Flag of Berwickshire

Last updated
Berwickshire
Flag of Berwickshire.svg
Proportion3:5
Adopted14 November 2023

The Berwickshire flag is the flag of the county of Berwick, registered with the Flag Institute in 2023.

Contents

History

On 5 February 2023, the Berwickshire Civic Society announced that it was organising a competition to produce a flag for the county. The competition was announced in May that year, with 203 submissions received from 1 June to 14 August 2023. An assessment panel, including representatives from the community, Lord Lieutenancy and local schools, as well as the Flag Institute and the Lyon Court, chose a final set of five designs which were put to a public vote in September 2023. The winner was announced on 13 November.

Design

The flag consists of two horizontal panels, blue above green, recalling Berwickshire’s coast, rivers and land. The blue panel features a salmon representing the importance of sea and coarse fishing to the county, as well as the Berwickshire Marine Reserve. On the green panel is an ear of barley representing local agriculture and also a possible origin of the name Berwickshire.

Between the panels a chain represents the Union Chain Bridge that spans the River Tweed between Berwickshire and Northumberland.

The Pantone colours for the flag are:

Contenders

Design A

Proposed flag of Berwickshire (2023) - Design A.svg

The black bear is taken from the coat of arms of the former Berwickshire County Council, where it served as part of a pun on the county's name ("Bear-Wych-Shire"). The wavy black and white lines represent the Blackadder Water and Whiteadder Water rivers respectively, while the wavy green line stands for the hills. The wavy lines can also invoke the curves of the River Tweed, the curves of Berwickshire's coast, and the curves of the county's moors where they meet the lowlands of the Merse. [1]

Design B

Proposed flag of Berwickshire (2023) - Design B.svg

The black shape in the hoist resembles a stylised "B" for Berwickshire, with the jagged lines also invoking the rugged terrain of the western part of the county. The blue, white and green stripe pattern represents the floodplain of east Berwickshire, from which the Merse gets its name. [1]

Design C

Proposed flag of Berwickshire (2023) - Design C.svg

The white tree is a wych elm, which appeared on the arms of the former county council as part of a pun on Berwickshire's name ("Bear-Wych-Shire"). The black castle wall (specifically modelled after the walls of Hume Castle) along the bottom stands for the abundance of castles present throughout the county, as well as Berwickshire's location on the border between Scotland and England. [1]

Design D

Flag of Berwickshire.svg

The winning design.

Design E

Proposed flag of Berwickshire (2023) - Design E.svg

The pall shape represents the confluence of the Blackadder Water and Whiteadder Water rivers as they flow through the green lands of the heart of Berwickshire. The checkered black-and-white pattern invokes the scales of an actual adder, serving as a further homage to the rivers' names. Additionally, the pattern references the colour scheme of the Border tartan, and can also be seen as a nod to the checkered flag used in motor racing, thus symbolising Berwickshire's motorsport heritage. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berwickshire</span> Historic county in Scotland

Berwickshire or the County of Berwick is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. The county takes its name from Berwick-upon-Tweed, its original county town, which was part of Scotland at the time of the county's formation in the twelfth century, but became part of England in 1482 after several centuries of swapping back and forth between the two kingdoms. After the loss of Berwick, Duns and Greenlaw both served as county town at different periods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Yukon</span> Canadian territorial flag

The flag of Yukon is a green, white, and blue tricolour with the coat of arms of Yukon at the centre above a wreath of fireweed, the territorial flower. An official flag for Yukon was created during the 1960s, a decade in which the national flag of Canada was chosen as well as several other provincial flags were created. The flag of Yukon was officially selected from a territory-wide design competition in 1967, with the winning design adopted on March 1, 1968.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canting arms</span> Heraldric symbols representing the name of their owner, either literally or as a visual pun

Canting arms are heraldic bearings that represent the bearer's name in a visual pun or rebus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackadder Water</span> A river in Berwickshire, Scotland

Blackadder Water is a river in Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, forming part of the River Tweed system. It reached 2.84m at Mouthbridge, which was its highest level ever recorded on Tuesday 22 October 2002 at 2:45pm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whiteadder Water</span> River in southeast Scotland and Northumberland, England

Whiteadder Water is a river in East Lothian and Berwickshire, Scotland. It also flows for a very short distance through Northumberland before joining the River Tweed. In common with the headwaters of the Biel Water it rises on the low hillside of Clints Dod in the Lammermuir Hills, just ESE of Whitecastle Hillfort and 3 km (1.9 mi) south-east of the village of Garvald.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allanton, Scottish Borders</span> Village in Scottish Borders, Scotland, UK

Allanton is a small village in the Scottish Borders region of Scotland. Historically part of Berwickshire, for many years it was part of the estate of Blackadder House, which was demolished around 1925.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polwarth, Scottish Borders</span> Village in Scottish Borders, Scotland, UK

Polwarth is a village and parish in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It is located at grid reference NT745502, between Greenlaw and Duns, in the former county of Berwickshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whiteadder Reservoir</span> Reservoir in the United Kingdom

Whiteadder Reservoir is a reservoir in East Lothian, Scotland, UK, in the Lammermuir Hills, 11 miles (18 km) north west of Duns in the Scottish Borders, and five miles (8 km) south east of Garvald. It was created to provide additional water facilities for East Lothian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Hertfordshire</span> Flag of English county

The flag of Hertfordshire is the flag of the English county of Hertfordshire. The flag is a banner of the arms of Hertfordshire County Council. On 19 November 2008 the Council passed a resolution that the design is a fitting and proper emblem for the county and its people. The council subsequently registered the banner of arms as the flag of the county with the Flag Institute and it now appears on the latter's registry of local flags.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clan Blackadder</span> Scottish clan

Clan Blackadder is a Scottish clan. The clan historically held lands near the Anglo-Scottish border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edrom</span> Village in Scottish Borders, Scotland

Edrom is a parish and small village in the pre-1975 ancient county of Berwickshire, now an administrative area of the Scottish Borders region of Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Nottinghamshire</span> Flag of English county

The flag of Nottinghamshire was registered with the Flag Institute in 2011. The flag includes a white-fimbriated red St George's Cross on a green background, and a green silhouette of James Woodford's bronze statue of Robin Hood on a white shield located close to Nottingham Castle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackadder House</span> Castle in Berwickshire, Scotland, UK

Blackadder House was an estate and stately house near the village of Allanton, in Berwickshire, Scotland. It was built on the site of the earlier Blackadder Castle. The house was vandalised by troops in World War I. Since there was no money to repair it, the house was demolished around 1925.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Northumberland Coastal Plain</span>

The North Northumberland Coastal Plain is a major natural region that lies on England's northeasternmost stretch of coastline on the North Sea. To the west lie the Cheviot Fringe, the Northumberland Sandstone Hills and Mid Northumberland; to the south it is continued by the South East Northumberland Coastal Plain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Bedfordshire</span> Flag of English county

The Bedfordshire flag is the flag of the English county of Bedfordshire. It is based on the banner of the arms of the former Bedfordshire County Council, which was granted the arms in 1951 by the College of Arms. This design was adopted as the flag of the historic county in September 2014, with the support of the High Sheriff of the county.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jock Willis Shipping Line</span> Shipping company

John Willis & Sons of London, also called the Jock Willis Shipping Line, was a nineteenth-century London-based ship-owning firm. It owned a number of clippers including the historic tea clipper Cutty Sark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of East Lothian</span>

The East Lothian flag is the flag of the Scottish county of East Lothian (Haddingtonshire). It was registered with the Flag Institute on 13 December 2018 following its announcement at a reception hosted by the Lord Provost.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Aberdeenshire</span>

The Aberdeenshire flag is the flag of the traditional Scottish county of Aberdeenshire. It was registered with the Flag Institute on 22 April 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Banffshire</span>

The Banffshire flag is the flag of the county of Banff, registered with the Flag Institute on 28 October 2023.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "The Shortlisted Designs". A Flag For Berwickshire. Archived from the original on 6 January 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2024.