Hampshire

The Hampshire Flag is a community flag proclaiming the unique identity of this historic English county.

The flag is a bi-colour of yellow and red, with symbols of a rose and crown.

These colours and symbols are traditional to the county and appear in the banner of arms granted to Hampshire County Council in 1992.

The Hampshire Flag modifies this pattern to distinguish it from the civic banner and to avoid royal and national symbols.

At the suggestion of Jason Saber, the Royal Crown in the civic flag thus becomes a Saxon Crown.

This evokes Hampshire’s importance in early English history, when Winchester was the capital of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex.

Roses of various types and colours have represented the county over the centuries.

These include the red Tudor Rose of Hampshire County Council and a white rose for Hampshire County Cricket Club.

Following an original drawing by Brady Ells, Communities Vexillologist Philip Tibbetts has created a new rose unique in vexillology.

This rose has three tiers of petals – red, white, red – and is impossible to mistake for those used on other county flags.

Although this flag uses traditional elements, its origins lie in a 1992 design so it does not rank as a traditional flag.

A number of local organisations, including Hampshire Hockey Association and Lymington & District Historical Society, proposed this flag for registration.

Hampshire’s administrative and ceremonial leaders also endorsed this proposal to ensure registration.