Preparations

On 23 September 1912 the Ulster Unionist Council (UUC) passed a resolution pledging itself to the Covenant and set out a case for doing so. During its meeting one of the largest Union Flags ever made - measuring 48 by 25 feet - was hung as a backdrop.

A central Ulster Day Committee was appointed to handle preparations for obtaining as many signatures as possible at various centres throughout Ulster. The Committee was headed by Dawson Bates, Secretary of the UUC, Col. TVP McCammon of the Orange Order and Captain Frank Hall representing the Unionist Clubs.

Circulars were distributed to local Ulster Day Committees which arranged for Unionists to have the opportunity to sign the Covenant in their own districts, and to make sure that over 500 halls and other suitable premises were made available.

On Wednesday, 25 September, 700 large cardboard boxes containing copies of the Covenant and the Declaration printed on cardboard in large bold type for display in halls, and forms for signing, were sent out from Belfast's Old Town Hall for distribution in the city and in rural areas. The forms were foolscap-sized sheets, with spaces for ten signatures, made up into blocks of ten sheets per folder, and headed by the text of the Covenant together with the parliamentary division, district and place of signing. Underneath were lines ruled for names and addresses of signatories.

Additional information on the folder cover was the agent's name. Also sent were what would become souvenirs for signatories, individual parchment copies of their signatures in old English type and headed with the Red Hand of Ulster.