- Flag of Orkney
The new official [http://www.orcadian.co.uk/archive/2007/archive26.htm The Orcadian] ] Orkney Community Flag was the winner of a public flag consultation [http://www.orkney.gov.uk/nqcontent.cfm?a_id=6645&tt=orkneyv2 Orkney Islands Council] ] in February and March
2007 . In the flag consultation the people ofOrkney were asked for their preferred design from a short list of 5 [http://www.orkney.gov.uk/media/chief_executive/images/Flag_consultation.pdf Orkney Islands Council] ] , all of which had been approved by theCourt of the Lord Lyon . The chosen design was that of Duncan Tullock ofBirsay , which polled 53% of the only 200 votes cast by the public. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/north_east/6541099.stm BBC News] ] The colours red and yellow are from the Scottish and Norwegian Royal coats of arms, which both use yellow and red, with a rampant lion. The flag symbolises the islands' Scottish and Norwegian heritage. The blue is taken from theflag of Scotland and also represents the sea and the maritime heritage of the islands.The new flag resembles the flags of Norway (white for yellow) and Åland (colours reversed). The issue of the supposed similarity with the flag of the Norwegian fascist
Vidkun Quisling 's partyNasjonal Samling [ [http://www.atlasgeo.net/fotw/flags/no%7Dns.html Flags of the World article with illustration of the NS flag] ] was raised inThe Orcadian in May 2007. [ [http://www.scotsheraldry.com/?p=75 Scots Heraldry] ] That flag did however not include the bluecross , which make the two easily distinguishable. It should also be noted that a red-yellow flag was, and still is, used by people in Skåneland years before Nasjonal Samling used a red-yellow Cross Flag. A red-yellow Cross Flag is also used by Swedish-Finns.Former Flag of Orkney
The previous though unofficial flag of Orkney was that created in the mid-1990s and attributed to St Magnus, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/north_east/6541099.stm BBC News] .] a yellow field with a red
Nordic cross . St Magnus (Magnus Erlendsson) wasEarl of Orkney from1108 to1117 . However, there is nothing to connect him to the red cross on yellow, this being an attribution of our day. This flag has no official status, having been declined recognition by theLord Lyon , theheraldic authority of Scotland, due to similarity with the Arms ofUlster (themselves adopted from the Arms ofJohn de Courcy ). A similar flag is also sometimes said to be flown byFinland-Swedes , but this flag has the opposite colours: Yellow cross on red. Historically, the red cross on yellow is likely theflag of the Kalmar Union (aMedieval Scandinavia n state that Orkney was a part of).References
ee also
*
Nordic Cross Flag
*Royal Standard of Scotland
*Royal Standard of Norway
*Flag of Norway
*Flag of Åland
*List of Scottish flags
*List of British flags
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.