| Northumberland | |
| Design: | Paly of eight Or and Gules per fess embattled all counterchanged[1] |
| Proportion: | 5:8 |
| Designer: | College of Arms |
The flag of Northumberland is the banner of arms of Northumberland County Council. It is also used to represent Northumberland in general, and unofficially to represent the historic county.
The design is the same as the coat of arms of the county council, granted in 1951; the heraldic blazon, or description, of the arms is Paly of eight Or and Gules per fess embattled all counterchanged.[2] It is based on the arms medieval heralds attributed to the Kingdom of Bernicia based on a brief description by the historian Bede of a flag used on the tomb of St Oswald in the 7th century.[3] The flag should be flown so that the top corner nearest the hoist is gold.[4]
In November 1995, the county council agreed to allow the flag to be flown anywhere in the county.[5] In 2000, a spokesman for the county council stated that the "flag should only be rightfully flown within the present administrative County of Northumberland".[6]
The Flag Institute, a vexillological charity, has included the flag in its "Flag Registry" and considers it to represent the area within the historic county boundaries, which includes northern Tyne and Wear. [7]
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The Pantone colours for the flag are:[7]
NorthumberlandNorthumberland