COUNTY HAS FLAG FOR FIRST TIME
LEICESTERSHIRE ALONE DID NOT HAVE DESIGN – UNTIL THIS WEEK
was the only county in England which did not have an official flag – until this week.
An official flag, which features a fox and incorporates emblems from two historic county families, was flown in the county for the first time on Monday.
Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Robert Jenrick oversaw the raising of the flag in Parliament Square, as part of Historic County Flags Day celebrations.
The design has also been officially registered by the UK’s Flag Institute.
Rutland and Melton MP Alicia Kearns said: “Since my election I’ve been working to establish an official Leicestershire flag because our county deserves no less than any other.
“A Leicestershire flag gives us an opportunity to learn more about our history and celebrate all that is wonderful about our great county.
“Our flags carry our history, our pride, help define who we are and bring us together as communities.
“I want in particular to thank the designer of the flag, Jason Saber, and the campaign group A flag for Leicestershire, which has advocated for this design for so many years to ensure that Leicestershire is no longer the only county without its own flag.”
Graham Bartram, chief vexillologist at the Flag Institute, said: “The Flag Institute is delighted to register the final English county flag, that of Leicestershire.
“The dynamic red and white flag features the emblems of the de Beaumont and de Montfort families, who both held the Earldom of Leicester.
“Simon de Montfort was one of the founders of modern parliamentary democracy, so it is appropriate the flag had its first official raising in Parliament Square to mark Historic County Flag Day, where it will be joined by the flags of the other English, Welsh and Scottish counties in a spectacular display of the emblems Britain’s centuries-old foundations.
“We encourage the people of Leicestershire, and indeed all the counties of Britain, to embrace and use their county flags with pride.”
Members Graham Shipley and Bill Brown said: “The A Flag for Leicestershire group warmly applauds the raising of the fox-and-cinquefoil flag on Monday. With this act, the set of registered flags for the historic coun LEICESTERSHIRE ties of England is complete. It is a milestone in the life of England and of our county.
“We are confident the flag will be a focus for unity around which all the people of Leicestershire, as well as anyone who has an association with the county, can rally in perpetuity.
“We thank the MPs of Leicestershire for their support, as well as the Association of British Counties and the Flag Institute for their longof standing work in promoting county flags. We congratulate the designer, Jason Saber, for creating a flag that so clearly evokes the 1,000-year history of Leicestershire.
“It reflects both the colours and the emblems of the existing flags of the city council, the county council, and many other local bodies, as well as the free-running fox, a symbol of many sports clubs in the great sporting tradition of Leicestershire.
“Above all, we are grateful to the many hundreds of supporters who have shown their enthusiasm for this design.”
Designer Jason Saber said: “My aim was to design a flag that would harmoniously combine all four traditional county themes: a red and white colour scheme; a zigzag pattern, a device with five petals termed a cinquefoil and, above all, a running fox.”