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West Riding, Yorkshire, England

image by Jason Saber, 24 May 2013

Flag competition

Flag competition

This new flag for the English region of Yorkshire was designed by Michael Faul, Editor of Flagmaster, the journal of the Flag Institute. It shows the cross of St. George, the historic symbol of England, with the vertical band off-centre to the left, in the format adopted by most Scandinavian countries. This reflects the fact that Yorkshire is part of England, but also that it has close ties with Scandinavia, having been settled and ruled by Norwegians and Danes in the eighth and ninth centuries. The white rose is shown on a blazing sun, called "rose-en-soleil" in heraldry, which is the Royal badge of the Royal house of York, the last member of which to rule England was Richard III (1483-1485). The new flag has been adopted by the Campaign for Yorkshire which is campaigning for a Yorkshire parliament.
Michael Paraskos, 20 September 2002

You may be interested to know that the Yorkshire Dialect Society has adopted this flag and uses it as the masthead on its website. The Campaign for Yorkshire has also expressed interest in "officially" adopting it as the flag for the whole of historic Yorkshire (but has not yet actually done so). The centre of the rose is yellow, for the pollen stamens.
Michael Faul, 11 October 2002

A competition for a flag for the West Riding, Yorkshire, is open:
http://andystrangeway.wordpress.com/west-riding-flag/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/West-Ridi...299?ref=hl
Jason Saber, 22 February 2013

The West Riding flag has been revealed.

See also;
http://andystrangeway.wordpress.com/2013/05/23/west-riding-flag-unfurling-the-photos/ http://britishcountyflags.wordpress.com/
http://wikishire.co.uk/wiki/West_Riding_Flag
http://andystrangeway.wordpress.com/west-riding-flag/
Jason Saber, 24 May 2013

The flag shows the cross of St. George, the historic symbol of England, with the vertical band off-centre to the left, in the format adopted by most Scandinavian countries. This reflects Yorkshire’s Anglo-Scandinavian heritage, the county having been settled and ruled by Norwegians and Danes in the C8th & C9th as well as focussing the design on the hoist, westernmost, side. Placed at the centre of the cross is the traditional white rose of Yorkshire, in use since the fourteenth century, shown against a blazing sun, a heraldic combination known as a “rose-en-soleil”. The same combination of “rose en soleil” device and red and white colours appeared in the arms of the former West Riding Council of 1889-1974. The flag was chosen by a public vote, following a competition to design a flag for the West Riding which was launched on Wednesday 23rd January 2013 with the Dalesman Magazine. Six designs were selected from numerous entries, by a panel of judges, for everyone to vote for their favourite design.

Flag Type: Regional Flag
Flag Date: 23rd May 2013
Flag Designer: Michael Faul
Adoption Route: Public Vote
UK Design Code: UNKG7435
Aspect Ratio: 3:5
Pantone® Colours: White, Red 186, Cream 617, Green 368/370, Yellow 109/116
Source: https://www.flaginstitute.org
Valentin Poposki, 2 July 2020