Last Colours for the 86th Regiment

Presentation of Colours to 86th (Royal County Down) Regiment.

Lady Airey, the wife of Lieutenant General Sir Richard Airey, the Governor of Gibraltar, presented a Stand of Colours to the 86th (Royal County Down) Regiment. The old Colours, 'of which but a few shreds remained fluttering from the staff' were trooped and then marched away in slow time to 'Auld Lang Syne'.

When Lady Airey presented the new Stand of Colours she concluded with a speech outlining the Regiment's history. The Commanding Officer responded with an address in which he stated that the men of the 86th were ready to defend their Queen and country with their motto 'England, Ireland and Scotland: Quis Separabit?' for their watchword. The Regiment then marched off the Alameda public park and returned to barracks with the Band playing and the men singing 'The Royal County Downs'.

These Colours were to be the last Colours carried by the 86th. After the Regiment became the 2nd Battalion The Royal Irish Rifles, the Colours were kept in the Officers Mess until they were laid up in Downpatrick Cathedral, Ireland in 1894.