British Traditional Colours. Souvenir in connection with the Coronation of His Majesty King George VI and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. Issued by The British Colour Council

Robert J. Wilson.

The British Colour Council. London. 1937. First edition. Hardback, small folio; blue half pigskin, with cream boards, gilt royal device and title to front board and spine. Card pages mounted on tabs. 36 text pages, printed on rectos only, with a tipped-in facsimile letter from Buckingham Palace. 13 plates with 50 mounted colour samples, of which 48 are grosgrain ribbons and 2 are velvet. English. 300 x 255mm. 1.9kg. . Very good; light spotting to cream boards and endpapers, slight browning to pages.

Here are illustrated colours which for centuries have been bound up with the history of Britain. Our national pride and patriotism demands that we should cherish these colours as part of our national life and preserve them in all the freshness and beauty of their original state for future generations.' (from the Foreword).
 
British Traditional Colours is a souvenir of both colour and British history. The British Colour Council's aim in publishing this book was to make an accurate record of the colours historically adopted by British institutions, and also to act as a reference for the colours, banners, flags, and decorations used for the Coronation. The text provides a fascinating history and reveals the original reasons for the use of many of the colours. The fabric samples faithfully reproduce the colours for the Union Flag, the Coronation robes, the Orders of Knighthood, the Armed Forces, and heraldic and tartan colours. The whole is a beautifully published record.