Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2018 May 5

= May 5 =

Flag identification
Can anyone identify this flag? The letters H and C in white on a blue field. Picture here. Thank you, DuncanHill (talk) 15:50, 5 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Hmm. No luck here. Matt Deres (talk) 17:57, 5 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Are those letters on the flag an "H" and a "C" intertwined? Could they have anything to do with the "House of Commons"? Basemetal  19:12, 5 May 2018 (UTC)
 * That is the suggestion on the link which I posted, I am trying to get a definitive answer. DuncanHill (talk) 19:24, 5 May 2018 (UTC)
 * I couldn't find any reference to the House of Commons being abbreviated to "HC" except in the numbering of Hansard debate records. The usual emblem for anything to do with the UK Parliament is a portcullis. Alansplodge (talk) 13:57, 6 May 2018 (UTC)
 * It doesn't look like other British governmental flags. Shipping company flags were common in Lloyd George's time; it's not listed on the first FOTW "H" page, but you could look on subsequent pages (or on the "C" pages, I guess)... AnonMoos (talk) 22:04, 5 May 2018 (UTC)
 * I looked through those pages and found nothing. Also no shipping company uses that kind of ornate "C" and "H". Maybe Duncan could start by trying to find out who draws their "H" and their "C" like that. That might provide a clue. This said I did Google "Ornate Letter H", "Ornate Letter C" (w/o the quotes) but got nothing useful. Basemetal  23:44, 5 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Interesting enough the Kansas City Athletics logo is somewhat similar except for a 'K' instead of H although I suspect it's unrelated. . Nil Einne (talk) 23:15, 5 May 2018 (UTC)


 * I am wondering if it isn’t a club flag of some sort (perhaps a sports club as Nil suggests... or a private men’s club... country club... etc) Blueboar (talk) 00:20, 6 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Just ruling out another possibility - a C and an H together like that reminds me of the Montreal Canadiens logo, but even their old-timey logos never looked like that, as far as I can tell. Adam Bishop (talk) 00:22, 6 May 2018 (UTC)


 * I was reminded of Carlton Football Club, but that's obviously not it. --  Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  19:04, 6 May 2018 (UTC)


 * Lloyd George was Welsh; the Welsh language is written with Latin letters; including one odd number: the ch (digraph), conventionally written close together, but not overlapping (literally crossing over) each other, as we see here, and representing the sound in loch or Bach (not to mention the sound of the Greek chi = x, symbolizing Christ). The typeface or font is vaguely Gothic (if not Hobbit ;). Certainly, typography was creative in Lloyd George's era, one of intense interest in adapting historic letter forms for expressive purpose, not least homage to nationalistic and folk traditions. Maybe the Language reference desk mavens can help identify the typeface or font. I'm rooting for football club (or WWI military unit) over church flag! But I'll settle for Boy Scout troop, if it comes to that. -- Paulscrawl (talk) 20:39, 6 May 2018 (UTC)
 * A Scout flag seems unlikely to me. Troop titles generally (but not exclusively) start with a number. Each troop has a pair of colours, one a Union Flag and the other one green (or navy blue for Sea Scouts) with the troop title in full and a Scout emblem. Troops sometimes had a triangular pennant to fly at camp, again green with a Scout emblem. Alansplodge (talk) 13:52, 7 May 2018 (UTC)
 * I believe the lettering style is best described as Lombardic capitals. Alansplodge (talk) 13:58, 7 May 2018 (UTC)