Last week, a ceremony at Burnham Military Camp consecrated the new Colours of the 2nd/1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment (2/1 RNZIR).

The Battalion was honoured by Her Excellency, The Rt Hon Dame Cindy Kiro, GNZM, QSO, Governor-General of New Zealand, on behalf of His Majesty King Charles III.

This event began an essential new chapter for the 2/1 RNZIR.

The backstory of the Colours (hand-embroidered ceremonial flags) is also remarkable and steeped in history.

The new Colours were hand-stitched by three women from Wyedean Weaving in Yorkshire in the United Kingdom. 2/1 RNZIR’s Colours are the first in New Zealand to be updated with the King’s insignia.

Aileen Henderson, Wendy Hatton and Susan Jones collectively have nearly 120 years of experience perfecting the intricate embroidery of military history worldwide.

Henderson says the process of creating Colours can only begin after the designs have been submitted to The King for approval.

“We can only start production once we receive this approval. I have an exceptional memory for patterns we’d created for Hobsons, the previous supplier of Colours before Wyedean. I can identify if we already have them on file,” patternmaker Henderson said.

“If we don’t, new patterns are developed. Following the recent change in the monarchy, new patterns have been required to incorporate the King’s crown.”

The craftsmanship of 2/1 RNZIR’s new King’s and Regimental Colours took more than 900 hours of meticulous embroidery.

“We utilised three metres of pure silk cloth, 75 grams of gold thread and 150g of pure silk embroidery thread,” embroiderer Wendy Hatton said.

“The highlight of this project was working with the distinctly different design compared to our usual Colours, particularly the vibrant colours set against the dark blue silk background, which added unique visual appeal.”

Working on this project was especially significant for Hatton and Jones, who had previously worked on the embroidery of the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s King’s Colour (formerly a Queen’s Colour), which was presented by then Prince Charles in 2019.

“We feel an immense sense of pride and honour in contributing to such significant pieces of history for militaries around the globe,” Jones said.

The previous 2/1 RNZIR King’s and Regimental Colours were presented to the unit in 1980, and after more than 44 years of general wear and tear, they had reached the end of their lives.

When Colours are replaced, the old ones are laid up, typically hung in a church or chapel associated with the regiment, although some particularly significant Colours may be displayed in cathedrals or other public buildings such as museums.

“We take great pride in seeing the old Colours laid up in Westminster and other churches, especially when our families ask which ones we created,” Henderson said