The flag of the vanguards was used during the Tiandihui initiation ceremony. With the Chinese character ‘ling’ meaning ’warrant‘ written on it, it signified that the vanguards were empowered to bring initiates into the secret society's lodge. The character ‘ling’ can also be interpreted as ‘soul’, as the vanguards were considered to be watching over the souls of the initiates. These secret society paraphernalia form part of the William Stirling Collection. William George Stirling was the Assistant Protector of Chinese in Singapore from 1921 to 1931.
