Caernarfonshire

Owain's Eagles

Flag Type:  County Flag
Flag Date:  c.17th Century
Flag Designer:  Unknown
Adoption Route:  Traditional
UK Design Code:  UNKG7426
Aspect Ratio:  3:5
Pantone® Colours:  Green 354, Yellow 109
Certification:  Flag Institute Chief Vexillologist, Graham Bartram
Notes: 

The Caernarfonshire Flag is a community flag proclaiming the unique identity of this historic Welsh county.

The flag is the banner of arms of Owain Gwynedd (1100-70), whose kingdom covered most of modern Caernarfonshire.

The three golden eagles on a green field represent the legendary birds of Eryri, or ‘nest of eagles’ (Snowdonia).

In his Story of the Shire (1921), Frederick Hackwood called this emblem an ‘authentic’ and ‘significant’ badge of the county.

Medieval heralds attributed these arms to Owain Gwynedd.

Many local nobles used them in medieval times, while Michael Drayton (1563β€”1631) states that Caernarfonshire men carried them at Agincourt (1415).

The former Caernarfonshire County Council also used the emblem on its seal and arms.

Lastly local organisations continue to use it to this day.