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Gloucestershire (England)

image by André Coutanche, 4 July 2008

Description of the Flag

Description of the Flag

The blue represents the River Severn flowing into the heart of the county, the green is for the countryside and the cream for Cotswold Stone. The Gloucestershire flag, designed by Jeremy Bentall, was the winning entry in a competition held by the county's former High Sheriff Jonathan Carr, to commemorate the 1,000th anniversary of the county's existence. When he discovered he had won Jeremy, a mental health worker, from Hucclecote, said: "I was initially very surprised but equally delighted and quite proud. The remit from the High Sheriff was to keep things as simple and traditional as possible and that's what I tried to do. It was great to see the flag hoisted. The rain stayed off and there was even a bit of wind." The final decision was made by Mr. Carr with the help of his wife Daphne. The couple attended the flag's official launch at a ceremony at Shire Hall, on Tuesday. Mrs. Carr said: "It was a clear, simple design. When we opened the envelope containing the design we both looked at it and said this is the winner. When we took it to a top flag designer in London they picked it out straight away as well. We had a thousand entries and many were from children. They were more like drawings of old spot pigs and cheese rolling, which were beautiful in their own right but not as strong."

The current High Sheriff, Brian Thornton, said: "The Gloucestershire flag is a most appropriate design, combining the green of the Golden Valley, the blue of the River Severn and the gold of Cotswold Stone. I shall be flying it whenever I can at home and I hope other Gloucestershire residents with a flag pole will be doing the same."

Sue Raison, of Gloucestershire County Council, was in charge of getting the flag produced. She said: "It was made by a company in London. We sponsored the first batch of flags to be produced and we are hosting an exhibition in Shire Hall of the winner and the 80 best entries. We've had 30 made and they have gone out to partner organisations such as the district councils, and the University of Gloucestershire."
Source: http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/latestnews/Gloucestershire-s-new-flag-launched/article-203518-detail/article.html#continueNews
Chrystian Kretowicz, 3 July 2008

The comments on the www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk page include very relevant reference to Greens of Gloucester, and their comment that "... to use a bespoke made apple green cloth for the field is going to cause all sorts of problems when they need replacing".
André Coutanche, 4 July 2008