The Flag of the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

was adopted and registered in January 2009. It shows a diamond shape (the island) hovering over ocean waves. The indentation of the top corner of the diamond represents the

River Medina The River Medina is the main river of the Isle of Wight, England, rising at St Catherine's Down near Chale, and flowing northwards through the county town Newport, towards the Solent at Cowes. The river is a navigable tidal estuary from Newpo ...

, which is the largest river on the island.

History

There is anecdotal evidence that the Isle of Wight county colours have been used as a flag. These consisting of two thinner green vertical stripes surrounding a central thick white stripe and these flags are still available from various sources. Other than this the only established flag of modern times prior to 2007 was the three anchor and castle design used by the council. Those who still fly the green and white colours now often refer to them as 'The rebel green'. In 2007 an 'Isle of Wight Flag Committee' was founded to create a flag for the

. It ran a public competition, in association with the County Press newspaper, to design the flag, which received over 350 entries. Four designs were shortlisted and put to the public in a vote. The winning design was by John Graney and was registered 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 Regi ...

on 9 January 2009. Although the island does not meet the Flag Institute's preferred criterion of being a historic county, the flag has nevertheless been described as a "county flag" to reflect the island's distinct identity. In April 2009 the new flag was officially launched and replaced the older design flown from County Hall.

Isle of Wight Council flag

Before this competition, the Council flag was the only popularly known flag for the island. It is taken from the Isle of Wight Arms granted in 1938 and features a representation of

Carisbrooke Castle Carisbrooke Castle is a historic motte-and-bailey castle located in the village of Carisbrooke (near Newport), Isle of Wight, England. Charles I was imprisoned at the castle in the months prior to his trial. Early history The site of Carisb ...

, which was the historic seat of the Governors. The blue surrounding field and three gold anchors represent the island's status and maritime history. The Council flag can only be used by the Council on its local government buildings. Therefore, until the new island flag was registered, the island's team at events such as the International Island Games used only 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. ...

, or on occasion,

St George's Cross In heraldry, Saint George's Cross, the Cross of Saint George, is a red cross on a white background, which from the Late Middle Ages became associated with Saint George, the military saint, often depicted as a crusader. Associated with the cru ...

References

{{Subnational flags of the United Kingdom Isle of Wight

Wight A wight (Old English: ''wiht'') is a mythical sentient being, often undead. In its original use the word ''wight'' described a living human being, but has come to be used in fictional works in the fantasy genre to describe certain immortal bein ...