The Flag of Kent 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 ide ...

county of

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. It features the white horse of Kent on a red background, a theme used in several other Kent related

coats of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its wh ...

and logos or symbols. It is sometimes referred to as the Invicta Flag or Invicta Flag of Kent, after the motto of Kent, '' Invicta''. The

Flag Institute The Flag Institute is a UK membership organisation headquartered in Kingston upon Hull, England, concerned with researching and promoting the use and design of flags. It documents flags in the UK and internationally, maintains a UK Flag Registr ...

note, in the flag's entry on the UK Flags Register, that:

This is the traditional flag of Kent, supposedly based on that of
Horsa Hengist and Horsa are Germanic peoples, Germanic brothers said to have led the Angles, Saxons and Jutes in their invasion of Great Britain, Britain in the 5th century. Tradition lists Hengist as the first of the Jutish kings of Kingdom of Kent ...
, the Jute. Horsa was the brother of Hengest, who founded the Kingdom of Kent in 449. The first recorded reference is in 1605.

The flag is an adaptation of the traditional arms of Kent, to which the quote refers. These arms were attributed anachronistically to the

Kingdom of Kent la, Regnum Cantuariorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the Kentish , common_name = Kent , era = Heptarchy , status = vassal , status_text = , government_type = Monarchy ...

, but used by the Justices of Kent for many years. The arms were officially granted to

Kent County Council Kent County Council is a county council that governs most of the county of Kent in England. It is the upper tier of elected local government, below which are 12 district councils, and around 300 town and parish councils. The county council h ...

on 17 October 1933 (and re-confirmed to its successor in 1975). The flag was accepted by the Flag Institute as that of the historic county on the basis of its traditional use.

References

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 ...

1605 introductions Red and white flags

Flags introduced in 1933 {{Europe-flag-stub

See also

References