History is made as Leicestershire’s first ever flag is flown

The new Leicestershire flag being displayed in London today EMN-210719-124754001

The design features a fox, which has a strong association with the county, alongside a red and white serrated field, which was a pattern borne by the de Montfort earls of Leicester on the coat of arms, and a cinquefoil floral emblem.

It is the result of a campaign led by Melton MP Alicia Kearns and residents of Leicestershire who felt it was long overdue for a 1,000-year-old county when every other county had one.

Secretary of State for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, MP Robert Jenrick, oversaw the raising of the flag today in Parliament Square as part of Historic County Flags Day celebrations.

The new Leicestershire flag flying in London today EMN-210719-131039001

Mrs Kearns said: “Since my election I’ve been working to establish an official Leicestershire flag because our county deserves no less than any other. “A Leicestershire Flag gives us an opportunity to learn more about our history and celebrate all that is wonderful about our great county.

“Our flags carry our history, our pride, help define who we are, and bring us together as communities.”

Designer, Jason Saber, commented: “My aim was to design a flag that would harmoniously combine all four traditional county themes, namely; a red and white colour scheme; a zigzag pattern, a device with five petals termed a cinquefoil and above all, a running fox.”

Graham Shipley and Bill Brown, local campaigners on behalf of the ‘A Flag for Leicestershire Group’, said in a joint-statement: “We are confident that the flag will be a focus for unity around which all the people of Leicestershire, as well as anyone who has an association with the county, can rally in perpetuity.

“It reflects both the colours and the emblems of the existing flags of the city council, the county council and many other local bodies, as well as the free-running fox, a symbol of many sports clubs in the great sporting tradition of Leicestershire.”

Graham Bartram, chief vexillologist at the Flag Institute, said: “We are delighted to register the final English county flag, that of Leicestershire.

“We encourage the people of Leicestershire, and indeed all the counties of Britain, to embrace and use their county flags with pride.”