THE GRAND Old Flag will fly proudly at Melbourne home games in 2011.
The flag features the club’s new emblem, the 12 gold stars that adorn the back of our playing guernsey, and our twelve premiership years subtly embroidered around its fringe.
Jim Stynes will raise the flag for the first time at the top of the Melbourne players’ race on Sunday.
By Sunday it will have been nearly seven months since the Demons’ last played on the MCG. Supporters heading to this Sunday’s game will see plenty of familiar faces and rituals, along with some new ones.
The Grand Old Flag
The flag features the club’s new emblem, the 12 gold stars that adorn the back of our playing guernsey, and our twelve premiership years subtly embroidered around its fringe.
Jim Stynes will raise the flag for the first time at the top of the Melbourne players’ race on Sunday.
By Sunday it will have been nearly seven months since the Demons’ last played on the MCG. Supporters heading to this Sunday’s game will see plenty of familiar faces and rituals, along with some new ones.
The Grand Old Flag
The subject of our theme song has had many incarnations dating back more than 100 years. On Sunday the Grand Old Flag returns, and will be raised on the MCG by Jim Stynes. At every home game it will be raised on the ground before the Demons enter the arena by a past player, and again after every win.
The Demon Trumpeter
Ari the trumpeter returns in 2011, playing the Grand Old Flag before every home game during the raising of the Grand Old Flag. Look out for him around the ground during the game, and of course at after-match functions following every victory.
AFL Playground
The Demon Trumpeter
Ari the trumpeter returns in 2011, playing the Grand Old Flag before every home game during the raising of the Grand Old Flag. Look out for him around the ground during the game, and of course at after-match functions following every victory.
AFL Playground
In the first nine weeks of the season the AFL playground is the ultimate destination for kids to let their Demon out before all games at the MCG. Located on the lawn between Gates 5 and 6, mascots Checker and Chuck will be in attendance from 12.45pm-1.30pm at this week’s game to take part in the fun and games.
Young Demons Guard of Honour
Young Demons Guard of Honour
Every week 40 children aged 5-12 get the opportunity to cheer the Demons as they enter the arena. This week’s guard of honour will be filled by some of our most loyal Young Demons members, along with some special guests from the Northern Territory.
Membership tents
Membership tents
Located at gates 2, 3 and 5, our membership marquees will be the busiest part of the MCG this Sunday. If you are yet to Let Your Demon Out, come along a bit early this Sunday to purchase your membership. If you are one of the 31,000 people already signed up, make sure you stop and collect your 2011 members scarf and Demon horns as you pass by.
In addition, look out for a few surprises - especially on the MCG big screens. And most importantly, wear lots of red and blue to the game and come prepared to let your Demon out!
Melbourne historian Lynda Carroll looks back at 'Raising the Flag' ...
In addition, look out for a few surprises - especially on the MCG big screens. And most importantly, wear lots of red and blue to the game and come prepared to let your Demon out!
Melbourne historian Lynda Carroll looks back at 'Raising the Flag' ...
FLAGS - or pennants - have been raised in military and sporting settings in particular since time immemorial, and in the case of Melbourne, twelve have graced the Club since 1900, and are in the collection of the Melbourne Cricket Club.
Large enough to reach from the roof of Crown’s Palladium and hit the floor with material to spare - as they did for the Club’s Team of the Century function in 2000 - eleven are the familiar blue and white that is still the basis of the flag today.
But the first flag, won in 1900, has a blue base, and red letters and numbers, adding a special quality to it.
A representation of this flag can be seen in the Team of the Century print, along with its eleven companions. All are special, guardians of the premiership tradition of Melbourne - but one has extra poignancy in its story, which reaches into the past and takes us to the heady days of 1858.
That is the flag of 1926, which has a direct link back to the foundation of the game, and to its creators. It was raised at the start of the 1927 season, and the man in charge of the ceremony was one Henry Harrison, resplendent in suit and pork pie hat.
This cousin of Tom Wills - the man who lit the spark of the game’s foundation - had worked through the early seasons of the game to help to make it enjoyable for participants, as well as ‘superior to all others as a spectacle for the public.’
With his longevity, as well as his ongoing contribution in shaping the rules and adapting the game, Harrison was known as the ‘Foster Father’ of the game, and, in this instance, the ‘Grand Old Man’ of Melbourne. It was a proud moment for Harrison when, more than half a century on, he was seeing this clear evidence of his efforts in full measure.
Harrison would pass away in September 1929, aged 93. But, in this last ceremonial gesture, he left his mark yet again, raising the 1926 flag for Melbourne.
Large enough to reach from the roof of Crown’s Palladium and hit the floor with material to spare - as they did for the Club’s Team of the Century function in 2000 - eleven are the familiar blue and white that is still the basis of the flag today.
But the first flag, won in 1900, has a blue base, and red letters and numbers, adding a special quality to it.
A representation of this flag can be seen in the Team of the Century print, along with its eleven companions. All are special, guardians of the premiership tradition of Melbourne - but one has extra poignancy in its story, which reaches into the past and takes us to the heady days of 1858.
That is the flag of 1926, which has a direct link back to the foundation of the game, and to its creators. It was raised at the start of the 1927 season, and the man in charge of the ceremony was one Henry Harrison, resplendent in suit and pork pie hat.
This cousin of Tom Wills - the man who lit the spark of the game’s foundation - had worked through the early seasons of the game to help to make it enjoyable for participants, as well as ‘superior to all others as a spectacle for the public.’
With his longevity, as well as his ongoing contribution in shaping the rules and adapting the game, Harrison was known as the ‘Foster Father’ of the game, and, in this instance, the ‘Grand Old Man’ of Melbourne. It was a proud moment for Harrison when, more than half a century on, he was seeing this clear evidence of his efforts in full measure.
Harrison would pass away in September 1929, aged 93. But, in this last ceremonial gesture, he left his mark yet again, raising the 1926 flag for Melbourne.
