The Flag of Sussex

The commercially available "Flag of West Sussex"

Sussex

The Flag of Sussex was the winning entry in a competition held in June 2008 under the auspices of the BBC for a flag to commemorate "Sussex Day" (June 16th) which has been described as a celebration of all things uniquely Sussex. The winning entry was designed by Martin Shrimpton from Woodingdean in Brighton. Chairman of the judging panel, Graham Bartram said: "Well it had very clear Sussex symbolism. The colours were bright and I think it's just going to look like a really nice flag."

Many of the proposed designs incorporated the charge of six martlets (a mythical bird found in heraldry, essentially representative of a swallow) that have been traditionally associated with Sussex for centuries and that have appeared on the various forms of arms used in the county.

The arms originally used in Sussex were blue bearing the martlets in gold (yellow). Following the administrative split of the county into east and west divisions in the late nineteenth century, West Sussex maintained the basic colours and pattern of the arms but added a gold chief - a bar across the top of the shield. This design is still commercially available as the "Flag of West Sussex", from a number of outlets.

[edit] See also

• Coat of arms of Sussex
• Sussex

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/southerncounties/content/articles/2008/06/13/sussex_flag_winner_feature.shtml
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/southerncounties/content/image_galleries/sussex_flag_competition_entries_gallery.shtml?3
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/southerncounties/content/articles/2008/04/28/sussex_flag_intro_feature.shtml
• http://englishcountyflags.com