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| £100 Diamond Jubilee commemorative note |
Jersey 100 Pounds banknote 2012 Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II
Jersey’s Diamond Jubilee £100 note features the portrait ‘Equanimity’. This portrait of The Queen wearing the George IV Diamond Diadem also appears on the note’s security stripe, the first time a hologram has been used by Jersey in this way. "ERII Diamond Jubilee 1952-2012" overprint.
The reverse of the note is dominated by a lithographic image of the Jersey flag as well as a hand engraved intaglio-printed image of the gilt-silver Royal Mace, presented by Charles II to the Bailiff of Jersey in 1663 in gratitude of the island’s loyalty and hospitality during his years in exile.
The watermark is derived from the portrait of Her Majesty painted by the Italian painter Pietro Annigoni in 1954 (courtesy of Camera Press) and can be seen when holding the note up to light.
The note also contains a see-through feature consisting of part printed lithographic numerals on each side that form a complete image when held up to the light.
The commemorative emblem reveals, when tilted, a hidden ‘100’ numeral and includes the words ‘États de Jersey’ and ‘Chent Louis’ in Jèrriais, along with the crests of each of the island’s twelve parishes.
Jersey Banknotes - Jersey paper money
2010
The designs for Jersey’s new set of bank notes highlight some of the best known examples of the island’s architecture, history and culture. The front of the notes features the traditional hand engraved intaglio portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, based on a photographic portrait by Mark Lawrence, with the words States of Jersey and the crest beneath. The central vignettes on both the front and reverse feature important Jersey landmarks.The reverse of each note carries the denominational value in numbers, in French and in Jersey’s language, Jèrrias, as well as the words États de Jersey and the twelve parish crests. The notes also feature hand engraved images of various Jersey Round Towers: these defensive towers were built around the coast between 1780 and 1800 to protect the island from invasion. Once protecting the shores of the island from attack in the Napoleonic wars, these towers are now monuments to a time gone by and are among the first landmarks encountered by visitors to the island.
100 Pounds 2012 Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II
Described by The Queen as “one of the oldest possessions of the Crown”, Jersey has enjoyed an unique relationship with England for over 800 years. A special Constitution has been bestowed upon the island by successive English and British monarchs since the reign of King John. Having lost his lands in Normandy to the French in 1204, King John secured allegiance from Jersey and the other Channel Islands, all of which formed part of the Duchy of Normandy. Jersey has remained predominantly royalist ever since, obtaining ‘peculiar’ privileges received through a series of royal charters.
In 2003, Jersey Heritage commissioned a holographic portrait of The Queen. The portrait 'Equanimity', meaning 'the quality of being calm and even-tempered', was created by artist Chris Levine and holographer Rob Munday.
The portrait is displayed at Jersey’s historic Mont Orgueil, the Royal Castle built on the east coast of the island following King John’s loss of Normandy, France in 1204. The 800th anniversary of that event was celebrated by Jersey Heritage who restored the castle and commissioned a range of artworks for the grounds and Keep to create a contemporary vision of Jersey’s 800 year heritage of continuous loyalty to the Crown.
Jersey’s Diamond Jubilee £100 note features the portrait 'Equanimity' and is being produced to celebrate Jersey's loyalty and allegiance to the Crown.
The Royal Mace of Jersey
The Island’s bond with the Crown was reinforced during the English Civil War and Jersey remained as a centre of Royalist resistance. The future king Charles II sought refuge here when the cause of his father, King Charles I, was lost.
During the English Civil War (1642-1651) there were a series of armed conflicts and plots between parliamentarians and royalists. After several defeats, King Charles I issued orders that his son should escape to France to join Queen Henrietta Maria, and in February 1646, the Prince and his Council sailed from Cornwall to the Isles of Scilly.
A parliamentarian fleet sent after them was providentially dispersed in a storm, after which the Prince arrived in Jersey, where he stayed at Elizabeth Castle until he joined his mother at St Germain near Paris in June 1646.
King Charles I was captured in 1647. He escaped and was recaptured in 1648. Despite his son’s diplomatic efforts to save him, Charles I was beheaded in 1649, and England became a republic.
According to royalists (and retrospective English law), Charles II became King when his father Charles I was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, the climax of the English Civil War.
However, the English Parliament did not proclaim Charles II King at this time, passing a statute making it unlawful, and England entered the period known to history as the English Interregnum. Jersey, on the other hand, proclaimed Charles II King on 17 February 1649 in the Royal Square.
After the Protectorate collapsed under Richard Cromwell in 1659, General George Monck invited Charles to return and assume the throne in what became known as the Restoration. Charles II arrived on English soil on 25 May 1660 and entered London on his 30th birthday, 29 May 1660. Charles was crowned King of England and Ireland at Westminster Abbey on 23 April 1661.
In due course, the Island’s loyalty and hospitality were rewarded by the presentation of the Royal Mace. It was given by King Charles II to the Bailiff of Jersey on 28 November 1663 in gratitude for his happy experiences in the Island on the 2 occasions he had stayed in Jersey during his years in exile.
What does the mace look like?
The Bailiff’s mace is not only one of the great ceremonial maces of the 17th century but also an outstanding piece of craftsmanship. It consists of 11 pieces made of silver gilt, is almost 4 feet and 10 inches long, weighs 237 ounces (14 lb, 13 oz) but bears no hallmarks.
Engraved on its foot is a Latin inscription, which translates: ‘Not all doth he deem worthy of such a reward. Charles II, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, as a proof of his royal affection towards the Isle of Jersey (in which he has been twice received in safety when he was excluded from the remainder of his dominions), has willed that this Royal Mace should be consecrated to posterity and has ordered that hereafter it shall be carried before the Bailiffs, in perpetual remembrance of their fidelity not only to his august father Charles I but to His Majesty during the fury of the civil wars, when the Island was maintained by the illustrious Philip and George de Carteret, Knights, Bailiffs and Governors of the said Island.’
The mace is carried before the Bailiff at the sittings of the Royal Court and meetings of the Assembly of the States of Jersey. In the court and the States the mace is placed upright in a socket in front of the Bailiff’s desk. So the Royal Mace, in its own right, is an impressive object. However, its real importance goes further. It is a symbol of Jersey’s ancient links with the Crown, the special status of the Island, and an artefact which bridges the gap between one of the most turbulent and significant eras of British history and the present day.
Flag of Jersey
The flag of Jersey is composed of a red saltire on a white field. In the upper quadrant the badge of Jersey surmounted by a yellow "Plantagenet crown". The flag was adopted by the States of Jersey on June 12, 1979, proclaimed by Queen Elizabeth on December 10, 1980 and first officially hoisted on April 7, 1981.
Status and protocol
The flag of Jersey has been decreed by the Sovereign for use in the Bailiwick of Jersey as the Island's flag. The Union flag may also be flown, but precedence should be given to the flag of Jersey. The Bailiff of Jersey requests the flying of the flag of Jersey on government buildings on a list of official flag days when flags are flown from the seat of the judiciary and legislature; individuals are encouraged, but not obliged, to observe official flag days also.
The pre-1981 flag of Jersey continues to be used as part of the re-enactment ceremonies of Liberation Day on 9 May.
History
The current flag is the first to be adopted officially. Unofficially, a plain red saltire had been used since at least the 1830s. The official flag adds the badge and crown to this.
Plain saltire
The origins of the association to Jersey of the red saltire are unknown.
A 1906 letter by the Bailiff of Jersey, describing the flag as "the red St Andrew's cross on white ground", states it was used to signal the neutrality of the Channel Islands during wars between England and France. A 1483 papal bull guaranteed the islands' neutrality during the Hundred Years' War. The saltire may have been a variation of the St George's Cross.
Links to the St Patrick's Cross have been proposed. The St Patrick's Cross is commonly identified with the arms of the FitzGeralds, a Cambro-Norman family which became powerful in Ireland, and who also owned land in Jersey. N. V. L. Rybot in 1951 suggested that Jersey's flag originated from a mistake in a 1783 flag book by Carington Bowles, which was copied by later authors. Rybot's theory is that Bowles misinterpreted Ierse (Dutch for "Irish") as meaning "Jersey" in a Dutch flag-book he used as a source. However, French Admiralty charts show that Jersey was using the red saltire before 1783.
The use of the red saltire became more common during the German Occupation of World War II, as the local population were not allowed to display the Union Flag in occupied territory. Although the heraldic symbols of Jersey were used by the Island's government during this time, all public buildings and landmarks (such as Fort Regent and Mont Orgueil) flew the Flag of Nazi Germany.
Addition of the badge
The move to a new flag was begun in 1977 with Queen Elizabeth's Silver Jubilee. It was felt by many in Jersey that the flag was insufficiently distinctive to represent the island, that there was too much confusion with the cross of St. Patrick as an Irish symbol, and that the red saltire had been taken as one of the international maritime signal flags.
Others, though, wanted to keep the traditional red saltire that had been used since time immemorial. A third influential body of opinion campaigned for the adoption of a banner of the three leopards (leopard being the heraldic term for a lion passant guardant), the island's heraldic device. The current flag can therefore be seen as a compromise between the various strands of opinion. Although the flag is flown in Jersey, the three leopards are much more widely used as a national symbol by the authorities and civil population alike.
Ensigns
A civil ensign for use by Jersey registered merchant ships was approved in 2010, after a consultation process. The flag, which is the British Red Ensign with the badge and crown in the fly, was approved by Queen Elizabeth II, and subsequently by the States of Jersey in June 2010.
A government Blue Ensign, with the badge without the crown in the fly, was given a general warrant in 1997, having originally been issued in 1907 specifically for the government-owned tugboat Duke of Normandy.