Herefordshire County Flag Design Competition

"Herefordshire has, for too long, been a county without an official flag. Sure a couple of unofficial motifs have been flown over the years but these unadopted emblems are about to make way for a new - and official - design, thanks to a countywide competition. Led by Herefordshire Cultural Partnership, the Design a Flag for Herefordshire project calls on everyone to showcase some creativity and come up with their own designs."

"Designs will be submitted and in the summer the public will vote for their favourite."

"When the winning flag is adopted by the Flag Institute it'll be available for everyone to use, wherever and whenever we see fit."

After many hours of work

I settled on 41 designs covering a mix of themes. I tried to explore all areas of my initial thoughts; 'Historic', 'Geometric', 'Iconic'-(apple, bull, bridge, cathedral) and 'Landscape'-(hills, fields, agriculture).

The shortlisted design

Of 675 designs, 5 were shortlisted. One of my designs made it through to the final 5! I was over the moon! The Flag Institute requested a minor design change and then put it forward for the public vote.

Rationale: I wanted to portray some element of Herefordshire's rural landscape; the hills and fields that form the patchwork pattern of the county. That is the reason for the green rolling hills - the county's connection to nature keeps inspiring me, counter-balancing an otherwise busy city life with peace and calm.

The yellow background is indicative of the rapeseed fields, crops and haybails. The apple is a iconic symbol of Herefordshire, alluding to the county's cider manufacture and the contents of tractor trailers often encountered down the winding country lanes.