A flag consisting of a red rose on a gold field is currently used to represent the historic county of Lancashire.[1] A red rose is a traditional symbol of Lancashire, and red and yellow are also the livery colours of the county.[2] The flag was designed by the Friends of Real Lancashire, a pressure group which promotes the historic county of Lancashire,[3] and registered with the Flag Institute, a British charity which promotes vexillology,[4] in 2008.

Flag of Lancashire
Proportion3:5
Adopted20 November 2008
DesignA red rose flower on a yellow (gold) field.
Designed byFriends of Real Lancashire

The flag has been flown from public buildings within the historic county on Lancashire Day (27 November), including County Hall in Preston,[5] St Helens Town Hall,[6] and the Ministry for Housing, Communities, and Local Government building in London.[1] It has also been raised on public flagpoles in Littleborough and Milnrow, in the borough of Rochdale.[7]

Previous designs edit

An unofficial Lancashire flag, a red rose on a white field, was never registered. When an attempt was made to register it with the Flag Institute, it was found that this flag had already been registered by the town of Montrose, Angus, several hundred years earlier with the Lyon Office. As the Flag Institute will not register two flags of the same design within the United Kingdom, Lancashire's official flag was registered — in 2008 — as a red rose on a gold field. The background was chosen as it, along with red, are the livery colours of the county.[8]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Lancashire flag flying high above Whitehall". gov.uk. 27 November 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  2. ^ "Lancashire". The Flag Institute. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  3. ^ "About Us | Friends of Real Lancashire". www.forl.co.uk. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  4. ^ "About the Flag Institute | Who We Are | What We Do | How To Join Us". The Flag Institute. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  5. ^ Moffatt, Andy (27 November 2022). "Lancashire Day: council council's chairman hails "friendliness and community spirit" of the Red Rose county". Lancashire Post.
  6. ^ "Red Rose flag flies as St Helens celebrates Lancashire Day". St Helens Star. 27 November 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  7. ^ "Lancashire Day celebrated in Pennines villages". www.rochdaleonline.co.uk. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  8. ^ Visser, Chris (29 July 2008). "Lancashire flag is all yellow". Lancashire Evening Post. Archived from the original on 1 August 2008.