Flag of Northumberland
 | |
| Proportion | 3:5 |
|---|---|
| Adopted | 1951 |
| Designed by | College of Arms |
The Northumberland flag is the flag of the county of Northumberland. It is a banner of the arms of Northumberland County Council. The shield of arms is in turn based on the arms medieval heralds had attributed to the Kingdom of Bernicia (which the first County Council used until it received a regular grant of arms). The Bernician arms were fictional but inspired by Bede's brief description of a flag used on the tomb of St Oswald in the 7th century.[1]
The current arms were granted to the county council in 1951, and adopted as the flag of the modern day county of Northumberland in 1995.[2] A spokesman for the County Council reiterated this position in a letter to the local newspaper The Journal in 2000: "the Northumberland flag should only be rightfully flown within the present administrative County of Northumberland (e.g. not Newcastle or Whitley Bay)".[3]
When flying, the top corner, nearest the flagpole, should be gold.
Flag design
The pantone colours for the flag are:[4]
- Red 485
- Yellow 109
References
- ^ Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Book III, Ch. 11: "And to furnish a lasting memorial of the royal saint, they hung the King's banner of purple and gold over his tomb" (et ut regia viri sancti persona memoriam haberet aeternam, vexillum eius super tumbam auro et purpura conpositum adposuerunt).
- ^ "The Northumberland Flag Northumberland Northumbria England UK GB (page 113)". Web.archive.org. 2005-06-24. Archived from the original on 2005-06-24. Retrieved 2010-09-25.
- ^ Councillor Peter Hillman, Spokesman for Community Services, Northumberland County Council (1 February 2000). "Letter to the Editor". The Journal. Newcastle Chronicle and Journal Ltd.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "UK Flag Registry: Northumberland".
