Poole (Dorset)

About the flag

The Poole Flag is a community flag proclaiming the unique identity of this Dorset town and its people.

The Poole Flag draws its design elements from the Poole Coat of Arms, whose origins are traceable to a 14th-century town seal.

The arms were first confirmed during a heraldic Visitation in 1563 and reconfirmed by the College of Arms in 1948.

The wavy black and gold bars represent Poole Harbour and the town’s maritime activity.

So, too, does the dolphin, ‘king of the sea’.

The three scallop shells are the symbols of St James, the patron saint of Old Poole’s parish church.

They also represent the pilgrims to his shrine at Santiago de Compostela in north-west Spain, many of whom sailed from Poole.