Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

does not currently have an official flag to represent the region. However, the current

Greater London Authority The Greater London Authority (GLA), colloquially known by the metonym "City Hall", is the devolved regional governance body of Greater London. It consists of two political branches: the executive Mayoralty (currently led by Sadiq Khan) and the ...

and predecessor bodies have historically flown and used many flags and symbols.

London County Council

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

was created in 1889, replacing the

Metropolitan Board of Works The Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) was the principal instrument of local government in a wide area of Middlesex, Surrey, and Kent, defined by the Metropolis Management Act 1855, from December 1855 until the establishment of the London County ...

. The council was granted a coat of arms in 1914 and flew a banner of these arms over County Hall from 1923 onwards. The arms depicted waves representing the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

, the

flag of England The flag of England is the national flag of England, a constituent country of the United Kingdom. It is derived from Saint George's Cross (heraldic blazon: ''Argent, a cross gules''). The association of the red cross as an emblem of England ...

and a lion to signify London's status of the capital city of England and the United Kingdom and a mural crown. Image:Metropolitan Board of Works logo.jpg, Logo of the

Image:Coat of Arms of London County Council.svg,

Coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

(1914-1965) Image:LCC Badge.png, Badge of London County Council Image:Flag of the London County Council.svg, Banner of the London County Council (1914-1965)

Greater London Council

London County Council was replaced by the

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

in 1965 which covered a larger area. The Greater London Council was subsequently granted a coat of arms which contained elements taken from the arms of its predecessor bodies, waves taken from the arms of London County Council and a Saxon crown taken from the arms of

Middlesex County Council Middlesex County Council was the principal local government body in the administrative county of Middlesex from 1889 to 1965. The county council was created by the Local Government Act 1888, which also removed the most populous part of the coun ...

. The flag of the Greater London Council consisted of its coat of arms displayed on a white field. Image:Arms of the Council of Greater London.svg, Coat of arms of the

(1965-1986) Image:Badge of the Greater London Council.png, Badge of the Greater London Council (1965-1986) Image:Flag of Greater London.svg, Heraldic banner of the Greater London Council (1965-1986) Image:Flag of the Greater London Council.png, Flag of the Greater London Council (1965-1986)

Greater London Authority

The Greater London Council was abolished in 1986 and Greater London remained without a strategic local government body until the

was created in 2000. For the first few months of its existence, the Greater London Authority used a logo depicting a representation of the course of the River Thames against a green disk also containing the name of the authority. This was subsequently replaced by a

wordmark __notoc__ A wordmark, word mark, or logotype, is usually a distinct text-only typographic treatment of the name of a company, institution, or product name used for purposes of identification and branding. Examples can be found in the graphic iden ...

, created by design agency Appetite, consisting of the word LONDON with the letters LOND in blue and ON in red. A flag depicting this logo was flown outside City Hall, the headquarters of the Greater London Authority. From 31 January 2020, after

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...

(which Greater London voted against), a flag based on an campaign graphic originally launched in 2016 was flown, the design consisting of a white field charged with the word "LONDON" where the letters "O" in the word are representations of the globe showing different hemispheres and with the legend "EVERYONE WELCOME" in smaller letters below. These flags were all based on logos or were for political campaigns however; none represented an official flag or arms assigned to the Authority. In February 2020,

London Assembly The London Assembly is a 25-member elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds super-majority, to amend the Mayor's annual budget and to reject ...

member and

Deputy Mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor, assistant mayor, or mayor ''pro tem'') is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many, but not all, local governments. Duties and functions Many elected dep ...

Tom Copley Tom Phillip Copley (born 11 May 1985) is a British Labour Party and Co-operative Party politician, serving as the Deputy Mayor of London for Housing and Residential Development. He served as a London wide member of the London Assembly from 2 ...

proposed a motion calling on the Mayor of London to ask the

College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional Officer of Arms, officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the ...

to transfer the arms of the Greater London Council to the Greater London Authority. The motion received unanimous support from assembly members however Mayor Sadiq Khan, while supporting the request in principle, asked the assembly to consider costs involved and to reconfirm the decision the following month. The

Chair of the London Assembly The London Assembly is a 25-member elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds super-majority, to amend the Mayor's annual budget and to reject ...

wears the ceremonial badge of office that was previously worn by the Chairman of the Greater London Council. The badge, which depicts the coat of arms of the Greater London Council and the letters GLC, is made of 18 ct gold with 29 diamonds, four clusters of 8 small pearls and a pendant pearl. Image:Greater London Authority original logo.png, Former logo of the

(2000-2001) Image:Logo of the Greater London Authority (colour).png, Logo of the Greater London Authority (colour) (2001–present) Image:Logo of the Greater London Authority (monochrome).png, Logo of the Greater London Authority (monochrome) (2001–present) Image:Flag of the Greater London Authority.svg, Flag flown by the Greater London Authority (2001-2020) Image:Flag of the Greater London Authority (Everyone Welcome).png, Flag flown by the Greater London Authority (2020) File:2005-04-09 - United Kingdom - England - London - City Hall and Tower of London - Miscellenaeous 4887791798.jpg, Flags being flown by the Greater London Authority outside

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

in 2005

References

External links

{{Subnational flags of the United Kingdom

Greater London

London County Council

Greater London Council

Greater London Authority

See also

References

External links