East Monkland Covenanters' Banner, around 1679

East Monkland Covenanters' Banner, around 1679

View item

This banner or flag is believed to have been made to be carried at the Battle of Bothwell Bridge in 1679 by John Main, elder, of Ballochney. The Covenanter army was defeated by Government troops. Main is said to have escaped the battle and the banner was kept in his family.

Made of plain-woven silk, it is a dark cream colour. The lettering and motifs are painted with what is assumed to be oil-based paints. It is thought to have originally been dyed blue which has faded. Although the lettering is frayed, in its intact state it read: "East Munkland For Reformation In Church And State, According To The Word Of God And Our Covenants."

In the upper left a Bible is open at Psalms LXXXVI and LXXXVII (86 & 87) on the left hand page and Ephesians II and III (2 & 3) on the right. In the top-right of the banner is an enclosed thistle topped by a crown, surrounded by the Latin motto 'nemo me impune lacessit' - "no one harrasses me with impunity" - a motif associated with Scottish royalty. Below the text a mailed fist emerging from a cloud grasps a sword with a rippling blade. It could quite possibly represent the "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17).

This banner was handed down through the Main family and took pride of place in their pub, the Gushet House in Airdrie, until it was donated to Airdrie Museum in the 1890s. It was displayed in Airdrie Library until it came into the care of North Lanarkshire Museums in 1998. Extensive conservation work was undertaken 1999-2002 by the Scottish Museums Council, and it has since been on display in Airdrie Local Studies.