Warriors of the Crescent Moon

Like all military units, the Queen’s York Rangers (1st Americans) proudly continues a heritage from days gone by.  Traditionally, Rangers were intrepid souls who were wanderers and protectors of certain territories, of “ranges”.  They lived off the land, were loyal to their lords and could appear out of nowhere be it forest, mountain or meadow.  Such was the reputation of rangers already in the early 18th century when Major Robert Rogers, our first CO, formed his Rangers in the 1750s and then later led them against those unruly colonists who opted to leave His Majesty and form their own republic.  Just as all Rangers before and since, they have had a symbolic attachment to the crescent moon; we are all “warriors of the crescent moon”. But why?  Good question!

To understand this symbolism we need to look even further back than the American War of Rebellion.  We need to go back to antiquity.  The Ancients worshiped many gods and goddesses, believing them to control the weather, the sun, moon and stars.  Apollo, in his golden chariot drawn by four fiery steeds (Pyrois, Aeos, Aethon, and Phlegon), pulled the sun across the sky each day.  But at night while he was in Oceanus it was Diana, goddess of the hunt, who was mistress of the sky.  Diana’s symbol was the moon and particularly the crescent moon.  Her weapon was the hushed bow and her servant was the owl, known not only for wisdom but also for sudden death on silent wings.  When Rangers went looking for a badge by which to identify, what better symbol than a crescent moon?  They moved by night, hunted for their food and struck terror into the hearts of their enemies (those disloyal colonists) by darkness.  And so it was that all Rangers came to be identified with a crescent moon.

If you have been visiting our website (http://www.qyrang.ca), then you will know that we have had a “Quotes for Tees” campaign.  The winning quote has been chosen and it is actually a tie (no, not that kind of tie, we are talking about tees, not ties . . .).  Anyway, one of the two winners, submitted anonymously by JOHN or JANE DOE is “Queen's York Rangers ...Warriors of the crescent moon.”  See why I have been talking about Diana and her stealthy owl? It all fits together now. 

So what is the other winning quote?  You may well wonder; there is another blog for that. Have a look.  By the way, we have long since forgiven the colonists for being disloyal to our sovereign and have even become quite friendly with these so-called Americans.  So well do we like them that we did not even mind when they named their own fearsome regiment of Rangers after our first CO.  Yup, the US Army Ranger Regiment, those lads who love to jump out of airplanes, walk through snake-infested swamps and ride horses across the Afghan plains are respectfully named after our first commander: Major Robert Rogers. 

But just because we are now fast friends and comrades in arms (after all, we are the 1st American Regiment) does not mean that US Army Rangers have forgotten what our forefathers did to George Washington at places like Brandywine in September of 1777.  For just like them, we “Move fast … fight dirty!”  And that takes us to our next quote as well as another blog . . . .

If you are JOAN or JOHN DOE, please contact info@qyrang.ca and we will send you your tee.

To order a tee or hoodie, please follow the link: Warriors.