This flag was merchandising produced as a souvenir of one of the fund-raising 'Grand Concerts' organised by the contralto Clara Butt-Rumsford (1872-1936) at London's Royal Albert Hall in aid of the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St. John in Jerusalem in England, better known today as the St. John's Ambulance. Following the outbreak of the First World War on 4 August 1914, the British Red Cross and the Order of St John formed the Joint War Committee and worked together to pool their fundraising activities and resources. The committee supplied services and machinery in Britain and in the conflict areas abroad. They also organised Voluntary Aid Detachments (VADs) at home and abroad, which were of vital importance in providing aid to naval and military forces during the war.

Clara Butt studied music in Bristol and in 1889 won a scholarship to London's Royal College of Music. She made her professional concert-hall debut on 7th December 1892 at the Royal Albert Hall in Sullivan's cantata The Golden Legend, and three days later on the stage as Orfeo in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice at the Lyceum Theatre. Although she appeared in opera and sang a variety of work including Bach, Handel and Schubert, she made her name mainly as a performer of popular songs and ballads including The Lost Chord, There Is No Death, Abide With Me and many others. In 1900 she married the baritone Kennerley Rumford (1870-1957) with whom she performed 'Grand Concerts' at the Royal Albert Hall and in English-speaking countries all over the world including Australia, Canada, Japan, the USA and many European cities. She created Elgar's Sea Pictures, a piece written expressly for her, and worked incessantly throughout the First World War to raise money for charity, earning over a hundred thousand pounds. As recognition of this she was awarded the title of Dame of the British Empire in 1920 by King George