Gold buttons for Queen's banner

17 May 2012 Last updated at 06:08

In pictures: Half a million gold buttons for the Queen

Diamond Jubilee picture galleries

A 9ft (3m) by 9ft velvet banner sewn with over half a million gold buttons is being made to decorate the stern of the Royal Barge, Spirit of Chartwell. It will be at the front of the Thames Diamond Jubilee pageant on 3 June.

The banner has been made by artist and sculptor Ann Carrington (left). It depicts a crown, flanked by a lion and unicorn, and carries the royal motto "Dieu et mon droit" - "God and my right". The names and dates of past coronations are still to be sewn around the edge.

Some naval buttons have been used in the design to echo the tradition of east London pearly kings and queens. According to legend, it began when a Japanese ship carrying a cargo of pearl buttons floundered in the Thames. The buttons washed up on the banks and were gathered by locals who stitched them to their clothes.