Saturday 5 March 2016

Staffordshire County Flag - proposed

Can I urge you to vote below.   And can I recommend that you vote for the first design, proposed by the Staffordshire Heritage Group and NOT for the second one, proposed by Staffordshire County Council. 

Why?, I hear you ask.  Well, the answer is simple - Staffordshire Heritage Group has checked with many of the cultural groups in Staffordshire, some of them still covering the original Historical County, which includes Wolverhampton, Bilston, Walsall, West Bromwich, Smethwick, Stoke on Trent, and many other towns and communities now in the administrative West Midlands area. (See below)   So they are representing the people's views tbhroughout the whole of the County of Staffordshire.   Staffordshire County Council, however, now only represent about 40% of the people and their design below has a lion on which is part of their logo and does not represent the whole of Staffordshire.  Staffordshire Heritage Group's design is simple and the Knot is given much more prominence.   Please vote for the SHG design before 27 March 2016.

                                                                           


Definition: The Historic County of Staffordshire consists of:

The areas covered by Staffordshire County Council

Plus

The City of Stoke-on-Trent, including Hanley;
The Borough of Walsall;
The Borough of West Bromwich;
The City of Wolverhampton;
The Parish of Harborne, including Smethwick;
The Parish of Handsworth, including Kingstanding and Perry Barr;
The Parish of Rowley Regis, including Cradley;
The Parish of Kingswinford, including Brierley Hill;
The Parish of Aldridge, including Great Barr;
The Parish of Tipton;
The Parish of Sedgley, including Coseley, Lower Gornal and Upper Goral;
The Parish of Darlaston;
The Parish of Wednesbury;
The Township of Amblecote;
The Parish of Upper Arley;
Part of ancient parish of Sheriff Hales, including Heath Hill and Weston Heath;
The detached Parishes of Broom and Clent;

Minus

The Parish of Croxall;
The area of Tamworth east of the Trent, including Glascote, Amington, Wilnecote, Abington, Dosthill and Two Gates;
The area of Burton-on-Trent east of the Trent, including Stapenhill.

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Staffordshire County Flag Vote

County Flags have become an important part of our regional and national identity. Most English counties now have a recognised County Flag, but Staffordshire is yet to obtain one. The Flag Institute maintains the Register of County Flags and works with county organisations to come up with suitable designs. The County Flags are based on the historic counties of the UK, rather than the modern administrative areas, so Staffordshire includes Stoke-on-Trent, Wolverhampton, and several other parishes that fall outside Staffordshire County Council’s area.
The Flag Institute has received two applications for a County Flag for Staffordshire, one from Staffordshire County Council (SCC) and the other from the Staffordshire Heritage Group (SHG), an umbrella organisation for many cultural groups in Staffordshire. Both applications meet the Flag Institute’s published criteria for applying, and both designs meet the Institute’s design guidelines, so the Flag Institute has decided that the only fair way to choose between them is to give the people of Staffordshire an opportunity to vote for the design they like best.
The two designs are shown below:
The Staffordshire Heritage Group's Design
Staffordshire Heritage Group’s Design
Staffordshire County Council'S Design
Staffordshire County Council’s Design
The gold background and red chevron, common to both designs, comes from the coat-of-arms of the de Stafford family and has been used in connection with the county since at least the 17th century.
The vote will take place from 9am on Monday 29th February and closes at 9am on Sunday 27th March 2016. The result will be announced the next day. To vote, just go to the Flag Institute’s website and follow the link from the front page. Voters are asked to confirm that they live or work in the historic county of Staffordshire.
Graham Bartram, Chief Vexillologist of the Flag Institute said, “This is the first time that the Flag Institute has had two applications for the same county and I think it is a reflection of how important County Flags are becoming to people, so we feel it is only fair to let the people of Staffordshire have their say on which flag will represent them. I hope as many people as possible will vote for their preferred design.”
The vote is only open to people who live in the historic county of Staffordshire, so if you do live or work in Staffordshire click the “Vote” button below to go to the live vote.

VOTE