 | |
| Proportion | 16:9 |
|---|---|
| Adopted | 8 April 2013 |
| Designed by | Elaine Truby |
The Worcestershire flag is the flag of the county of Worcestershire. It was registered with the Flag Institute on 8 April 2013 as the winning entry of a BBC Hereford & Worcester competition. [1] It was first flown in a ceremony at Worcester Cathedral on the same day. [2]
Designed by Elaine Truby, the flag features the county's famed black pear (black worcester pear) – a symbol reported to have been used by Worcestershire units at the Battle of Agincourt. Additionally a pear tree is seen on the local council's arms. Three of these pears are seen on a shield charged against a wavy green and blue background. These latter colours symbolise the verdant flood plain of the River Severn as it runs through the county. The dark green hue is that worn by the county's cricket team.
The flag was created after a competition was launched in 2013 by radio station BBC Hereford & Worcester, to create an official flag for the county after it was discovered Worcestershire didn't have one.
An alternate flag offered for sale commercially is a banner of the arms of Worcestershire County Council and as such is the property of the council and only represents it, not the wider county. In the absence of an adopted flag at the time, this council flag had been flown alongside the Union Flag above the Department for Communities and Local Government. [3]
Worcestershire is a ceremonial county in the West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands county to the north, Warwickshire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south, and Herefordshire to the west. The city of Worcester is the largest settlement and the county town.
Hereford is a cathedral city and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately 16 miles (26 km) east of the border with Wales, 23 miles (37 km) north-west of Gloucester and 24 miles (39 km) south-west of Worcester. With a population of 53,112 in 2021, it is the largest settlement in Herefordshire.
Worcester is a cathedral city in Worcestershire, England, of which it is the county town. It is 30 mi (48 km) south-west of Birmingham, 27 mi (43 km) north of Gloucester and 23 mi (37 km) north-east of Hereford. The population was 103,872 in the 2021 census.
The only official flag for Northern Ireland is the Union Flag or Union Jack, the flag of the United Kingdom; there is no official local flag that represents only Northern Ireland. The flying of various flags in Northern Ireland is a significant sectarian issue, with different communities identifying with different flags.
Hereford and Worcester was an English non-metropolitan county created on 1 April 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 from the areas of the former administrative county of Herefordshire, most of Worcestershire and the county borough of Worcester. An aim of the Act was to increase efficiency of local government: the two counties are among England's smaller and less populous counties, particularly after the same Act transferred some of Worcestershire's most urbanised areas to the West Midlands.
Herefordshire is a ceremonial county and unitary area in the West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Gloucestershire to the south-east, Worcestershire to the east, Shropshire to the north and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire and Powys to the west. The city of Hereford is the largest settlement and the county town.
The flag of the Isle of Wight was adopted and registered in January 2009. It shows a diamond shape hovering over ocean waves. The indentation of the top corner of the diamond represents the River Medina, which is the largest river on the island.
The Flag Institute is a UK membership organisation headquartered in Kingston upon Hull, England, concerned with researching and promoting the use and design of flags. It documents flags in the UK and internationally, maintains a UK Flag Registry, and offers advice and guidance about flags and their usage. It is often consulted on matters relating to flag design and usage, but holds no official status or authority. It is a registered charity.
Worcestershire County Council is the county council for the non-metropolitan county of Worcestershire in England. Its headquarters are at County Hall in Worcester, the county town. The council consists of 57 councillors and is currently controlled by the Conservative Party.
There are three flag designs associated with the English county of Wiltshire. Like the proposed flags of many other counties, two of the three have no official status as they were not designed by the College of Arms. One of the designs, the "Bustard Flag", was approved by a full meeting of the Wiltshire Council on 1 December 2009, as a county flag and subsequently registered with the Flag Institute.
The flag of Dorset is the flag of the English county of Dorset. It was chosen as the flag of Dorset on 16 September 2008 following a vote open to all Dorset residents, and organised by Dorset County Council. The unitary authorities of Bournemouth and Poole declined an invitation to participate. The flag has subsequently been registered at the Flag Institute and added to their UK Flags Register.
The Flag of Sussex is the flag of the traditional and historic county of Sussex. The flag was registered by the Flag Institute on Friday 20 May 2011 as a 'traditional' county flag as a result of a campaign started in August 2010, by Sussex resident Brady Ells, with support from his father, David. The Flag was certified by Chief Vexillologist, Graham Bartram. It was first flown officially on Saturday 28 May 2011 at Lewes Castle. and was flown from the Department of Communities and Local Government at Eland House, London on Sussex Day, 16 June 2011.
The administrative boundaries of Worcestershire, England have been fluid for over 150 years since the first major changes in 1844. There were many detached parts of Worcestershire in the surrounding counties, and conversely there were islands of other counties within Worcestershire. The 1844 Counties Act began the process of eliminating these, but the process was not completed until 1966, when Dudley was absorbed into Staffordshire.
The Cheshire flag is the flag of the county of Cheshire in North West England. It was registered by the Flag Institute on 10 April 2013, the design being a banner of arms of the former Cheshire County Council, granted on 3 May 1938.
The Staffordshire flag is the flag of the English county of Staffordshire. It was registered with the Flag Institute on 28 March 2016 following a competition between two rival designs. The winning design was proposed by the Staffordshire Heritage Group as a simplified version of the other candidate, the Staffordshire County Council Banner of Arms.
The Herefordshire flag is flag of the English county of Herefordshire. It was registered with the Flag Institute on 2 November 2019.
The Oxfordshire flag is the flag of the historic county of Oxfordshire in England. It was registered with the Flag Institute on 9 October 2017.
The Shropshire flag is the county flag of Shropshire. It was registered with the Flag Institute in March 2012 and officially became the county's flag on 19 April 2013.
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