h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: The History of the Lincolnshire Flag - A87855457
Author: Galaxy Babe - eclectic editor - U128652

Flying the flag for Lincolnshire.

GB

An excellent entry and fascinating story.
You could add a link to English Counties: A87817756

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Hmm, it seems I will have to hurry up and do my long-planned Devon Flag entry! It started the whole trend for new county flags when it was first flown in 2003 (although arguably Yorkshire, Kent and, of course, Cornwall had existing flags). The interesting thing is that the very moment of conception, and much of the development, of the Devon flag can be found buried deep in the backlog of this very site. The original conversations took place on the BBC Sense of Place Devon site; when the SoP sites were closed most of their convos, I believe, were lost, but Peta Haigh kindly had the relevant threads moved across to h2g2 when we pointed out their historical importance!

I was interested to see about the use of the fleur de lys on the Lincs flag - one useful piece of advice we Devonians were given by a flag maker was that if we wanted a quick take-up of a new flag we should rule out any such complex devices (many suggested designs included the county arms or the distinctive ship logo long used by the county council) as they make a properly-produced flag much more expensive.

Hey, this was interesting!

Are you going to get a lot of grief from Yorkshire again about the Robin Hood reference? I seem to have heard they were disputing you over him.

Or was that just 'Last of the Summer Wine'?

Good morning! Thank you for your reviews and comments.

BB: Thank you and I have added that link

Parrferris! How's my Keeper of Badgers? Delighted you dropped by, long time no see! That's most interesting about the Devon flag and how Peta helped with moving the threads. It would make a great entry for h2g2. I have relatives who live in Devon and I spent many holidays there as a child and have very happy memories of the place (Ermington, nr Ivybridge). I didn't know that about the "quick take-up of a new flag we should rule out any such complex devices" so thanks for that I presume the Lincolnshire flag got a quick take-up because it was the same as the Lincoln one - just with added colours.

Dmitri: Thank you! I think the dispute about Robin Hood was Nottinghamshire & Yorkshire, not Lincolnshire, but I have wondered about the connections since I was very young and first heard the story of Robin Hood dressed in Lincoln Green and his followers (I can't write "Merrie Men" now without getting an image of Worf dressed as Will Scarlett in my head and protesting that he was not a Merrie Man! Robin Hood is said to have died at Kirklees in West Yorkshire: here's his grave: http://www.boldoutlaw.com/images/rhclsa.jpg
so I suppose Yorkshire have a legitimate claim. I've been to Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire and seen his statue there.
I'm reminded of the recent tussle over King Richard III's remains between Northamptonshire (where he was born), Yorkshire (grew up, and last monarch of the House of York), Gloucester (Duke of) and Leicestershire (where he died and was originally buried).

GB

They take Robin Hood very seriously in Yorkshire, trying to make him one of them, especially as Loxley is in Yorkshire. They recently named an airport outside Doncaster Robin Hood Airport, just to try and persuade people that Robin wasn't from Nottingham or Sherwood Forest after all, but Doncaster instead...

No known Isle of Wight connection with Robin Hood, but I am tempted to write about the Isle of Wight flags now.

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I believe that the manor of Arreton was owned by Alfred aka the Great. If you are looking for inspiration there is an entry there, possibly a cake recipe or two.



How about the conversion of the IOW to Christianity, now theres a tale...

The Isle of Wight was the last part of Britain to become Christian, in 686AD. As the tale isn't anything to do with the Lincolnshire flag, though, I've commented on it over here: F3555392?thread=8300983

As for you abbreviating the Isle of Wight to 'IOW', the argument in the County Press letters' page about whether 'Isle of Wight' should be correctly abbreviated to 'IW', 'IoW' or 'IOW' has now entered its fourth decade...

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Somehow, this doesn't surprise me...

Well it is very quiet on the Island these days

Quiet? You do know it was the Isle of Wight Festival last weekend

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Its only held to annoy the locals

And overcharge the festival goers

I really enjoyed this entry GB! I think the flag is kinda too.

Thank you Elektra! Glad you enjoyed it! It's Armed Forces weekend next weekend which I'll be attending so there'll be plenty of chances for me to procure some photos to grace this Entry, if it's picked of course!

GB

Good entry, GB!

Lincolnshire did not have its own flag well into the 21st Century
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Lincolnshire did not have its own flag until well into the 21st Century

the North Sea which borders the county until it reaches Cleethorpes, where it becomes the River Humber -- this sounds a bit odd. Does the sea really become the river?

[my wife is] born and bred Lincolnshire -- should that be "in Lincolnshire"?

Although your photo of the sea from Spurn Point is nice, I don't think it is relevant to the entry, since Spurn Point is not actually in Lincolnshire and it's not a photo of "the shimmering ribbon of light reflected on the River Humber when the full moon rises over Spurn Head". You must surely have some other pictures of Lincolnshire?

I'm thinking 'born and bred Lincolnshire' might be a local way of speaking?

Where other places might say 'X [place name] born and bred'?

I'm thinking that too but I want GB to confirm it. I don't want to pass by a possible typo because it might be idiomatic.

Hi Gnomon, thank you for reading and your review.

Lincolnshire did not have its own flag well into the 21st Century
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Lincolnshire did not have its own flag until well into the 21st Century - changed

the North Sea which borders the county until it reaches Cleethorpes, where it becomes the River Humber -- this sounds a bit odd. Does the sea really become the river?
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the North Sea does supply the river but obviously not the whole sea. I've tweaked it to: "the North Sea which borders the county until it reaches Cleethorpes, where it supplies the River Humber." I hope that sounds better but if it can be worded better then I welcome your advice

[my wife is] born and bred Lincolnshire -- should that be "in Lincolnshire"?
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It's a term I use, my mother is "born and bred Yorkshire" and my Dad was "born and bred Lancashire" and I consider myself born and bred Lincolnshire. As it's a direct quote from that brave polar explorer, I'll leave it as it is

Although your photo of the sea from Spurn Point is nice, I don't think it is relevant to the entry, since Spurn Point is not actually in Lincolnshire and it's not a photo of "the shimmering ribbon of light reflected on the River Humber when the full moon rises over Spurn Head". You must surely have some other pictures of Lincolnshire?
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I have multiple photos of Lincolnshire but the only other blobbed one I have for an entry in Peer Review and fits with the flag description is the one on my Cleethorpes entry, showing the golden beach and blue sky. I've replaced it but it will eventually be removed once this is picked as a photo of the Lincolnshire flag will adorn the recommended version.

Thanks again Gnomon

I missed out the red of the red cross in my original writing and I can't find out why there's a red cross other than the copy of the Lincoln flag so I have added my own thoughts.

GB