The Flag of Orkney was the winner of a public flag consultation in February and March 2007.[1][2] In the flag consultation the people of Orkney were asked for their preferred design from a short list of 5,[3] all of which had been approved by the Court of the Lord Lyon. The chosen design was that of Duncan Tullock of Birsay, which polled 53% of the 200 votes cast by the public.[4]
The colours red and yellow are from the Scottish and Norwegian royal coats of arms, which both use yellow and red, with a lion rampant. The flag symbolises the islands' Scottish and Norwegian heritage. The blue is taken from the flag of Scotland and also represents the sea and the maritime heritage of the islands.
2007 competition finalists[5]
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Design 1 -
Design 2 (winner) -
Design 3 -
Design 4 -
Design 5
Former flag of Orkney
The former flag of Orkney was adopted in 1995. In 2001, the flag of Orkney, the traditional flag of St Magnus, was declined official recognition by the Lord Lyon, the heraldic authority of Scotland, due to similarity with other national flags;[4] as well as the flag of the Kalmar Union.[6]
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The former flag of Orkney
See also
- Flag of Shetland
- Nordic Cross Flag
- Royal Standard of Scotland
- Royal Standard of Norway
- Flag of Norway
- List of Scottish flags
- Emblems of the Kalmar Union
References
- ^ Orkney Islands Council
- ^ Flag design approved by Lord Lyon Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine, The Orcadian, 25 June – 1 July 2007
- ^ Orkney Islands Council
- ^ a b Postman designs new Orkney flag, BBC News Online, 10 April 2007
- ^ Orkney Community Flag ballot paper
- ^ "Kalmar Union Flag". www.crwflags.com. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
