Flag of Cumberland

Last updated
Cumberland
Flag of Cumberland, United Kingdom.svg
Proportion3:5
Adopted13 December 2012
The Cumberland flag at Beacon Edge, Penrith Cumberland flag at Beacon Edge.jpg
The Cumberland flag at Beacon Edge, Penrith

The Cumberland flag is used to represent the historic county of Cumberland, England. It is closely modelled on the banner of arms of the coat of arms of the defunct Cumberland County Council, which were granted to the council by the College of Arms on 19 September 1950. [1]

Contents

The flag has a green field, with three parnassus flowers in the upper half and four wavy bands of alternating blue and white in the lower half. The blazon, or heraldic description of the arms, is per fesse Vert and barry wavy of four Argent and Azure in chief three parnassus flowers Proper. [1]

The flag was registered with the Flag Institute, a charity which promotes vexillology, in December 2012. It states that the green field and parnassus flowers represent Cumberland's marshy uplands and plains, and that the blue and silver stripes in base represent the coastline, lakes, and fells. [2]

The flag has been flown around Cumberland, including at Penrith Town Hall, Wordsworth House in Cockermouth, and at the Cumberland Show. [3] It was also waved by members of the crowd when Charles, then Prince of Wales, visited the Rheged Centre near Penrith in 2015. [4] The flag was flown outside the offices of the Department of Communities and Local Government in 2013 to celebrate Cumberland Day. [5]

Design

The flag has a green field, with three parnassus flowers in the upper half and four wavy bands of alternating blue and white in the lower half. The blazon, or heraldic description of the arms, is per fesse Vert and barry wavy of four Argent and Azure in chief three parnassus flowers Proper. [1] It is in a 3:5 ratio. [2]

Colours

The colours on the flag are: [2]

SchemeGreenBlueWhite
Pantone (paper)354 C300 CSafe
HEX #00B140#005EB8#FFFFFF
CMYK 100, 0, 64, 31100, 49, 0, 280, 0, 0, 0
RGB 0, 177, 640, 94, 184255, 255, 255

History

The flag is based on the banner of arms of the now-defunct Cumberland County Council, which were granted to the council by the College of Arms on 19 September 1950. [1]

Various local organisations supported the registration of the Cumberland flag, including local sports clubs and civic societies, as well as parish councils. [6] During the registration process, the Flag Institute requested that the waves and Parnassus flowers be restyled to improve the design of the flag. The local designer of the flag Philip Tibbetts redrew the Parnassus flowers from images of the actual plant and tidied up their arrangement. [3] The colours that were chosen were supposed to match the arms as closely as possible, with the green being the same as the green on the flag of Wales, stemming from Cumberland's etymology in ‘Cymru-land’, or ‘land of the Welsh’. [3]

The registration occurred following these changes in December 2012, and the institute stated that the green field and parnassus flowers represent Cumberland's marshy uplands and plains, and that the blue and silver stripes in base represent the coastline, lakes, and fells. [2]

Use

The flag has been flown around Cumberland, including at Penrith Town Hall, Wordsworth House in Cockermouth, and at the Cumberland Show. [3] It was also waved by members of the crowd when Charles, then Prince of Wales, visited the Rheged Centre near Penrith in 2015. [4] The flag was flown outside the offices of the Department of Communities and Local Government in 2013 to celebrate Cumberland Day. [5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Civic Heraldry - Cumberland
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Cumberland Flag". Flag Institute . Retrieved 2025-09-11.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Vexilo (2013-03-29). "Cumberland". British County Flags. Retrieved 2025-09-11.
  4. 1 2 "Prince Charles in South Lakeland today". The Westmorland Gazette . 2015-04-01. Retrieved 2025-09-11.
  5. 1 2 "Cumberland flag proudly flies at heart of government". gov.uk . Retrieved 2025-09-11.
  6. ↑ Cumberland Flag Press Release - Association of British Counties
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