A BANNER stitched by a group of women in Moretonhampstead will be part of a national procession celebrating 100 years since the first women in the UK were given the right to vote.

The banner is part of a mass-participation artwork, titled Processions, which will take place simultaneously across the four UK capitals on June 10.

Women and girls will walk together in Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh and London. Participants will each be given a scarf to wear in either green, white or violet ­– the suffragette colours.

They will be choreographed to walk in stripes in a flowing river of colour, creating a living portrait of women and girls in the 21st century.

As part of the project 100 artists from across the UK have been commissioned to create handmade banners to carry during the processions.

Veronica Gould, a textiles artist with Devon Guild of Craftsmen, was commissioned to create a banner in Teignbridge.

She said: ‘We started off with a meet up in the pub and talked about what people felt should go on the banner, and narrowed down a design.

‘We originally thought about an image of a strong Dartmoor woman but then decided we needed to make it more political.

‘We wanted our banner to be very much about what it’s like to be a woman today – our challenges, hopes and fears.

‘We wanted men on board too, because if we’re not equal we all go to pot. So we decided to include both the male and female symbols. During the BBC gender pay scandal I saw someone wearing a t-shirt with an equals sign, which was really powerful, so we included that in the design too.

‘We inverted the male and female symbols as we feel men need to be more grounded and women need to come out more and become more visible.’

After the design meetings the women made the banner in a series of workshops. Part of the design is an embroidered ‘river of names’. For this they divided the river into sections and embroidered on names of women who are important to them.

Veronica added: ‘We thought about the past and famous women, then thought about the women in our own pasts – our ancestors, our mothers and grandmothers and also our children, daughters and nieces.

‘The stories that came out from everyone have been amazing, and it’s given us an opportunity to discuss the histories of our maternal ancestors.

‘This is important in terms of what’s going on with women today. Our ancestors had it tough, and there’s more recourse and justice for women today, but we still have a long way to go.

‘These things have to be flagged up.’

All 100 banners will be displayed nationally after the procession and then the banner created at Moretonhampstead will be on display at the Devon Guild of Craftsmen.

Artist Andrea Foxwell has been working alongside Veronica on the banner.

She said: ‘It’s a brilliant project which has brought so many of us together in so many different ways and created so many amazing conversations.’

Veronica and Andrea and the other banner makers will be attending the parade in London, meeting at Hyde Park.

Women can register for free to attend any of the processions, and also download a banner-making kit for the occasion. For more information see ?www.processions.co.uk.