Peter Facey (Fowlmere, Unlock Democracy): A couple of years ago I was driving through rural Ireland, where houses and telegraph poles flew their county colours. The only county in England that has traditionally flown its own flag is Cornwall. And yes, before someone tells me, I know that for many Cornish Cornwall isn't just a county, but a nation in its own right. Even where I now live in Cambridgeshire you find cars with the flag of St. Piran on them.
Well, unnoticed by the national media, the phenomenon of county flags seem to be spreading. Devon, with the help of BBC Radio Devon, has adopted its own flag dedicated to St. Petroc in 2004. Now I have heard Cornish friends of mine mockingly refer to it as a made up version of the Cornish flag, but in the four years since its creation it's become a symbol of local pride.
Lincolnshire, Derbyshire and Wiltshire have all also adopted county flags, and this March Gloucestershire joined the group. In all these cases the flags have been adopted by popular votes conducted via the local media. Now this may turn out to be a temporary fad or, as I believe, the beginning of a spreading phenomenon that addresses a strong desire to celebrate a sense of place in a changing world.
A number of years ago when I lived in Croydon there used to be four flag poles just before you got into the town centre, which would fly the borough flag, the cross of St. George, the Union Jack and the European Flag. They not only brightened up some direly 60's architecture, but also for me showed pride in the town's layered identity. Unfortunately after a while the flags disappeared; though I never got around to asking why I hope it had nothing to do with petty laws about what flags could be flown, though I fear it may have.
Well last year the DCLG relaxed the law to allow people to fly county flags as well as national flags without planning permission. So hopefully this movement will spread and our towns and cities will have colourful displays of local pride and our layered identity. This in its own small way may be a answer to the question this Government is seemingly constantly asking of 'who we are' - and would certainly be more colourful than a statement of values.
