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Bournemouth, Dorset and Hampshire (England)

English Town

image by Danny Brooks, 14 October 2026
based on this photo.

Description of the flag

See also:

Description of the flag

Bournemouth is a resort town on England's south coast. With a population of around 200,000, Bournemouth is the largest town in Dorset. The town was established in 1810. Originally sited within the county of Hampshire, Bournemouth soon expanded westward to straddle the border between Hampshire and Dorset. Administratively, Bournemouth has been part of Dorset since 1974.

The flag of Bournemouth (seen flying outside Bournemouth Town Hall) is a banner of arms. Bournemouth's arms can be blazoned: "Quarterly or and azure a cross flory between a lion rampant holding between the paws a rose in the first and fourth quarters six martlets two two and two in the second and four salmons naiant and in pale in the third all counterchanged."

The blue, the cross flory and martlets are taken from the arms of King Edward the Confessor (1042-1066) who owned the land on which Bournemouth now stands. The lions rampant hold a rose, a symbol of Hampshire and England, between their paws. In the arms (and in the illustration of the flag, above) this rose is the red and white Tudor Rose. In the photo the rose is blue. The 'martlet' is an heraldic bird depicted without feet (folk belief held that the swallow lived its life in the air, and had no need of legs). The salmon represent the River Stour.

Danny Brooks, 14 October 2026

This is the banner of the Bournemouth Town Council (or however it is officially named), so the question is: is it used by the Council only (as the use before the Town Hall might suggest) or is its general/unrestricted use permitted by the Council, as is legally required (a number of UK local flags were registered by the Flag Institute after such permissions were obtained)?

Also note that, according to the blazon, the rose held by the lion (2nd and 3rd quarters) shall indeed be all azure, and the lion shall be all azure as well (if armed and langued differently, it shall be specified in the blazon): https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/wiki/Bournemouth

Tomislav Todorovic, 14 October 2026

From Minutes of the Bournemouth Charter Trustees' meeting, 24 October 2022, article 22b (https://democracy.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx):

The minutes record "the adoption of the former Bournemouth Borough Council's yellow and blue flag as the Charter Trustees' Civic Flag", for use on specified civic occasions.

In England and Wales, Charter Trustees are responsible for maintaining the traditions of a borough following its abolition (including arms and flags). It would be for the Trustees to decide whether or not to authorise unrestricted public use.

Since 2019 Bournemouth has been part of the unitary Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council. The Flag Flying Policy of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, issued in 2021, references a 'BCP Flag' and a 'BCP Council' flag. I presume (but am not yet certain) that the Charter Trustees' Civic Flag and the BCP flags are the same.

Appendix B of the Policy states:
"It is a matter for the Charter Trustees to adopt its own flag. The Coat of Arms for the former Bournemouth Borough Council and Borough of Poole is in the ownership of each of the Charter Trustees. There is an opportunity for the Charter Trustees to adopt the Coat of Arms as their flag."

This would suggest that the arms of the former Bournemouth Borough Council are the property of the Bournemouth Charter Trustees, rather than BCP Council, and that their use as a flag is a matter for the Trustees to determine.

Poole and Christchurch appear to have their own distinct flags.

Perhaps someone better versed in such matters could clarify the relationship between the former borough's arms, the Charter Trustees' Civic Flag and the flags referred to in the BCP Council policy? Does BCP fly the old Bournemouth arms as a banner of arms, or does it use a new flag (perhaps based on the BCP Council logo)?

Danny Brooks, 14 October 2026

I've yet to receive a response from Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council re: the existence of a combined BCP Council flag. I presume that Bournemouth and Poole fly their historic flags on appropriate dates. I'm unable to find any information regarding a Christchurch town flag.

Bournemouth's flag is not registered with the Flag Insititute.

Danny Brooks, 19 October 2026