Berkshire (England)

Last modified: 2015-09-26 by rob raeside
Keywords: berkshire | windsor and maidenhead |
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• County flag proposal
• Two lions flag
• Flag flown at Department for Communities and Local Government
• Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead

See also:

• Newbury
• Berkshire Polo Club
• England
• United Kingdom

County flag proposal

image located by Jason Saber, 8 April 2009

A web page at http://www.berkshirehistory.com/odds/arms.html displays the county arms and comments on a flag proposal.
Valentin Poposki, 26 December 2006

From the website:

Berkshire has never had a flag, although the county council occasionally used a stylised monochrome version of the two lions under a crown. Organisations in the county, on the other hand, have always used the white hart beneath its oak, as supposedly used at Agincourt, and this may be seen in logos and flags of various designs and colours, such as those of:

• The Berkshire and Buckinghamshire Football Association
• The Berkshire Cricket Board
• The Berkshire Federation of Women's Institutes
• The Berkshire Lawn Tennis Association
• The Reading Rugby Football Club
• The Royal Berkshire Regiment
• The Royal County of Berkshire Bowling Association

Having been approached by a number of organisations concerning this matter, RBH offers the design [on the website] which may be freely used by interested parties. The overall design is loosely based on the Welsh National flag and the Buckinghamshire arms, which both have animals before two coloured bands (although Buckinghamshire's are vertical). The colours of blue and white are taken from the old county arms, but are also used by Reading Football Club and may be seen as representing the River Thames. The circular form of the golden deer and oak is similar to that used by both the Royal Berkshire Regiment and the Berkshire Federation of Women's Institutes. The colour of gold on blue (and white) is again mirrored from the old arms and may be seen to represent Royalty as well as the Autumn colours of the oak illuminated by a lightning strike.

The designer of the flag on the web page mentioned above appears to have taken the device from the helmet plate of the Royal Berkshire Regiment as seen here: http://www.arbeia.demon.co.uk/srs/collect/badges/hpcs/hpcs.htm and put it on a blue and white background. This explains the circular shape of the emblem.
Laurence Jones, 30 December 2006

A web site now exists to promote this flag: http://www.berkshire-flag.org.uk/comment.htm
Jason Saber, 8 April 2009

Two lions flag

image located by Ian MacDonald, 14 July 2010
Source: http://englishcountyflags.com

This flag is being marketed for Berkshire. The commercially available flag shows the two lions along with the crown atop them.
Ian MacDonald, 14 July 2010

Flag flown at Department for Communities and Local Government

image located by Colin Dobson, 7 October 2010

See also the Department for Communities and Local Government stream on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/communitiesuk/5007949726/in/set-72157624821543799/ where they have a set of county flags. Berkshire is full of unitary authorities these days, so I'd be interested if anyone knows the genesis of that one, as there is no authority as such to promote a flag.
Colin Dobson, 7 October 2010