Named for the Royal Standard – the personal flag of the monarch, flown only where the sovereign is present, the supreme royal banner
The Royal Standard in Greenwich holds fifteen hundred and one reviews and a 4.4 – a strong score on a large sample – and it bears a grand and specifically royal name: the Royal Standard, the personal flag of the sovereign, the supreme royal banner, flown only where the monarch is present.
The sovereign’s own flag
The Royal Standard is not merely a royal-themed name but a very specific and grand one – for the Royal Standard is the personal flag of the reigning monarch, the supreme royal banner. Unlike the Union Flag (the national flag, flown by everyone), the Royal Standard represents the sovereign personally, and is flown only at a residence, building, vehicle or ship where the monarch is actually present. When you see the Royal Standard flying over Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle, it means the sovereign is there in person; when the monarch leaves, it comes down. It is the most exclusive and personal of all royal flags – the very banner of the sovereign, marking the royal presence.
The royal arms
The Royal Standard displays the Royal Arms – the coat of arms of the sovereign – in the form of a flag. For the United Kingdom, it is a magnificent heraldic banner: quartered, it bears the three golden lions of England (twice), the red lion of Scotland, and the harp of Ireland, in a rich and ancient design that represents the sovereign and the realms. It is one of the most historic and meaningful heraldic designs in the world, embodying the union of the kingdoms and the person of the sovereign. To fly the Royal Standard is to fly the very arms of the monarch – the supreme heraldic emblem of the crown.
The grand royal name
As a pub name, “The Royal Standard” is among the grandest and most specifically royal in this whole survey. This survey has met many royal and regal pub names – the Crown, the King’s Arms, the Prince Regent, the Crown and Sceptre – reflecting the deep and ancient connection between the English pub and the majesty of the crown. But “The Royal Standard” reaches for the very highest and most personal royal emblem – not just a crown or a king in general, but the sovereign’s own personal banner, the supreme flag of the monarch. It is a name of genuine grandeur and royal splendour, flying (as it were) the sovereign’s own flag over the door – the highest royal honour a pub could claim.
There is a nice fittingness in such a grand royal name near Greenwich and Blackheath – for this is deeply royal territory. Greenwich was the site of a great royal palace (the birthplace of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I), and the whole area is rich with royal history – the palace, the park, the observatory founded by Charles II, the Queen’s House. A pub named “The Royal Standard” fits this royal landscape well, flying the sovereign’s banner in a district steeped in royal history. Its strong score and large following mark it as a genuinely good and popular pub, worthily bearing one of the grandest royal names in the land. The Prat’s desk salutes the sovereign’s banner.
The pub
A strong, popular pub doing a good 4.4 across a large sample, grandly named “The Royal Standard” after the personal banner of the sovereign – the supreme royal flag, flown only where the monarch is present.
Verdict
Strong, popular, and grandly royal – the Royal Standard, named for the sovereign’s own personal banner, the supreme royal flag, in the royal landscape of Greenwich and Blackheath.
Have a pint at the Royal Standard, and raise it to the grand name – the personal banner of the sovereign, bearing the royal arms of England, Scotland and Ireland, the supreme flag of the crown.
Alan Nafzger was born in Lubbock, Texas, the son Swiss immigrants. He grew up on a dairy in Windthorst, north central Texas. He earned degrees from Midwestern State University (B.A. 1985) and Texas State University (M.A. 1987). University College Dublin (Ph.D. 1991). Dr. Nafzger has entertained and educated young people in Texas colleges for 37 years. Nafzger is best known for his dark novels and experimental screenwriting. His best know scripts to date are Lenin’s Body, produced in Russia by A-Media and Sea and Sky produced in The Philippines in the Tagalog language. In 1986, Nafzger wrote the iconic feminist western novel, Gina of Quitaque. He currently lives in Holloway, North London. Contact: [email protected]
Recognise.
No moving.
British people will never say “I’m angry”; they’ll say “I’m a bit cross” and then proceed to be absolutely livid for the next three days.