The Staffordshire flag is the flag of the English county of Staffordshire. It was registered with 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 Regi ...

on 28 March 2016 following a competition between two rival designs. The winning design was proposed by the Staffordshire Heritage Group as a simplified version of the other candidate, the Staffordshire County Council Banner of Arms. __TOC__

Design

The flag incorporates the

Stafford knot The Stafford knot, more commonly known as the Staffordshire knot, is a distinctive three-looped knot that is the traditional symbol of the English county of Staffordshire and of its county town, Stafford. It is a particular representation of the s ...

in gold on the de Stafford coat of arms. The symbol of the Stafford knot is unique to the county, with a venerable tradition and widespread usage. It is incorporated into the logo of the

Staffordshire County Cricket Club Staffordshire County Cricket Club is one of twenty national county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Staffordshire. The team is currently a member of the National Counties C ...

and of

Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service responsible for fire protection, prevention, intervention and emergency rescue in the county of Staffordshire and unitary authority of Stoke-on-Trent. The county ha ...

amongst others. The colour scheme of gold on red is similarly included on many of the arms found in the county, such as the

coat 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 ...

Keele University Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele ...

as well as on the arms used by

Staffordshire County Council Staffordshire County Council is the top-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Staffordshire, England. 62 councillors sit on Staffordshire County Council. Staffordshire operates a cabinet-style council In England, local auth ...

Staffordshire County Council Banner

In the absence of an adopted flag, the banner of the arms of Staffordshire County Council have been used as a symbol of Staffordshire. The arms are similar to the simple chevron and knot, but with smaller proportions of the knot and the addition of the lion Chief indicating the authority of the council. This banner had been made available commercially in the absence of an adopted flag. The design is the property of the council; however, in 2015 Staffordshire County Council declared that they would happily allow the banner to be taken forward as a county flag. The county council also declared that they were in discussion with the Flag Institute regarding formal adoption of the banner design. In the absence of an adopted flag, the banner had been flown alongside the

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. ...

above the

Department for Communities and Local Government The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), formerly the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for housing, communities, local governme ...

. It was also adopted by the crew of the RFA ''Wave Ruler'' in 2010, as its captain is from Stafford.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flag of Staffordshire Staffordshire Staffordshire Staffordshire