The flag of Surrey is the blue and gold chequered flag of the traditional county of

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

and is derived from the

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 ...

William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey, Lord of Lewes, Seigneur de Varennes (died 1088), was a Norman nobleman created Earl of Surrey under William II Rufus. He is among the few known from documents to have fought under William the Conqueror at ...

(heraldic

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vis ...

: Chequy Or and Azur). The Surrey flag was officially registered as a "traditional design" by 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 ...

on 11 September 2014 following research by Philip Tibbetts on behalf of the

Association of British Counties The Association of British Counties (ABC) is a non-party-political society formed in 1989 by television personality Russell Grant to promote the historic counties of the United Kingdom. It argues that the historic counties are an important part ...

, which showed that the county was linked to an emblem of antiquity. Prior to this date, the county had no official flag but the banner of the coat of arms of

Surrey County Council Surrey County Council is the county council administering certain services in the non-metropolitan county of Surrey in England. The council is composed of 81 elected councillors, and in all but one election since 1965 the Conservative Party has ...

was frequently used instead. The Surrey flag is a representation of the arms originally used as a personal heraldic device by William de Warenne, first

Earl of Surrey Earl of Surrey is a title in the Peerage of England that has been created five times. It was first created for William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey, William de Warenne, a close Companions of William the Conqueror, companion of William the Con ...

, in 1088 and has since enjoyed a long association with the county itself, as attested to in a 17th-century poem about the

Battle of Agincourt The Battle of Agincourt ( ; french: Azincourt ) was an English victory in the Hundred Years' War. It took place on 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day) near Azincourt, in northern France. The unexpected English victory against the numerica ...

An early reference of the arms is found in the 13th-century Glover's Roll of Arms, where an account of the siege of

Caerlaverock Castle Caerlaverock Castle is a moated triangular castle first built in the 13th century. It is located on the southern coast of Scotland, south of Dumfries, on the edge of the Caerlaverock National Nature Reserve. Caerlaverock was a stronghold of th ...

(from 1300) describes the actions of

John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey (123127 September 1304) was a prominent English nobleman and military commander during the reigns of Henry III of England and Edward I of England. During the Second Barons' War he switched sides twice, end ...

and includes a reference to his banner of blue and gold cheques: "his banner with gold and azure, was nobly chequered”. The de Warenne family became extinct in the male line in 1347 but, importantly, there is evidence the design continued to be used by the men of the county, as found in a poem about the

in 1415 by

Michael Drayton Michael Drayton (1563 – 23 December 1631) was an English poet who came to prominence in the Elizabethan era. He died on 23 December 1631 in London. Early life Drayton was born at Hartshill, near Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England. Almost nothin ...

(written in 1627) which records the men of Surrey carrying a banner of gold and blue checks into battle in honour of their late earl,

"The men of Surrey, Checky Blew and gold, (Which for brave Warren their first Earle they wore".

The 'De Warenne Cheques' are also remembered in a map by

John Speed John Speed (1551 or 1552 – 28 July 1629) was an English cartographer, chronologer and historian of Cheshire origins.S. Bendall, 'Speed, John (1551/2–1629), historian and cartographer', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (OUP 2004/ ...

of the county of Surrey dating from 1610 and they were then adopted in various civic heraldic devices during the 19th and 20th centuries, including an ''heraldic badge'' in 1981 for the

Surrey Herald Extraordinary Surrey Herald of Arms Extraordinary was an England, English Officer of Arms, officer of arms. Though an officer of the crown, Surrey Herald Extraordinary was not a member of the corporation of the College of Arms in London. This office was create ...

.British County Flags: Surrey Flag, (wordpress)
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References

{{Subnational flags of the United Kingdom

Surrey