The Flag of Devon, properly St Petroc's Cross, is the

flag A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...

of the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

county of

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

. It is dedicated to Saint Petroc, The Flag Institute a local saint with numerous dedications throughout Devon. It is notable for its creation through two web-based polls.

History

The subject of a Devonian flag was raised by the country's contingent of scouts to the 20th World Scout Jamboree in an interview on BBC Radio Devon in 2002. The scouts were unaware of a Devon flag and wondered if any listeners knew of a flag for the county. BBC Radio Devon took up the search for a flag for Devon and asked the public to send in designs. The flag was created in 2003 after a vote in two polls run by the BBC Devon website, the winning design taking 49% of the votes cast. The design was created by student Ryan Sealey. The Devon Flag is made of three colours — green (

Pantone Pantone LLC (stylized as PANTONE) is a limited liability company headquartered in Carlstadt, New Jersey. The company is best known for its Pantone Matching System (PMS), a proprietary color space used in a variety of industries, notably graphi ...

348), black and white. Although the flag is relatively young, its colours are those traditionally identified with Devon (e.g. the colours of its

Rugby Union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

team,

Exeter University , mottoeng = "We Follow the Light" , established = 1838 - St Luke's College1855 - Exeter School of Art1863 - Exeter School of Science 1955 - University of Exeter (received royal charter) , type = Public ...

and Plymouth Argyle F.C.). In 1816, Lord Exmouth flew a dark green flag with white circles at the Bombardment of Algiers (now on view at the Teign Valley Museum). The green represents the colour of the rolling and lush Devon hills, the black represents the high and windswept moors ( Dartmoor and

Exmoor Exmoor is loosely defined as an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England. It is named after the River Exe, the source of which is situated in the centre of the area, two miles north-west of Simonsbath ...

) and the white represents both the salt spray of Devon's two coastlines and the China Clay industry (and mining in general). Since its launch in 2003, the Devon Flag has gained popularity, and in October 2006 it gained "official" recognition when Devon County Council raised the flag outside County Hall. In April 2004, a resident of Ottery St Mary in East Devon was threatened with legal action for flying the Devon flag in his back garden, as he required planning permission to fly non-national flags. Since then the Minister for Housing, Keith Hill, has said local authorities can officially "turn a blind eye" to the practice of flying the county flag from poles.

Devon Ensign

First flown in 2003, the Devon Regatta Ensign ''(designed by Kevin Pyne)'' adds a

Union flag The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

into the Canton of the Devon Flag. This flag is described as for use at regatta, high days and holidays, weddings, and burials at sea.

Flying the Devon Flag

The Devon Flag Group have suggested the following dates as days when it is appropriate for the Devon flag to be flown. Most of them are either the days of local events or the feast days of Devon's saints. It is also flown outside of these days, especially in rural towns. *4 January - St Rumon of Tavistock and Romansleigh *7 January - St Brannock of Braunton *5 March - St Piran, patron saint of tin miners *12 March -

Paul Aurelian Paul Aurelian (known in Breton as Paol Aorelian or Saint Pol de Léon and in Latin as Paulinus Aurelianus) was a 6th-century Welshman who became first bishop of the See of Léon and one of the seven founder saints of Brittany. He allegedly die ...

, brother of St Sidwell *7 April - St Brannock, as celebrated in

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

*1 May - Saint Walpurga of Devon *May Bank Holiday, Anniversary of first time Devon Flag Flown at World Gig Championship 2003,

Isles of Scilly The Isles of Scilly (; kw, Syllan, ', or ) is an archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, is the most southerly point in Britain, being over further south than the most southerly point of th ...

*May/June - Devon County Show *3 June - St Kevin *4 June -

St Petroc Saint Petroc or Petrock ( lat-med, Petrocus; cy, Pedrog; french: link=no, Perreux; ) was a British prince and Christian saint. Probably born in South Wales, he primarily ministered to the Britons of Devon (Dewnans) and Cornwall (Kernow) then f ...

*5 June - St Boniface of

Crediton Crediton is a town and civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon in England. It stands on the A377 Exeter to Barnstaple road at the junction with the A3072 road to Tiverton, about north west of Exeter and around from the M5 motorwa ...

, Patron Saint of Devon *6 June - St Gudwal, hermit of Devon *17 June - St Nectan, patron of Hartland *21/22 June - Midsummers day *26 June - St Brannock - another feast day *5 July -

Lammas Lammas Day (Anglo-Saxon ''hlaf-mas'', "loaf-mass"), also known as Loaf Mass Day, is a Christian holiday celebrated in some English-speaking countries in the Northern Hemisphere on 1 August. The name originates from the word "loaf" in reference ...

Fair *8 July - St Urith of Chittlehampton *13 July - St Juthware *30 July - Anniversary of battle against

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (a.k.a. the Enterprise of England, es, Grande y Felicísima Armada, links=no, lit=Great and Most Fortunate Navy) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an ar ...

*1 August - St Sidwell, Patron Saint of

*10 August - St Geraint Last King of Dumnonia *30 August - St Rumon *26 September - Anniversary of

Sir Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer, sea captain, privateer, slave trader, naval officer, and politician. Drake is best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 158 ...

's Circumnavigation of the World *2 November - St Cumgar *5 November -

St Kea Saint Kea ( Breton and Cornish: ''Ke''; french: Ké) was a late 5th-century British saint from the '' Hen Ogledd'' ("Old North")—the Brythonic-speaking parts of what is now southern Scotland and northern England. According to tradition he w ...

*7 November - St Congar *8 December - St Budoc (St Budeaux) of

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to ...

*12 December - St Corentin *16 December -

Saint Judicael Saint Judicael or Judicaël ( – 16 December 647 or 652) ( Welsh:Ithel), also spelled Judhael (with many other variants), was the King of Domnonée, part of Brittany, in the mid-7th century and later revered as a Roman Catholic saint. Ba ...

, King of

Domnonée Domnonée is the modern French form of Domnonia or Dumnonia (Latin for "Devon"; br, Domnonea), a historic kingdom in northern Armorica (Brittany) founded by British immigrants from Dumnonia (Sub-Roman Devon) fleeing the Saxon invasions of Britai ...

*21/22 December -

Midwinter Midwinter is the middle of the winter. The term is attested in the early Germanic calendars. Attestations Midwinter is attested in the early Germanic calendars, where it appears to have been a specific day or a number of days during the winter ha ...

*31 Dec to 6 Jan -

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vi ...

Controversy

The creation of the flag drew criticism from Cornish nationalists, who accused it online of being an attempt to "hijack" their culture. Bob Burns, who started the discussion over a flag for Devon, cited the visibility of the Cornish Flag as one of his reasons "Devonians are only too aware of the ubiquitous Cornish Flag, which can often be seen in the form of car bumper stickers, on vehicles entering Devon from Cornwall." Dr Mark Stoyle, a Devon historian, noted that "People are quite aware in Devon that the Cornish make political capital by claiming to be different". He also suggested that the new-found sense of Devonian identity was a backlash against incoming "city-dwellers settling in the South West". The decision to dedicate the flag to St Petroc was not without controversy as the saint is equally popular in neighbouring Cornwall, but it was decided that as Devon's 27 church dedications to Saint Petroc far outweighs the 6 dedications in Cornwall, and furthermore that the Devon villages named after the Saint, such as

Petrockstowe Petrockstowe (or Petrockstow) is a small village and civil parish in the district of Torridge in Northern Devon, England. Its population in 2001 was 379, hardly different from the figure of 385 recorded in 1901. The southern boundary of the pa ...

and Newton St Petroc, gave the county a strong claim to the saint, as Cornwall had already selected Saint Piran as their patron saint many years previously.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flag Of Devon

Local government in Devon

Flags of saints

History

Devon Ensign

Flying the Devon Flag

Controversy

See also

References