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Bedford County, Pennsylvania (U.S.)

image by Ivan Sache, 11 March 2008
based on the image from the Bedford County Historical Society website

Description of the flag

See also:

Description of the flag

Bedford County (19,984 inhabitants in 2000; 2,629 sq. km; county seat, Bedford) is located in south-central Pennsylvania. The Bedford County Historical Society has released the County flag on 21 January 2008. The flag was designed by Todd Greenawalt of Snake Spring Valley; the first 100 flags will be numbered and signed by Todd Greenawalt.

The flag is red with in canton a square British Union flag, in the middle an emblem made of the County's map in yellow on a blue field, with "BEDFORD / COUNTY" in blue on the map, "1771" in white above the map and "PENNSYLVANIA" in white under the map, two green branches (laurel and holly?) flanking the emblem, and below the emblem a yellow scroll charged with "CROWN OF THE COMMONWEALTH" in gray.

www.rootsweb.com/~paphsbc/BedfordCoFlag.html

The Pioneer - Magazine of the Bedford County Historical Society:
The new flag was used during the celebration of Bedford County Day, 9 March 2008, recalling the anniversary of the 1771 breaking apart from what was then the western part of Cumberland County, as reported by Wendy MacCardle in the "Altoona Mirror", 20 March 2008.
The article further says:
"The flag was contributed through a contest offered by the historical society, beginning with advertisements in 2005 and leading to 35 entries, including the winning design by Todd Greenawalt, who is described by society Vice President Joseph Gardner as a "10th-generation native son" of the Snake Spring Valley area."
www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/505466.html; showing a photograph of a child waving a small county flag.

Ivan Sache, 11 March 2008

Bedford county, Pennsylvania gets its first formal flag. The news story from 10.03.2008: www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/505466.html.

"BEDFORD — Roger Kirwin stood in the center of the courtyard at Bedford County courthouse Sunday dressed in period clothing from the late 1700s. He loaded an 18th-century gun, faced the new county flag and fired one shot into the mostly sunny sky, sending a loud boom through the quiet county seat to celebrate a long and important local history. Kirwin, executive director of Old Bedford Village, joined several community members for Bedford County Day on the anniversary of the 1771 breaking apart from what was then the western part of Cumberland County.

The event was made possible through the Bedford County Historical Society and featured patriotic singing, a flag-raising of the county's first formal flag, poem- reading and various speeches. Commissioner Steve Howsare spoke about the importance of Bedford County being set up as the state's ninth county, giving residents a shorter trip to the county seat, among other things. "When I was first approached about Bedford County not having a flag, I was a little shocked that over our lengthy history, that one had not been adopted by the county," Howsare said in regards to the burgundy-colored flag with an outline of the county and the motto, "Crown of the Commonwealth." The crown refers to the shape of the county and its prominent role in the state.

The flag was contributed through a contest offered by the historical society, beginning with advertisements in 2005 and leading to 35 entries, including the winning design by Todd Greenawalt, who is described by society Vice President Joseph Gardner as a "10th-generation native son" of the Snake Spring Valley area. One of the many Bedford natives present was state Sen. John H. Eichelberger Jr., R-Blair, who began his speech with a simple, "Happy birthday, Bedford County." Eichelberger said that his family settled in the area in the late 1700s from Germany. He caused a ripple of laughter in the room when he suggested that the county seat become Eichelbergertown, a small village on Route 26 near Hopewell. "There's just a tremendous amount of history that we have here," Eichelberger said. "The flag's just great. The people here are second to none."
[...]

Bedford County Day will be celebrated every March 9. This weekend's event lead off a yearlong celebration of the 250th anniversary of the French and Indian War, in which Fort Bedford and the local area played a big part."

The flag is shown on a photo on the same page.
Valentin Poposki, 17 April 2008