HUNDREDS of designs have been whittled down to four and now it’s time to have your say and vote on East Lothian’s new civic flag.
The competition to design a unique flag for East Lothian launched last November and attracted the highest number of entries for any civic flag design competition across Scotland.
More than 620 entries were received from across the county, elsewhere in the UK and even as far afield as the USA and New Zealand.
Four flag designs have been shortlisted to go forward to a public vote.
The voting process is now open and runs until the end of this month, with final votes being accepted no later than 5pm on Friday, August 31.
The result will then be kept under wraps while the winning design is made into a flag, which will be launched around St Andrew’s Day.
Run jointly by East Lothian Council and the Scottish Flag Trust, in association with the Lord Lyon and the Courier, the competition was open to anyone and was free to enter.
The judging panel comprised the Lord Lieutenant of East Lothian, Michael Williams; Lord Lyon Joseph Morrow; East Lothian Council Provost John McMillan and chief executive Angela Leitch; David Williamson, chairman of the Scottish Flag Trust; and Courier editor Robbie Scott.
The four designs are below:
Design A
This saltire design on blue reflects the local birthplace of the national flag, with the cross in gold signifying the wealth of East Lothian’s farmlands and reputation as the granary of Scotland. The lion rampant is a traditional emblem of the county – it appears in many local coats of arms while King William the Lion was born in the royal palace in Haddington. The blue stripes through the gold represent the rivers Esk and Tyne.
Design B
Using three horizontal bands in strong colours, this design depicts the key industries of the county – blue for the sea and fishing, above yellow for the county’s beaches and tourism, above green for the farming. And in the centre, a fluttering saltire reflecting the birthplace of Scotland’s flag, within a map outline of East Lothian’s territory.
Design C
This design employs two distinctive curved bands of colour – the blue upper band representing the importance to East Lothian of the sea, and the lower green band representing the rolling countryside and the Lammermuirs. In the first quarter is a white saltire, one of which is like a beam of light, to acknowledge the county being the birthplace of the national flag.
Design D
The centrepiece of this design is a gold lion rampant – a traditional emblem of East Lothian appearing on the council’s coat of arms and on the arms of many of the county’s ancient families. It sits over a white saltire representing the local origins of Scotland’s flag. The field of the flag comprises three horizontal bands – blue for the sea around the county’s coastline, yellow for its beaches, and green for its rich farmland.
Mr McMillan said: “It was a very difficult decision for the judges, having to choose four final designs from the huge number of high-quality submissions we received.
“I hope that East Lothian residents will get involved again and let us know what their favourite design is.
“Having a distinctive new civic flag for East Lothian will allow individuals and groups across the county to express pride in their local community, to celebrate their heritage and help raise recognition and awareness of East Lothian nationwide.
“I will be very excited to see the outcome of the public vote.”
David Williamson, chairman of the Scottish Flag Trust, said: “Experience elsewhere suggests that involving the public in choosing a civic flag is by far the best way to progress, and the hope is that the interest already shown in the East Lothian competition will continue into the voting stage.
“Voting on the four shortlisted flag designs has been held back until after the main holiday period so that people don’t miss out on the chance to participate.”
Lord Lyon Dr Joseph Morrow added: “There was a wealth of talent expressed in the entries which reflected very positively on the area.
“I now look forward to the vote of the people and the taking of the ownership of a flag to be a symbol of pride in East Lothian.”
To vote, fill in the form in this week's Courier, visit eastlothian.gov.uk or fill in a form which can be found at libraries across the county.
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