Happy St David Day

Happy Saint David Day

Giving the day I am going to dedicate this  post to the flag of St David of Wales. This is not the flag of Wales which is the famous Red Dragon Flag.

The flag of Saint David (Welsh: Baner Dewi Sant) is normally a yellow cross on a black field, although it has also appeared as a black cross on a yellow field. It has been used as a flag representing Wales (as an alternative to the Red Dragon flag), in the same sense that the crosses of Saint George, Saint Andrew and Saint Patrick are used to represent England, Scotland and Ireland (of which they are, respectively, patron saints). It is similar to the arms of the Diocese of St David's.

Coat of arms of the Diocese of St David's

The flag can be seen throughout Wales, though not as frequently as the Red Dragon. On St David's Day it often plays a central role in the celebrations.

The history of the flag is somewhat ambiguous, though it seems to have emerged at the beginning of the 20th century. One theory is that it was developed to fly atop Anglican churches in Wales, in the same way that the St George's Cross was flown outside churches in England, though since 1954 churches are more likely to fly a flag bearing the armorial bearings of the Church in Wales

Flag of the Church in Wales

In any case, the colours of the flag - black and gold - have certainly long been associated with the Welsh saint, even if not always in the form of a symmetrical cross. St David's University College,Lampeter (now the Lampeter campus of the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David), founded in 1822, adopted these colours as the 'college colours' in 1888,and the flag of St David continues to be associated with the college, and is often flown today in a form defaced to include the cinquefoils of the crest of St David's College.

,

coat of arms of University of Wales, Trinity Saint David

The flag has also had military significance, representing the 38th Welsh Division in the Second World War.

Between 2003 and 2008 Cardiff City F.C. incorporated the flag into their logo. Crusaders RLFC, who started playing rugby league in Bridgend in 2006, also incorporated the flag on their logo.

The Christian Party (UK) wants to replace the current Flag of Wales to St. David's Cross.

38 Div WWII insignia

There have also been attempts the incorporate the Cross of St David into the Union Flag (Wales was seen as part of England and the flag has never been updated to include the modern constituent country). However none of these have ever had any success. 

 

Welsh Union Flag Proposals

Feel Free to Comment. Hope you have a happy Saint David Day whether you are Welsh or not. 

None of these designs are mine. Most of the info came from Wikipedia

Some other NI flag designs

Unlike other posts none of these flags are my designs. I have been too busy recently with work to even think about that. But in the recent weeks and days some very interesting designs have appeared on social network site pages.

First is a very interesting if not controversial design by Rev Ivan Dinsmore:

This combines both Unionist and Republican symbolism. It takes the form of a UK blue ensign with the 'big dipper' star formation in the shape of an old fashion plough in the fly. As the Union Flag is in the canton it represents British Sovereignty and so would (in theory) please Unionists. The Stary Plough is a leading Republican symbol that often appears on both flags and murals. Although there is well meaning behind it  I doubt this would work as Nationalists won't accept anything with a union flag in it, and the stary plough has links to Republican terrorist groups which will throw Unionists. Personally I like it, but I wouldn't like it as my flag as I think it is more like the flag of an overseas territory rather than one of the UK home nations.  

The fallowing designs are from Chris Connolly, firstly:

As is often seen on these NI flag designs the red hand is central. This design features a combination of the Cross of De Burgh and Cross of St George combining the unofficial de facto NI flag, the Ulster Banner and Provincial Ulster Flag. What I really like is the use of symbols representing the two main traditions  The lower fourth quarter has a harp on green field, a nationalist symbol. Was used the Irish Catholic Confederation by Nationalists as an unofficial de facto flag for Ireland in the 19th century. The top second quarter has a banner of the coat of arms used by the House of Orange, around the time King William III (Prince of Orange) was joint monarch of the three Kingdoms. It is interesting that in other designs where the connection to the House of Orange is used to represent Ulster and Irish protestants the colour is used (such as the Irish Republic's tricolour) but this is the first version I have seen using the coat of arms. I don't even think the Orange Order uses the coat of arms. A version on St Patrick's Saltire with the arms facing each other is below:

I like this flag, the symbolism is good and the idea of the Orange coat of arms is very original.

Chris Connolly then made two further versions of this theme replacing the Orange coat of arms with the Royal Arms of Scotland reflecting the Scots ancestry and elements of that culture in Unionist identity as well you could argue loyalty to the crown:

Another version using the late-medieval Gaelic Harp as used on the coat of arms of the Republic of Ireland:

I like the latter better than the former as it can represent NI with its two closest Neighbours on each side as well as loyalties. The colour scheme of yellow and blue I think works better than yellow and green. 

Another version with both yellow that could reflect the Ulster Flag colours. I am not sure if I like this one.

 I think I pre-fare the version with the Orange arms rather than the Scottish.

Peter Collier has designed some very good ones, Which I will show you, firstly:

The red hand in the hoist, with a red and yellow fly not sure I like the colour scheme, but the white hoist to me looks like half a hexagon which for some reason I like. Next up is a Union Jack type design:

Now it is too cluttered to work but I like the central design of four hexagons resembling the Giant's Causeway, with red hand and flax flower in the centre and a harp and crown to the sides, again resembling the two traditions, cross of De Burke is also in there. the blue saltire is also very unusual.

 Now for my favourite design of the lot also designed by the designer of the two above flags:

Six Flax flowers forming a hexagon representing the six counties. The blue and gold bands are really just to make the design interesting with the colours from the flax plants, with no symbolic significance. Although you could say the blue is St Patrick's blue and the gold is from the Ulster Flag. 

Another version of the above design is below:

I am not sure but I think I like the first of the two better. 

All Comments welcome.

None of these designs belong to this site or publisher but to their respective designers who are already mentioned in the above text. 

Antartica

This post is about Antarctica  There is a present no flag for the continent. Although it does have nine territories eight of which use flags. These are:Happy New Year everybody. I apologise I haven't updated sooner but at present I am very very busy. But here are some designs I made before Christmas. I apologise for the big space above I don't know why that is.

Name: British Antarctic Territory

Country: United Kingdom
Flag: White Ensign defaced with territories coat of arms


Name: Ross Dependency

Country: Ne ZealandFlag: Official flag is the National flag of NZ although an unofficial flag exists which is a light blue NZ flag.

Name: Adélie Land

Country: France
Flag: A French Blue ensign with a logo incorporating the letters FAAL for French Southern Antarctic Lands.

Name: Peter I Island and Queen Maud Land

Country: Norway

Flag: Both territories use the Norwegian flag and have no unique flag of their own







Name: Antártica

Country: Chilie

Flag: State flag of XII Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena Region






Name: Argentine Antarctica

Country: Argentina

Flag: Blue and orange field divided by white with a southern cross star formation in the fly.




Name: Australian Antarctic Territory

Country: Australia

Flag: National flag of Australia no unique flag of its own.

Name: Marie Byrd Land
Country: Unclaimed
Flag: None

Now There is a flag of the Antartic Treaty :

 

This incorperates a map of the continent but itself is not a flag of Antarctica but the nations (both with territorial claims and none territorial claims) that have agreed to protect it.

I was thinking the above territories could use a collective flag similar way Europe uses the EU flag.

It features the Earth design but with a lighter blue and the 'A' logo with a half globe and hands from the flag designed by Whitney Smith . And a star for each territory.

Flags that I have designed  for the territories that don't have flags are below.

Peter I Island,  Norway flag with a light blue field.

Queen Maud Land. Light Blue Scandinavian cross on white, set in a dark blue Scandinavian cross on white. 

Australian Antarctic Territory, Australia flag with light blue background on which the letters 'ATA' are occupying the space normally occupied by the Commonwealth star which has been moved to the fly. 

Marie Bryd Land, Antartic flag design in hoist with a single star. Light blue field with a single white stripe. As this is unclaimed a representative of each territory should be on a governing council to meet when matters regarding this region arise. 

Flags in this unless stated otherwise are not my designs 

All Comments welcome

Merry Christmas

I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.
I think it is appropriate giving the day to make a quick post about the North Pole.This is a part of the world that has been claimed and reclaimed by lots of nations, USA, USSR (more recently Russian Federation), Norway etc. Even though it is technically international waters, rather than land!

However no one ever thought of a flag. So here is my design.

It is a shared flag for a shared point on a shared planet. The design at the hoist comes from my 'Earth Flag' design. The white triangle is representative of the ice. The red and white stripes represent that regions association with Christmas. The symbol in the middle is a compass design which I think is the most appropriately neutral symbol.

All Comments Welcome

Flag by Samuel McKittrick

Blythe Yule an a haud Hogmanay!

 Happy Christmas and a happy New Year!

Coat of Arms of Brazil

This is not about flags as such but a flag related item, coats of arms.
My friend from the Flags Forum  Leonardo Piccioni has created a forum in the Heraldry section concerning the coat of arms of his native Brazil. The current 'coat of arms' for Brazil is below:

This is the Republic's emblem, used since 1889, but Leonardo's concerns are it isn't a coat of arms properly: it hasn't even a shield. It contains the Southern Cross, a national emblem, and a star to each state, over a star gironny in vert ("sinople" in original text) and or, bordered in red. The supporters are a coffee branch and a tobacco branch, and have been used on various historic coats of arms for Brazil.

To see the discussion on the flags forum and historic Brazilian coats of arms click Here.

To read more on the coat of arms past and present click here

Leonardo's proposal is below:

Designed by Leonardo Piccioni

This design keeps the supporters and places the central design of the present arms in a heraldic shield thus making it a 'proper' coat of arms. 

I also believe that as Brazil is such a large country and a top world stage player, and because it is hosting important spots events like the next football World Cup and Olympics the country deserves a 'proper' coat of arms.

My idea was to base the coat of arms on the badge of the Brazil Football Confederation (CBF) which is worn by the world famous Brazil international football team:

I don't know what significance if any it has, and Leonardo doesn't know either and suspects that it has evolved to its current form over time from a operate logo. See Here.

All the same I think it would be a good idea to use it as it is recognisable not only in Brazil but world wide thanks to the exploits of Brazil's footballers.

My first idea is below:

It has the shield design from the CBF and all the stars for the states. The Supporters are the same. There is also a crest which is a mullet gironny of ten vert, southern cross and olive crown (a republican symbol)

Leonardo suggested the use of 21 stars (the number of state when Brazil became a republic) as its easier

 to work with and is the number of stars on the Brazil Naval Jack. He also suggested the removal of the southern cross and olive crown, which I agree with.

improved design by Leonardo Piccioni

I also suggest the use of Parrot supporters (I originally wanted to use the national bird of Brazil Sabiá-laranjeira, or the Rufous-bellied Thrush but this was beyond my skills) I also suggested using a motto and including the Southern Cross, or armillary sphere design from the flag and use the old supporters on this. I sort of coat of arms within a coat of arms:

The motto translates to 'Order and Progress' and 16 November 1889 (the date Brazil became a republic). The countries full title is also present 'Federal Republic of Brazil' 

I also made another version with the floral supporters being the main supporters and the armillary sphere, if pre fared:

These two would be my favourite. 

All Comment mine.

All proposals by Samuel McKittrick unless stated otherwise. 

Queen Elizabeth Land

After the Foreign and Commonwealth Office announcing it was going to name a large area (437,000 sq km) of British Antarctic Territory after HM the Queen, to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee I thought it would be a good opportunity to think of a flag and arms for this new territory (or region if it is not going to be counted as a different territory from Antarctic territory.)
First lets look at the flag of BAT:

 

It is unusual as it is a white ensign, the only other use of a (UK) white ensign outside Queen's Ships (by which I mean Royal Navy, Royal Yacht Squadron and ships escorting the monarch) is BAT and  the Commissioner's flag of the Northern Lighthouse Board.

Like most UK overseas territories flags its and ensign defaced with the territories coat of arms.
This flag is the official flag of the territory however I am unsure if it is actually used.

The UK presence in Antarctic composes of the Royal Navy's ice patrol ship HMS Protector. (which can be deployed far and wide in the south) which uses the St Georges ensign more commonly called the white ensign, and three research stations of the British Antarctic Survey. I have seen pictures of a BAS station but it was only flying a Union Flag rather than the BAT flag.

However BAS ships do use a blue ensign defaced with the BAT shield:

  

I based the arms of Queen Elizabeth Land (or Liz Land as I like to call it) on the BAT arms:

The Helmet, supporters and base are the same. What has changed is the crest is now a crown, the motto is Latin for 'Duty and Devotion,' which is not only a good motto but a tribute to the Queen. 

The shield has also changed a little. the Torch has been replaced with the Queen's coat of arms defaced with the crowned 'E' as a permanent tribute. The Diamond is self explanatory. 

The Flag is a separate, more difficult issue. Do I  break from the tradition of using ensigns or more unique flag? 

My first design is really a copy of the BAT flag.

The Government ensign is the same but blue.

My next design breaks from the ensign tradition:

It keeps the diamond and waves design, and crowned 'E' logo. I also kept the Union Jack as Antartica is so fast and as there is nothing there but snow, and so many countries have claims and territory there, it would still be useful to let people know what boarder they have crossed. (although I don't think too many people will be out for a walk.) 

Alternatively you could replace the Union Jack with the defaced Royal Arms from the Coat of Arms:

The chances are this place will continue to use the BAT flag rather than adopt one but a bit of fun anyway.

I also recommend looking at my friend Leonardo Piccioni's idea as I think it is much better than mine the link is here.

All Comments Welcome

British Antarctic Territory and Survey flags are from Wikipeadia, all other picture are by Samuel McKittrick

Northern Ireland Flag and Coat of Arms.

Firstly I would like to apologise to readers who have no interest in the Northern Ireland flags issues, as this is another post with more ideas. I strongly believe that my home country should have an officially recognised flag. I don't know what news has gone out to the outside world but in Ulster its been a rather extreme couple of weeks regarding displaying the national (UK) flag on Belfast City Hall and what is now spreading to parliament buildings too. The protests, public disorder and community and political tensions that have fallowed is one reason why I have been thinking up new emblems specifically for Northern Ireland, note I am not attempting to replace any national emblems either British or Irish but filling the gap for regional Northern Irish emblems.
Another reason is due to the result of the last UK census regarding Northern Ireland. Two-fifths (40%) of those who responded said they had a British only national identity, (personally I don't think there is such thing as to me British is a collection of English, Scottish, Welsh and N.Irish but that is irrelevant)a quarter (25%) had Irish only and just over a fifth (21%) had a Northern Irish only national identity.
Traditionally there were people who seen themselves as primarily British and Primary Irish, with Northern Irish being seen as a regional identity. But this enormousness rise of people regarding themselves as Northern Irish only also highlights the need for an officially recognised emblem.

My first thought was for a coat of arms. I broke a little from my usual designs as I didn't use my usual template and thus added some extra things:

It is not a complete break with tradition as it still has the lion and elk supporters and flag staffs (although with new flags) from the old coat of arms. I thought it would be interesting if the supporters represented the two communities and traditions helping each other supporting the country. The lion represents the British, Unionist tradition, with St Andrew's Cross being used to symbolise this side of the community. I picked St Andrew's Cross to symbolise the Scottish Ancestry  and the Scottish aspects of the Unionist culture and identity. It is also the most used flag by unionism after the Union Flag and Old NI flag. It also shouldn't offend Nationalists as many nationalists also have close family and cultural links with Scotland.  

The Elk represents the Irish, Nationalist tradition, with the green harp flag being used. This is seen as the secondary symbol of Irish Nationalism (Irish Tricolour being the primary one)  It was also used as an unofficial national flag for Ireland by Nationalists from 1798 to 1916. It also shouldn't offend unionists as green harp flags have been common among Irish regiments of the British Army.

The Helmet is a new addition and something I think was missed on past coats of arms. the Crest is the six flowers flax plant logo of the NI Assembly. The flax plant is quickly becoming the flower of Northern Ireland and is also present on coins and the badge of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Although the shamrock is still present on the Royal coat of Arms and floral cyphers of the UK.
The chain is based on the Order of Saint Patrick and is displayed on the coat of arms in the same way the order of the thistle is used on the coat of arms of Scotland. This chain features flax flowers,  harps and St Patrick's Cross.
The base is the usual shamrocks and Giant's Causeway Stones.
the motto is "Culture makes Progress" hinting at peace and acceptance of each others cultures and traditions. It is in Irish Gaelic at the base and (Ulster) Scots at the top (normal in Scottish coats of arms) which are both recognised languages in NI and each associated with its relevant identity.
I also thought it would be nice to display the county coat of arms too. On the left from top to bottom are Counties: Fermangh, Antrim and Tyrone. On the other side is County Londonderry, Armagh and Down. The shield I will come to later. Of course the county arms don't need to be displayed all the time:

The shield I must admit is not my idea but that of Paul James from the Flags Forum who decided to use the Cross of De Burgh as seen on the Province flag on the NI flag, the hexagon was my suggestion as an alternative to the six pointed star as it could also represent the Giant's Causeway as well as the six counties. I have however altered it slightly so it is pointing to the top and bottom. A flag form of the coat of arms would be this:

By Paul James altered slightly by Samuel McKittrick

I have also designed a 'Royal coat of Arms' for northern Ireland. Of course not everyone would support the monarchy but the fact that a lot if people have described themselves as 'Northern Irish' suggests they are content if not happy with the constitutional status. This coat of arms is designed to be used with Lord Lieutenants and other representatives of the Queen:

It retains most of the features of the Government/Civil coat of arms. The crest is replaced with a crown which is also on top of St Patrick's cross. The shield is a harp on Blue Field taken from the Royal Coat of arms, the banner of which is also being supported by the lion. The Elk holds the Royal Banner of Scotland because the Ulster-Scots population who would mostly support the monarchy see it as another link with Scotland. However I am not completely sure if I should use it or not. A banner of the civil coat of arms (the flag above) might be more appropriate, The motto at the Base is an Irish and Scots translation of the motto on the Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom "Dieu et mon droit" (God and my right). The motto at the top is Latin for 'Who Shall Separate Us?' which appears on the Order of Saint Patrick, and is the motto of the Irish Guards regiment in the army, it also appeared on version of the last NI coat of Arms. 

This is more for use of the representatives and institutions of the monarchy in Northern Ireland rather than the monarch herself. I would not be to keen on a separate version of the Royal Coat of Arms like what Scotland has. However if there is demand for such I propose the above design but with the Royal Arms of the three traditional British Kingdoms in the shield:

Of Course the Irish representation takes the dominant first and fourth quarters. As I stated above I was thinking of using a banner of the civil arms instead of the Royal Banner of Scotland. Well in this version I have no doubt that the NI banner should be used as The Royal Arms of Scotland is on the third quarter. 

Paul James idea is that none of the other three UK nations have a banner of their coat of arms as a flag and that the red hand replace the harp in the UK coat of arms and Royal Standard:

 By Paul James (note Wales is also represented in the fourth quarter) 

I like his proposal. However I disagree with using the red hand as a replacement to the harp in the Royal coat arms as the harp is a symbol of Irish Kingship. But in the UK Government version of the coat of arms would perhaps be more appropriate.

I also see his point that the flag perhaps should not be based on the coat of arms for two reasons. Firstly this is not the case of the other UK nations and secondly this is what happened to the last flag, and when the local government was abolished in 1973 it ceased to have any standing. In order to survive political changes the flag should be separate from the government so an alternative I recently thought of is below:

This flag is based on the NI Football colours (Green, White and Blue) The celtic cross design is also inspired by NI Football. The red hand is changed from the traditional upright hand to a child's hand representing the future. The Coat of arms remains the same as proposed above, but it is also a though a banner of it could still be used by the government as I quite like it. I have posted the Celtic cross design on  the new NI flag Facebook and so far about two thirds of feedback has been relatively positive.

All Comments Welcome

For other NI Flag suggestions see links below:

Northern Ireland Flag?

Northern Ireland

Green Ensign version 

Other Related posts

Belfast City Hall Flag Issue

Ulster(Republic of Ireland)

City of Londonderry Flag

Northern Ireland Flags Guide

All designs by Samuel McKittrick unless stated otherwise