Puneet Varma (Editor)

Flag of Bedfordshire

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Proportion
  
3:5

Designed by
  
College of Arms

Adopted
  
1951

Flag of Bedfordshire

The Bedfordshire flag is the flag of the county of Bedfordshire. It is a based on the banner of the arms of the, now defunct, Bedfordshire County Council. The banner of arms are described in heraldic terms as Quarterly Or and Gules a Fess wavy barry way of four Argent and Azure surmounted by a Pale Sable charged with three Escallops of the third.

Contents

The arms were granted to the county council in 1951, and adopted as the flag of the modern day historic and ceremonial county of Bedfordshire in 2014.

When flying, the top corner, nearest the flagpole, should be gold.

History

Bedfordshire County Council had its coat of arms created in 1951 as part of the Festival of Britain celebrations. The coat of arms became the symbol of the county being placed on many public buildings and signs. The council used the banner of arms as a flag until it was abolished in 2009.

In 2014 The Friends of Bedfordshire Society began a successful campaign to have a slightly updated version of the council's flag registered with the Flag Institute.

Design

The flag is made up of three main elements which contribute to the overall design of the flag:

  • The red and yellow quadrants which come from the coat of arms of the Beauchamp family, who were a prominent family in the county after the Norman conquest. They also constructed Bedford Castle and were granted a barony at Bedford.
  • The vertical black stripe which takes the center of the flag containing three shells, or escallops. This comes from the coat of arms of the Duke of Bedford.
  • The horizontal blue and white wavy lines. These represent the river Great Ouse which passes through the county.

    • The county councils original design was at odds with the apparent Rule of Tincture, showing a white and yellow section next to one another. When the flag was officially recognised for the county it was decided that the blue and white on the left side of the flag should be reversed to make the colours more visible, without changing the character of the flag. Also to add to the contrast, a slightly lighter shade of blue was chosen.

    Colours

    The pantone colours for the flag are:

  • Yellow 109
  • Red 485
  • Blue 300
  • White
  • Black

    • References

    Flag of Bedfordshire Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA