Battle standard

Sikh armies carried into battle large triangular standards such as this one, which would have been attached to a vertical wooden pole. The solar symbol at the center of the textile was probably associated with auspiciousness, strength, and victory.

Said to have been used in the last battle of the Second Anglo-Sikh War in 1849, this standard may have been regarded as a military souvenir. It was acquired by a governor-general of India, Lord Dalhousie (1805–1860), who purchased it at a sale of the Lahore court treasury. The Anglo-Sikh Wars occurred during Dalhousie’s tenure, eventually leading to the British annexation of the entire Punjab region. The fall of the Sikhs in 1849 led to an immediate British inventory of the Lahore treasury and its eventual dispersal.