‘Communist’ f lag to f ly over Highlands!
New Sutherland banner has critics in a flap
IT was meant to be a proud symbol of a Highland county, based on design ideas submitted by locals themselves.
Yet a new flag for Sutherland has sparked anger, with opponents even branding it ‘Communist’.
The emblem features a red and yellow background with a flying eagle and three stars or ‘mullets’.
However, it has been compared to a Soviet-era flag and even the emblem of an Outer Mongolian football team.
The use of an eagle instead of a wildcat, seen by many as the area’s most iconic animal, has also been controversial.
The county’s Lord Lieutenancy team organised a competition last year in which they invited locals to submit designs for the flag. There were 328 entries and three winners were chosen by a panel.
The winning design is a combination of the three successful entries. But some locals have taken to social media to angrily criticise it.
Carey Kerr wrote: ‘It is horrific. The last place I think of when I see that flag is Sutherland.’
Andrew Richert added: ‘At least the Communist-style design matches the Communist-style selection process where a board of 11 people reject every submitted design to build their own anyway.’
Blair Grant commented: ‘Looks like the flag of an Outer Mongolian third division football team. It’s awful.’
And Richard ‘Jacko’ MacKenzie said: ‘We in Sutherland have always been called Cattachs. Where is the wildcat? What a disgusting looking rag.’
Vice-Lieutenant Colin Gilmour, spokesman for the selection committee, said the wild cat was more closely associated with neighbouring Caithness, so the panel felt the eagle was more representative of Sutherland and would be a ‘unifying factor across the county’.
Lord Lieutenant Dr Monica Main said: ‘You can’t please everyone.’
The flag has been approved by the Lord Lyon and will be officially launched later this year.
Sutherland is the fifth Scots county to get a flag.
Residents on Barra last year won official recognition for their flag after a lengthy campaign.
This gathered pace after local girl Eilidh MacLeod, 14, died in the Manchester bombing in May.