ABSTRACT

Ceremonial, commemorative and recreational parading through city, town and village streets is one of the principal means of expressing and consolidating a sense of communal identity in Northern Ireland. There are over 2,700 parades held every year, about 90 per cent of which are organized within the Protestant-Unionist community. These parades are not simply about mobilizing numbers or affirming territorial rights, they are the principal opportunity and medium for displaying and elaborating the nuances of collective identity. At each of the major parades held during the summer months a range of banners, bannerettes and flags are a central part of the colour and display. At the Orange Order's Twelfth of July parade in Belfast, over 100 large banners are carried by the various lodges, most of the bands accompanying them are led by a colour party carrying a bannerette. Both lodges and bands also carry an array of flags. These banners, bannerettes and flags bear a range of images that elaborate on the ideological and political nature of the Ulster Protestant identity.1