Caithness County Flag

[amm26]

Should Caithness have it's own flag? We have a separate culture from the rest of the highlands and seep rat from our brothers and sisters across the firth, so should we have a county flag? It could certainly help with marketing the county as a tourist destination. What would the flag look like? And what colours?Here is a rather crudely drawn "paint" job

[sids]

No.



..............

[orkneycadian]

Go for it! We have had an Orkney flag for decades, although a few years ago, that seemed to get changed form the one we were so used to, to one which is often mistaken for the Quisling flag from Nazi occupied Norway. That has offended quite a few tourists. :(

The original one still gets a fair bit of airtime though.

[sids]

There's a Wick flag, with mannies in a peedie boatie, isn't there?

That's all that's needed: capital of the county and all that.

[Stack Rock]

Like this coat of arms - sorry can't enlarge it

http://www.ambaile.org.uk/en/component/thumb?id=85138

[flagsabound]

Hi, the Association of British Counties (ABC) has listings of proposed flags for British counties located here

http://flags.abcounties.com/proposed-flags-novel-designs/ (http://flags.abcounties.com/proposed-flags-novel-designs/and)

and here

http://flags.abcounties.com/proposed-flags-traditional/

There are two specific proposals for Caithness here

http://flags.abcounties.com/2014/02/05/caithness/

We'd be happy to include the green on yellow Nordic cross design on the page if you can supply some background regarding the colours and choice of design. The ABC has been successful in recent years establishing flags across England and Wales and would very much like to see some county flags registered in Scotland too. Unfortunately Scottish citizens do not enjoy the same freedom to display their local identity as those south of the border, as all flags in Scotland must be sanctioned by the chief heraldic authority, the Lord Lyon. Unfortunately this incurs a fee of £300. However, as has been mentioned on this forum, with its distinct history and culture Caithness is deserving of its own flag so perhaps a combination of citizen and local authority input might cover the cost of registration? The most likely means of establishing a flag for Caithness would be a competition as occurred in Orkney. There have also been a number of flag competitions in English counties, the most recent was in November 2013 when a flag was established for County Durham, through a competition. A competition can be conducted in cooperation with the flag Institute who can also advise on judges and formats and so on. You can contact the ABC about all this via the ABC Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/abcounties . Hope this is of some help and interest and look forward to hearing from you.

[Hoggie]

There are two spanking good designs there on http://flags.abcounties.com/2014/02/05/caithness/ (http://flags.abcounties.com/2014/02/05/caithness/)

There's been talk of a county flag for Caithness for years - let's actually do it this time, and £300 to keep the Lord Lyon happy is nothing if it draws visitors. Who's up for a flag competition?

I see there's a good map too: http://wikishire.co.uk/map/#Caithness

[flagsabound]

Glad you like them. We hope someone will come forward to initiate a competition where these and other designs can be entered.

[orkneycadian]

If this forum is a fair reflection of Caithness, then I suggest that the flag should depict a windmill, a dog turd, a Tesco logo and someone looking a bit confused, about to say - "Does anyone know...." One in each corner should look nice!

[Keyser_soze]

Aye, as were all half Norwegian , we should have a black & red norwegian style flag

[amm26]

The choice of the design is because of the Nordic roots of caithness. Similar to that of Orkney.The colours, well, the green represents the land and the yellow/gold represents the low winter sun and the long summer days, a trait of the far north.They also happen to be the colours of the main caithness named sports club, caithness rugby club

[flagsabound]

Thanks for the explanation. The proposed design has been added to the page. Let's hope it has a real chance to compete.

[amm26]

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-26990828Interesting article about restoring county flags down south.Will any Caithness councillors help out with some form of community competition to design a flag for Caithness??

[Hoggie]

If we can avoid letting politicians get in the way we'd do better, albeit that they seem to have all the money these days. We have three good designs on http://flags.abcounties.com/2014/02/05/caithness/ How do we get wider publicity to start a competition? Might the Caithness Courier be interested, or the 'local' BBC?

[Restlessnative]

Good to see a bit in eh Groat about this well done. I floated the idea a few years ago on here hoping some1 would pick it up and run with it but it never happened.

Best of luck to all involved with the project, the paper could donate part of a page every other week running a competition with a vote when you pick up your paper from eh shop?

I would rather see that than the ramblings of a mid-life crisis, slevers from an MP type looking for brownie points or adverts,adverts and more adverts.

[Hoggie]

They are running with it now in the John O'Groat Journal, but if there is no input from those who are keen on the idea, it might still fail. We must all to write in to show support, and send any flag designs we have, and may the best flag win.

[Keyser_soze]

We shouldnt have green & yellow , black & red is more like it.

[Restlessnative]

Should you should start a facebook page?

Black and red would be far better lek

[embow]

Just base it on the old county Coat of Arms with a few minor adaptations. Every one of the old counties' coats of arms are carved along the face of the Kelvingrove Museum in Glasgow. And very impressive they look as part of the architecture.

[sids]

I'm going to wave it at Sutherland people!

[Invisible]

Here are my attempts.

24071

Two variations on the land and sea, the farming and the fishing. IMO I dont agree with a black and red flag. Green is the colour I associate with Caithness.

24072

[Even Chance]

Has to be a flag with Nordic influences, as are the Orkney and Shetland flags. Nothing bizarre or too complicated please, or pictures thats just wrong. Keep it simple.
Something with horizontal and vertical cross, same as Orkney and Shetland. Dont like greens Im afraid.

[sids]

Has to be a flag with Nordic influences

Doesn't have to be.


Dont like greens Im afraid.

The county does generally look green.

[2little2late]

I reckon the flag should have a green background with a big, brown steaming jobby in the centre to represent the mess on Caithness footpaths.

[Hoggie]

All good ideas - I've sent one off to the Groat - have you? Until they start piling them up, we've not got a good competition.

[Kodiak]

My Son is up Visiting and this is his suggestion of a Caithness Flag, notice it is made from a Caithness Flag Stone. :Razz

http://i.imgur.com/I8eczRm.jpg

[Hoggie]

Good news: the flag competition will be launched in a week according to the Groat ("Victory for Caithness flag drive")

[Hoggie]

The flag competition is now up and running, with the Lord Lyon, no less, standing behind it. Let's make it a good one. (Report in the Groat: Caithness Flag Competition Under Way (http://www.johnogroat-journal.co.uk/News/Caithness-flag-competition-under-way-23022015.htm))

[rogermellie]

it'll take more than a flag to 'raise recognition and awareness of the area nation-wide, express the pride in our local community and celebrate the heritage and culture of our corner of the country.

distraction distraction distraction ... that's the art of modern politics and i'm dismayed to find it's seeped down to local level

i would ask all councillors in Caithness to get on with the real job they were elected to represent us for and stop fannying about with some daft Blue Peter make a flag for Caithness competition.

( by the way Kodiak - i think your lad's design is the best i've seen )

[sids]

My Son is up Visiting and this is his suggestion of a Caithness Flag, notice it is made from a Caithness Flag Stone. :Razz

http://i.imgur.com/I8eczRm.jpg

You'll get slated for that!

[rose123]

the numpties now want to break up Scotland. " SAD "

[Hoggie]

We're close to the deadline for flag competition entries. I've no doubt there are plenty of good entries in already, but you have only until Friday 29 May to get your entry in:

http://www.johnogroat-journal.co.uk/.documentlibrary?get=17774