and green triband
and who often displayed plain purple flags as symbols of the sovereignty of the
people, but the Suffragettes flags had the colour order reversed as Green,
White, Violet standing for Give Women Votes. Given the direct militant action of
Suffragettes there may have been an intended reference to Napoleon - 'Corporal
Violet' was remembered by carrying violets, and the violet hybrid pansies were
associated with Free-Thought and radical causes as a pun in French on pensee.
The colours are well known but the flags are not because small personal items
like ribbons and sashes were kept and these look like tribands, but there are a
number of photographs, e.g., of Sylvia Pankhurst standing on a sort of scaffold
to address a meeting flanked by women each holding tricolour versions of the
flag, and of a horse-drawn bus in London in 1910 decorated with tricolours so
the WSPU was definitely invoking the French tricolour's associations. (For such
photographs look in the popular history book The Ascent of Woman by Melanie
Phillips ISBN 0 316 72533 1).
David B. Lawrence, 21 May 2010
A "W.S.P.U." flagoid can be seen here, a long green lance pennant with fancy
letters:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_knHmw4EPfhE/SyMmPWRXKUI/AAAAAAAABSI/CN0yqPUksis/s1600-h/SuffShopOnePennyNewspaper1912.jpg
and the already known lapel pin with horizontal stripes and slogan:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_knHmw4EPfhE/SyMt1JdN6pI/AAAAAAAABSo/WWqlf0-iZyE/s1600-h/SuffShopBadgeFlag.jpg.
See context at
http://melbourneblogger.blogspot.com/2009/12/suffragette-shops-ideal-business.html.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 22 May 2010
The WSPU tricolour was designed by Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence ?
The charity
Oxfam sometimes put exhibition cards in their shops and there was a display
recently for (Women's International Year or Day or something.)
One of the
placards stated that it was Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence who devised the '
Give-Women-Votes ' Green-White-Violet WSPU tricolour, but I have not been able
to find any other confirmation of this. I thought that these were originally
Joseph Sturge's Complete Suffragist Union triband colours placed vertically (
the mid 19c rival organisation of the National Charter Association.) Perhaps
with these tip offs somebody can look for some historical references ?
This WSPU flag is of course upside down - but this is a nice story: they also
dyed the Bradford reservoirs' waters violet.
http://thefabricofbradford.wordpress.com/2013/06/04/suffragettes-and-dyestuffs/
" ... The suffragette movement in Britain had become more militant in
their activities in 1912, following the rejection of a bill that would have
given women limited rights to the vote, originally supported by then Prime
Minister Asquith. Bradford suffragettes were very active and earlier in 1913 had
dug up the 2nd and 12th green at Bradford Moor Golf Club, replacing the flags
with the purple, green and white flag of the Women's Social and Political Union.
... "
David B. Lawrence, 19 March 2014
