9 Apr 2013

West Riding of Yorkshire (United Kingdom)

Do you remember the post about my design competing to be the new flag of North Riding of Yorkshire? I also have a finalist on the competition for the West Riding of Yorkshire.

My original proposal:















Firstly, I'd like to explain the research method I used to aggregate knowledge to my rationale: I used the Wikishire, a Wikipedia-like encyclopedia based on the concept of traditional counties.

I originally used a flower based on the one present on Derbyshire flag. I think the rationale submitted to competition says for itself:
"The flag is divided horizontally in green and white. The superior green stripe represents the agriculture on the north of the riding, while white inferior stripe stands for some of historically most important industries in the south of the riding: the wool industry and the metallurgy This flag pays a tribute to the kingdom of Elmet, a predecessor of the West Riding of Yorkshire. Although Elmet didn't have its own flag, the subtle vertical stripes represent the Kingdom of Northumbria that succeeded Elmet, while green and white (the Welsh colors) can be related to the strong relationship that some historians defend that existed between Gwynedd and Elmet."
The flag that's officially competing was slightly changed by the jury. As far as I know, one of the reasons is that a light gray shade isn't available on many flag shops of England. Additionally, the Derbyshire-inspired rose was replaced by a traditional York rose.

I liked very much the amendment. It's how it looks:















As the flag was drastically changed (including the removal of some details from original design), a new rationale was provided, whose official text is the following:
"The alternating stripes recall the banner of St Oswald and the Kingdom of Northumbria, which is a reference to the territory of Elmet which was a predecessor of the West Riding. The green and yellow recall the colours of the Kingdom of Gwynedd and their alliance to Elmet. The colours also recall the green of the natural wealth and the gold of the industrial wealth. The rose represents Yorkshire."
Don't forget to vote on your favorite design to West Riding of Yorkshire. Click here to vote.
Your comment is always welcome. You don't need to have a Blogger account.
Bonus: click here to see my East Riding of Yorkshire flag that didn't topped the finalists.
The North Riding of Yorkshire flag competition ended. Results are unknown for me.

2 comments:

Every comment is greatly welcome!