Tuesday 30 October 2012

Ulster (Republic of Ireland)

According to the World Flag Database the sub national flags for Ireland are the province flags. This is mostly true, you will notice Ulster is listed. The problem is that this is the flag of the Ancient province of Ulster and only three of the nine Ulster Counties are part of the Irish Republic, the other six that make up Northern Ireland being part of the United Kingdom.

Before I go any further, the Sub national flags of Ireland would not be the same as the UK, USA or Australia for example. In the UK each sub nation or home nation has its own national identity and is a country in its own right. In the USA and Australia a federal system of government is used where each state has its own government for running local affairs. Ireland is not like this everywhere is in direct rule of Dublin. So sub national flags are rarely used in a government or state role.  Although they are used in Gaelic Athletics (GAA) but as this is not effected by the boarder it would use the province flag.

I feel that the people of Donegal, Monaghan and Cavern still deserve their own unique sub national flag. My first idea was simply to put an Irish Tricolour in the canton of the Province flag:

However none of the other flags have the national flag in the canton and I feel this gives the flag a colonial feel.
So again I tried green, white and orange banners on the cross:
Again I feel this doesn't work.

I thought a little and thought what would be a good symbioses to define the Ulster counties of the Irish State. Why not a harp like on the Irish coat of arms. I decided to use the Naval Jack in the canton as it is a historical and alternative national flag.
The problem with this is as you have probably noticed, the naval jack is identical to the flag of Leinster. So this could be interpreted that Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan are part of Leinster which I am sure they would not like. 

Looking at their fellow Ulstermen in Northern Ireland I took inspiration of the former Northern Ireland flag which is often still used (although it has no official status)
Now there are a few features on this flag but what I want to focus on is the crown. A crown is often used as a symbol of state in the UK, and likewise in the Irish Republic a harp is sometimes used in the same way. So my next design feature a harp symbolising the Irish State. 
I like this flag, it features a harp symbolising the sovereignty of Ireland and three shamrocks one for each county represented by the flag.
The only thing is I think it should be simpler. I decided to change the shield in the centre into a circle. This looked good then I added a green and orange to make the national colours which looked even better.
This flag is my personal favourite and it definitely gets the point across about the three counties being part of the Republic. It is also modern and distinctive. However I wonder should a sub natioanl flag represent the national identity or the sub national identity. I feel sub natioanal in which case Irish symbols of state are not needed. So my for my final design I looked at the features of the Ulster flag.
Which are the Burke Arms. who were Norman Earls of Ulster:
File:Armoiries de Haraucourt 1.svg
And the red hand of Ulster which in Irish Nationalist Mythology is the red hand of Ui Neill 
File:Meuble héraldique Main.svg
I decided to quarter these and display them septate in the flag:
I also used a brighter yellow although I am unsure about this. This flag would be used for Monaghan, Cavan and Donegal. While the current Ulster Flag would be used to represent the whole province. 

All designs are mine, all comments and feedback welcome.


Saturday 27 October 2012

Walled City Tattoo

As part of the 2013 UK City of Culture, my home city Londonderry is hosting a tattoo called the Walled City Tattoo. This will be based on the Edinburgh Tattoo with some of the acts performing in Edinburgh also performing in Derry. It will include both Scots and Irish dancing as well as marching bands particularly bagpipes, and will take place on Ebrington Square, which is appropriate as it used to be a military barracks and comes complete with a full size parade square. However as far as I am aware this event does not have a logo. Now this is not directly linked with flags but it is related. I had a go at designing a logo which I based on the Logo for the Edinburgh Tattoo shown below.
 

It incorporates the tattoo coat of arms and full title. A rather simple and basic logo to design as the coat of arms already existed before this logo was used.
My design was a little bit harder as I had to design a new coat of arms as this is a new event. My logo is shown below:
As you can see it is directly influenced by the Edinburgh tattoo logo. It also features aspects of the city coat of arms, an oak leaf representing the city's origins and a tower representing the city walls, the city's colour; Derry Crimson is also heavily featured as is the city motto. For more information on all these and my designs for a Londonderry flag click here. The crest like The one on the Edinburgh Tattoo features two crossed flags. Unlike the Edinburgh one they do not appear on the shield. My flags are St Patrick's Saltire a symbol of Ireland and the Red Hand of Ulster. The harp is also featured in the crest as i didn't think it looked right on half of St George's Cross.

This was designed by me, and I would like to know what you think of it. All comments welcome 

Tuesday 23 October 2012

Northern Ireland

I have a few designs for a new Northern Ireland Flag. To see them and the NI flag issue click here. This is my latest idea. It really came out of the bloom. After the Northern Ireland International Football team's fantastic 1-1 draw with Portugal a couple of weeks ago, me and my mates decided to go over to Belfast to cheer our boys against Azerbaijan next month. Someone said to me if I would design a flag to take with us. Centre to this design was the badge of the Northern Ireland Team:
 
As you can see it is a celtic cross based design. Celtic cross are an ancient and historic symbol they are common throughout Ireland and to a lesser extent Scotland. In Northern Ireland they are often a Nationalist symbol however as with the example above it can sometimes creep into unionist symbols (the NI team is mostly supported by unionists) and other symbols. For example the £1 coin minted in 2001 has a celtic cross and flax to symbolise NI: 
An attempt at a neutral NI flag alternative design by the Flag Institute from 1998, not the best design but it does try to use the celtic cross:
File:Northern Ireland Flag Proposal.svg

Looking at my football supporter flag I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to use the design as for new official NI flag. The coat of arms which I thought up after the flag is a break from traditional British and European heraldry as its not the usual shield,helm and crest design:
I have tried to include all the appropriate symbols of Northern Ireland in these arms. Central to the design is the celtic cross, with a red hand of Ulster in a hexagon. The hexagon can symbolise both the six NI counties and the Giant's Causeway World Heritage Site. There are shamrocks a traditional symbol of Ireland on the tips of the cross, which again is mostly nationalist but often creeps into Unionism, for example the Irish Guards and Royal Irish Regiments of the British Army often wear shamrocks. the text around the circle is Northern Ireland Assembly in the cultural languages of the two communities. Although English is the official and spoken first language many in both Protestant Unionist and Catholic Nationalist communities also speak their own historical language or dialect. On the top is the Ulster dialect of Scots, 'Ullans' also known as Ulster-Scots, the dialect spoken by many Protestants many of Scots decent. The bottom is Irish Gaelic, official first language of the Irish Republic and spoke by some Catholics many of Gaelic descent. These two languages are included to identify with the background and culture of the two main communities in NI. The crest is the current flax flower logo of the NI Government with a maid of Erin harp in the centre. I must admit that the crest wasn't my idea but I adopted it from another alternative NI coat of arms as I think it works excellently. The bottom has Saint Patrick's Saltire. St Patrick is the patron saint of Northern Ireland and this design also represents NI on the Union Flag and is often seen as neutral so it makes sense to include it. The fact that it is in the form of a medal is only decorative and is not a copy of any medal or order that might compromise its neutrality that I am aware of (although I did get the idea from looking at the regalia of the now extinct Illustrious Order of St Patrick). Around the celtic cross is a laurel wreath representing the pace progress and the hope for continued peace. On the wreath are six flax flowers representing the six counties which form Northern Ireland. The motto Pax atque Procursu is Latin for Peace and Progress. 

The flag is below:
It is a blue, green, blue tricolour with white lineage and a simplified version of the coat of arms. In the centre. The colours I specifically chose as they are traditional Irish colours and used in this way I think both communities can identify with them.

The great thing I like about this design is that it can so easily be included in many badges of government and emergency services. For example for a department of regional government can use the centre celtic cross design, keeping it Ullans and Gaelic text stating NI Assembly. But have the department name around it in the three languages. For example here is how the badge of the Department of Flags and Emblems(there is no such department but I think there should be ;) this is only an example) would look:

This type of design could be used through out the Belfast Government, perhaps changing the colour scheme for individual departments. It is a lot more interesting than the current standard department badge: 


The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) flag is a rifle green (or bottle green as the PSNI calls it obviously not trying to sound to military) field reflecting their uniform with the police badge on it. This is the only flag used at police stations in NI:
This proposed NI flag can easily be altered slightly for important services like the police. Below is my design for a PSNI flag:
The shade of green used on the national flag has been altered to 'bottle green' for the police flag. Unlike the other designs I am about to show I have not altered or changed the police badge. The reasons for this being, it was painstakingly designed to be acceptable both communities and I think it does it rather well.

The next badge is that of the Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service(NIFRS). Although I am not aware of any calls to change the badge of the NIFRS it is a little out dated in that it has the six pointed star and red hand from the old NI coat of arms
With the new NI flag I have proposed this is not suitable, although the changes I did make was only to replace the hand and star with the celtic cross design: 
I also changed the green in the design to a much darker shade. The Ullans and Gaelic text on the design loosely translates to Fire & Rescue. The flag is very much like the PSNI flag:

Again it incorporates the NI flag design but with the badge in the middle and a darker shade of green from the badge. This is actually a darker shade than I used in the police flag, but one could be forgiving for thinking at first glance they are the same shade. So to make it more distinguishable I included four red stripes, which represent the four NIFRS 'Command Areas' (Northern, Southern, Western and Eastern) 

Next up is the Ambulance Service. Which doesn't really need a change as it is neutral.

But although it is obviously a medical themed badge it is the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service and I don't think the badge reflects the Northern Ireland at all. So I 'improved' it by merging it with the celtic cross design. Which was actually an accident but thought it looked OK and decided to keep it. 
The flag is yes based on the NI flag proposed on this blog but with the ambulance badge on it and a different shade of green (can you see a pattern? lol) 
The pale shade of green comes directly from the NI Ambulance Service badge.

The next is the Prison Service. The prisons in Northern Ireland are ultimately the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Justice Minister as they have been devolved to the regional NI government. However they use the title of 'Her Majesty's Prison.' For example Magilligan Prison is called HM Prison Magilligan and the badge on the Prison warden uniform reads HMP.
The fact of the matter is most prisons in the United Kingdom are now the responsibility of regional and local government and hence no longer use this badge, which was used when all UK prison when they were all the responsibility of central government in London. Although granted a lot of prisons are still called HM (Name) Prison. There were proposals for the NI Prison service to be formally called 'NI Prison Service' and have its own badge although these were quickly shelved after the first minister threatened to resign over it as unionists and prison staff wanted to keep the title HMP. Although the fact is very few prisons on the UK mainland never mind NI use this badge so I do think it is unavoidable that the badge if not the name will change some time in the future. So here is my take on a badge:
I kept the eight pointed star design although so not to confuse it with the police I used the one the NIFRS use. The green has been replaced with a light blue. The words in Ullans and Gaelic translate to Prison Service. Of course for unionists the formal name that appears on documents and the like could be HM Northern Ireland Prison Service, but for simplicity on the badge I just used Northern Ireland Prison Service. The flag is:
This flag is slightly different as unlike the other ones the shade of green has not changed. What has changed is the shade of blue to match the badge. 

I also believe that the coast guard will also be devolved in the future, probably to try and cut costs if for nothing else. Currently the coast guard in NI is the UK HM Coastguard and is the ultimate responsibility of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in London. Most sea rescues are actually carried out by the volunteer lifeboat crews of the RNLI, however these are always coordinated by the local coast guard station. There are some coast guard boats in NI waters and there are many shore teams for rescues around the many cliffs and dangerous spots of our shore, The coast guard call centres take many emergency calls and pass it to the control centre who dispatch  a coast guard team, lifeboat or call for a helicopter form the Irish Coast Guard or Royal Navy depending on the nature of the operation (there are no HM Coastguard helicopters in NI.) 
 So here is my attempt for an Northern Ireland Coast Guard badge if/when the HM Coastguard is devolved:
This is based on maritime heraldry with a rope circle and nautical crown. However so it is not confused with a Royal Navy ships badge the nautical crown is a the base, where the NI crest of the flax flowers and harp is at the top. As you guessed the text in Ullans and Gaelic translates to Coast Guard. 
The flag is a different topic to the others as unlike the others it would be used at sea and maritime law is very strict on flags. So like it or not it would probably have to be a British Blue ensign (as it would be a government vessel) deface with the badge. Although I would use the celtic cross design with the letters 'CG' rather than the full coat of arms.
However shore establishments probably use a house flag rather than the ensign used by vessels. The house flag would probably be more common as stated before the CG mostly dispatch and coordinate the RNLI and therefore don't have too many boasts. The house flag is different form the other flags as it is not based on the proposed NI flag:
It is a St Patrick's Saltire with the letters 'CG' at the hoist and fly. An anchor at the bottom and the NI Crest at the top. The reason I used the crest rather than the celtic cross design in the ensign is because the crest stands out more against the white field. 


All the proposals are my designs. Your thoughts and comments are welcome 




Wednesday 17 October 2012

EU Nobel Peace Prize flag

After the news the the European Union was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. I thought about incorporating it into the flag. After all Malta did it with the George Cross.
After a quick internet search I found this flag: 
Clearly this is not an actual flag but I think it brings some important things to light, Firstly the medal is very complicated and detailed. A simpler version is needed. Secondly it looks awful in the centre of the stars.
Firstly I thought of putting the medal in the canton but I don't like it.
Then I thought of an ensign type flag with the medal in the fly and EU flag in the canton.
This works ok as a flag but not too sure about it as the EU flag? I also thought of a white version for peace
Perhaps this could be used for EU Pace programs but I don't think it works for the EU as a whole. The next design I think work ok. I simply moved the stars away from the centre, towards the hoist. Then put the medal in the bottom fly. 
 

I also made a white flag:

Your thoughts and comments are welcome 


Friday 12 October 2012

Antofagasta Region flag competition


II Región de Antofagasta/Region II Antofagasta or simply Antofagasta is one of Chile's fifteen first-order administrative divisions. It comprises three provinces, Antofagasta, El Loaand Tocopilla. It is bordered to the north by Tarapacá and by Atacama to the south and is the second-largest region of Chile.The capital of the region is the port city of Antofagasta. It currently does not have an official flag the same way other regions do. However the flag of the region's intendant (the term is equivalent to "manager" or "steward") is often used as a regional flag although it is not the official flag of the region:
File:Flag of Antofagasta Region, Chile.svg
This is a situation that I can personally relate too as it kinda reminds me of the same situation here in Northern Ireland. Here the flag of the old government is used as the NI flag often in sport, but officially it has no legal status and has not since 1973. The Intendant of Antofagasta launched a competition to design a flag for the region. Now I think only people from or living in the region can enter but I designed a couple of proposals anyway.

The above flag  is a blue field with a seal consisting of Chilean national coat of arms and a inscription "Intendencia II Región - Antofagasta", that roughly translated as "Administration of Region II - Antofagasta".
Looking into the the region I discovered it was historically constituted the Litoral Department, of Bolivia. (Chile gained sovereignty of the area during the Pacific War of 1879-1883) The flag they used was this:
A little better than the first flag but the coat of arms is way too complicated for a modern flag. The first designs I had are based on this historic flag:

As you can see they are a bit of a combination of the historic flag and the intendant flag. I removed the text about administration of the region and kept it simply 'Antofagasta' although this may also be removed. Now the coat of arms in the seal is that of Chile rather then Antofagasta so I decided that another flag that was more specific to the region was needed:
As you can see still using the colours of the historic flag. I also noticed what I saw was a fortunate coincidence, which is the top two colours of the flag are the same as the colours on the Chile coat of arms. So I took the star from the arms (but simplified) and put it in the canton in the same postion that it looks like on the arms. This could symbolise the region or it's sovereignty to Chile. Still thinking that this flag represents the Chilean identity of the people of the region rather than the Antofagasta identity which is what the purpose of the flag is for I designed my final design:
This flag still has the Blue, Red and Yellow colours of the historic flag, but they also have their own meanings. Blue represents the sea as the capitol is a port. Both the Blue and Red are from the Chile coat of arms. The green represents prosperity, the orange colour represents the mining industry who's largest export is copper. The yellow is from the historic flag but can also represent  Atacama Desert which hugely influences the region's climate. There are four stars in a Southern Cross. The top star represents the region or the country. The other three smaller stars represent the regions three provinces Antofagasta, El Loaand and Tocopilla. 

All flags except the historic and intendant flag are my design. All comments welcome.



Tuesday 9 October 2012

Personal Flags


We normally think of countries having flags, or government, military and political organisation. But practically anything can have a flag. The personal flag is possibly the oldest type of flag, going back to when man first wanted to display his symbol in battle. However in the modern world personal flags are usually to denote the presence of a VIP or a symbol of property or office. Perhaps the flag used by the person in perhaps best known job in the world is this:
Yes this is the flag of the President of the United States of America. It should be note that this is only the flag of the President, while he is the president, when his term is over the new President will use this flag, so while it is a personal flag it is more a flag of office rather than a heraldic banner which is the flag of an individual until it is passed on to their heir.. 
Many world leaders have their own personal flags. The flag used by the Président de la République française/President of the French Republic or simply French President is simply a French Tricolour but with a narrow white bar.
This flag was used by the former president Nichols Sarkozy, however I am unsure if the new president uses it. Like the president, the prime minister also has a flag this is a tricolour but with a larger red bar.
[Car flag]
 This is also included in the flag for ministers of French overseas territories.
This use of flags to denote various positions within a nations government is common throughout the world, not just in France.Flags are also used for officers of state, in the UK every county has a representative of the crown. They are called Lord Lieutenants, in the past  they used the state flag (Union Flag) but  in 1910 the current flag was introduced so that the Union Flag could be used by anybody. The flag used by a Lord Lt is a Union Flag with a crown and sword. 
The only exception to this is in Scotland where the Royal Banner of Scotland (not to be confused with the Royal Standard used in Scotland) is used as they are representing the monarch. The Flags of Governors of overseas territories bear the Arms or Badge of the territory encircled by a garland in the centre of a Union Jack


 It is also common in the military to use flags to denote rank. Especially with Flag officers/General Officer or equivalent. I will use the US army for my example as their star system has become almost universally recognised for general ranks
[General of the Army flag]
General of the Army
[Army General flag]
General
[Army Lieutenant General flag]

Lieutenant General
[Army Major General flag]
Major General
[Army Brigadier General flag]
Brigadier General
The flags of some other world leader (in no particular order) are:
[Flag of President of Iceland]
Forseti Íslands/President of Iceland
Presidente da República Portuguesa/President of Portuguese Republic
Uachtarán na hÉireann/President of Republic of Ireland 
President of Uganda 
File:Flag of the Governor-General of New Zealand.svg
'Te Kāwana Tianara o Aotearoa'/Governor General of New Zealand 
File:Presidential Standard of Brazil.svg
Presidente da República Federativa do Brasil/President of Federal Republic of Brazil
File:Estandarte Real de España.svg

Estandarte Real de España/Spanish Royal Flag (HM King Felipe VI of Spain)


With the exception of the President of Ireland (which is based a banner of the government arms, in turn a symbol of Irish Kingship) none of these are heraldic banners, and all are flags of office.

Many personal flags represent the person rather than the office, a lot of these are heraldic banners of their coat of arms. Perhaps the most recognised personal heraldic banner is that of the Monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. 
 File:Royal Standard of the United Kingdom.svg
HM Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
 (Royal Standard used in England, N.Ireland, Wales and overseas)
This flag is a banner of the royal coat of arms with the quarters divided up to represent the Royal arms of the three historic kingdoms that became the United Kingdom. (England, Scotland and Ireland, Wales was seen as part of England). This brings us to a new chapter, and a person might have more than one coat of arms so therefore more than one flag, for example the above flag is not used in Scotland. The first and fourth quarters have the royal arms of England, but in Scotland the first and fourth quarters have the Scottish lion Rampant. 
File:Royal Standard of the United Kingdom in Scotland.svg
HM Queen Elizabeth of Scots, Monarch of United Kingdom
(Royal Standard used in Scotland)
Of course this is only a slight change in the arms depicted in the flag. As the Monarch of the United Kingdom is also monarch in various Commonwealth nations many of them have their own Royal  flags, These are mostly a banner of the nations Royal Arms with a blue disc containing a wreath of gold roses encircling the crowned letter 'E', (for 'Elizabeth' the current monarch), superimposed upon it. For example the Royal Banner of Australia 
File:Royal Standard of Australia (31-22 aspect).svg
Standard of HM Queen Elizabeth II of Australia 
Variations of heraldic banners can also exist for the holders spouse. Again using the example of British royalty, the personal flags of member of the Royal Family who are granted arms are usually a copy of the Roayl Arms with a white bar the some points on it usually between three or five, with or without a picture on them. For example this is the personal standard of the Duke of York. 
File:Royal Standard of Prince Andrew, Duke of York.svg
Standard of HRH Duke of York
Members of the Royal Family who have not been granted with their own unique flag are allowed to use a version of the Royal Banner but with an ermine border.Although this flag is not unique to any individual it is  a personal flag as it marks the presence of a person. while I'm using Royals as examples I might as well include it.
File:Royal Standard of members of the British Royal Family.svg
Standard used by other members of the UK Royal Family 

Of course all these royal flags have one thing in common and that is they are in one form or another heraldic banners of a coat of arms. A personal flag does not need to be a banner of arms but can be any design that the individual wants (providing no legal or copyright issues surround the design.) Once more I will uses the example of the Queen of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth Realms. The personal flag of the Queen has no real heraldry is a blue flag with a wreath of roses, and a crown and letter 'E' as is seen in the centre of the Australian Royal Standard already mentioned. This is used in the Queen's role as head of the Commonwealth rather than head of any state or country. It is also used in Commonwealth countries where she is not monarch or head of state, and sometime in Commonwealth Realms that have no individual Royal Standard although the UK Royal Standard may also be used in the last case. 
Personal Flag of HM Queen Elizabeth II of the Commonwealth of Nations 



But you don't have to be a world leader, Senior military officer of State official to have your own flag. Many ordinary people have their own flag. For example here is the flag of the president of the Flags of the World Website. It is based on the FOTW flag but with  a yellow border all around and small yellow border.


The personal flag of the former president is:

Name: Giuseppe Bottasini 
Country: Italy
Description: As the former president of FOTW he used this flag in the role of president. It is based on the FOTW flag with the yellow boarders and his initials 'GB' in the canton. As the new President flag is now rectangular and without the initials he continues to use this as his personal flag. 

Here are the personal flags of some other 'ordinary' people:

pefi2.png
Name: Leonardo Piccioni                                  
Country: Brazil 
Description: I am using the flag of my friend from the Flags Forum, Leonardo first. His flag is a simple golden cross moline on a blue background. It has only one clear meaning as he thinks it is the most beautiful flag he could personally use. The cross also represents Christianity, the blue field is his favourite colour, he sees the gold in the cross as respectful. This is the flag used in less formal occasions, the formal flag is a heraldic banner of arms, you can see here.



pjbanner.gif
Name: Paul James
Country: United Kingdom
Description: This flag a banner of the personal arms devised by Paul James. The colours are present in the flags of the three countries he has lived in (UK, USA and Canada). The blue and white bend represents the ocean separating the two continents, which he has crossed numerous times. A cinquefoil (not in these precise colours) appears in the arms of his home city , where he went to university and where his parents met. It also represents the fact that he is one of five children.
the blazon is: be Per bend Argent and Gules, a bend per pend Azure and the First between two cinquefoils pierced counterchanged.


Name: Samuel McKittrick
Country: United Kingdom
Description: based on my coat of arms. The gold lion rampant on black field is from the traditional ancient McKittrick coat of arms. The boarder of flax flowers and thistles is for both uniqueness and representing past and present and cultural identity. The McKittricks came to Ulster the northern province of Ireland from Scotland in the plantations of the 17th Century. The Scottish thistle represents Scottish ancestry and heritage. The Flax Flower has been adopted as the flower of Northern Ireland and features in the NI Assembly logo,UK Supreme Court Badge and other logos, badges and even coins. So the flax flower represents a modern and forward looking Northern Ireland and my UK regional identity. The split crimson saltire is reflective of railway tracks, crimson is the colour of my home town. Blue is my favourite colour, but together it looks like a St Patrick's Saltire in combination with a St Andrew's Saltire, again a referance to heritage and identity.

personal_band.png
Name: Jerbez
Country: Spain
Description: Jerbez's flag consists of a blue triangle  on a white triangle with three yellow stars. A white and yellow field are separated by two blue and yellow bars that go horizontally along the flag from the fly to the triangles where the point of the shape separates them going with one bar going to each corner of the hoist. Blue, white and yellow are the colours of the flag of his native archipelago the Canary Islands. The three stars represent his family, his wife and  two daughters.

RJC_flag.PNG
Name: Meinsauer
Country: United States 
Description: A work in progrss that might change in the future. Meinsauer's flag features a Native American arrowhead pointing down, edged in black. On the Upper blue field is a Jerusalem Cross, coloured copper, and partially obscured by three medium-green spruce trees rooted in the green lower field. The field is light grey.
The arrowhead represents the American West where he is from. The Jerusalem Cross represents both positive and negative roles religion has played in his life. The copper reflect to both his home town  (a producer of metal) and his profession (electrical engineer) The green fore-field and trees represent the Pacific Northwest is current residence, the blue sky represents optimism. The grey field is his colour of choice with no symbolism attached.


My Flag.jpg
Name: Vexilo
Country: United Kingdom
Description: This was conjured up as something of a stop gap because Vexilo didn't like having an empty flag icon in forum posts but had never really been able to come up with a design that might be sufficiently representative. Thinking a useful option might be something based on the flags of the two English counties Vexilo had lived in, Middlesex and Kent; as the two flags both feature white charges on a red field, this seemed quite sound. The arrangement of the symbols came immediately having received some positive reactions decided to stick with it.
Image
Name: Grendelsbayne
Country: Netherlands (originally from WV, USA)
Description: The symbols and colours aren't based on any specific places , but simply on how Grendelsbayne's feels , with the main symbol being the river running uphill and in the canton a small disc (formless but also perfect) representing all the most important things in life, both now and in the future.

Name: M_L_Flags
Country: Netherlands
Description: This flag is based on his surname, "Luchtenberg" which translates as "Sky and Mountain." The yellow and white represent the mountains and the blue the air. The three stars represent his wife, son and himself.
Name: Patrick Ticman
Country: United States
Descrition: Like many personal flags, this flag comes from of a personal coat of arms. both the flag and coat of arms were designed in 1995. The two stars on the flag are a symbol of childhood, as he grew up in duplex home with two families, each being represented by a star. The blue represents peace and harmony, while the white denotes purity. The proportions of this flag are quite unusual. Mr Ticman's coat of arms are registered on the US Heraldic Registry, see here.




All flags are the intellectual and/or physical property of the said individual or individuals it represents, each flag has/may have its own rules and proctorial  If you have a personal flag and would like to display it on this page please leave a comment. All other comments also welcome