DESIGN A FLAG
COMPETITION
March 2012
The Competition
Flags have been around for thousands of years. They were first used for military purposes
but have evolved into powerful symbols to represent the unique identity of countries, teams,
royal houses, people, places and organizations.
2012, with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympics, offers a great
opportunity for flag waving, and the Parliamentary Flags & Heraldry Committee is actively
encouraging communities and regions to develop their own flags to celebrate these
significant national events. At present there is no flag registered for the Black Country, yet
this is a region with a strong identity. We would like to create a flag that can be used to:

Boost our regional identity

Celebrate the nationally important and significant heritage of our area

Express our pride and distinctive character

Promote our unique environment and its place in the modern world
Design Brief
The Black Country Living Museum invites anyone to submit a design for our regional Black
Country flag. The flag will be added to the Flag Institute’s UK Flag Registry and become a
recognisable symbol of the Black Country. To do this it must:

Honour our past and celebrate our present and our future

Have an emotional and symbolic potency

Have a simplicity of design and clarity of colour

Be easily recognisable and distinctive

Be designed to be flown – and so should be identifiable when in movement and
when at rest
Competition Timeline

Black Country Flag Inspiration Day: Saturday 21 April 2012
Visit the Black Country Living Museum and take part in a free 30 minute Flag Design
Workshop. There will also be a Heritage Trail to help you gain inspiration.

Black Country Flag Design Day for KS2 & 3 Students: 4 May 2012
Booking Essential: bring a group of 15 students to the Museum to take part in three
short art and design workshops and a heritage trail. Workshops will include an
introduction to flag design and enamelling. For more information visit www.bclm.com
or contact: [email protected]

Closing Date for competition: 10 June 2012

Public Vote: 18 June – 6 July 2012

Winner announced: Saturday 14 July 2012
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About the Black Country
The Black Country includes most of that part of the West Midlands covered by the present
day unitary authorities of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton. Historically this
area has been united by the name “The Black Country” from at least the 1830s and has
recently been recognised by the Ordnance Survey.
Our Heritage
The region gained its name from the soil, made dark by the out-cropping coal, and by the
smoke and grime generated by the chimneys and hearths of the many thousands of
ironworking foundries and forges fuelled by coal. During the Industrial Revolution the area
rapidly developed into a patchwork of industrial and agricultural land punctuated by colliery
waste heaps, pit head frames, piles of coal and cinders, limekilns, foundries, forges, canals
and red brick terraced housing. Key towns in the region acquired national and international
reputations for particular products. This included nailmaking in Halesowen, chainmaking
centred around Cradley Heath, anchor making in Netherton, edge tool manufacture in
Wednesbury, springs in West Bromwich, sheet working, pressing and stamping in Walsall,
the manufacture of holloware in Wolverhampton and lock making in Willenhall.
Key Industries
Coal: the Black Country was famous for its “Thick Coal” – a seam thirty feet deep. At its
peak in 1860 the coalfield accounted for 10% of national production. The coal industry had
a huge impact on the changing landscape and the environment in which people worked
and lived.
Metal Industries: the area also had a plentiful supply of ironstone and limestone –
essential ingredients for the iron industry. The region was a major producer of iron from
medieval times to the twentieth century. At its peak in the mid 19 th century it was producing
22% of the total national output. Much of this was converted to wrought iron to be formed
and shaped in rolling mills, boiler shops and forges of all sizes to make a wide range of
goods. The region was also famed for its cast-iron foundry work including street furniture,
canal and railway bridges, ranges and cookers, kitchen equipment, door furniture and
decorative architectural items.
Brass foundries were found all over the Black Country, but particularly in Walsall where
they specialised in the brassware associated with horse saddlery and harness.
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About the Black Country
Steam Power: closely linked to the development of the iron industry, was the
development of steam power. The World’s first successfully operating steam engine – the
Newcomen “fire engine” - was developed to pump water from coal mines on Lord Dudley’s
estates. The Newcomen engine accelerated industrial development in the Black Country
and ultimately across Britain and overseas. It formed the basis of all later types of steam
power leading to the widespread development of the rail industry. Railways played an
important role in the Black Country, and the first locomotive to operate in the USA – the
Stourbridge Lion - was manufactured in the Black Country in Stourbridge.
Lime: limestone was quarried extensively in Sedgley, Dudley and Walsall. It was one of
the many raw materials in the region that contributed to the successful industrial
development of the Black Country. It was used in iron making as a flux in the furnaces
but could also be converted to lime by burning. It could then be used in the construction
industry to make mortar and whitewash, in agriculture as a fertiliser and in the leather
trade to prepare hides.
Clay: this was another important raw material found in the coal seams and exploited to
create a variety bricks and tiles and other items for the construction industry. In 1847
Francis T Rufford of Stourbridge was awarded a gold medal by Prince Albert for his
perfection of fireclay sanitary ware.
Glass: a key industry that developed around Stourbridge glass quarter and Smethwick.
Chances from Smethwick first patented plate of “cylinder” glass in 1832 and later supplied
the glass for the Crystal Palace and the ‘Big Ben’ clock face.
The Birmingham Canal Navigation: The large canal network of the Black Country was
crucial to the industrial development of the region.
Light Engineering: Between the wars motor manufacture was established as the region
moved from heavy industry towards light engineering. For a while, Wolverhampton, and to
a lesser extent Tipton, Dudley and West Bromwich were all known centres of car making
and the vehicles produced by Star, Sunbeam, Bean, Clyno and AJS enjoyed considerable
popularity.
Useful Links
The following websites might help you find out more about the area:
BBC information: www.bbc.co.uk/blackcountry/uncovered/what_is.shtml
The Black Country Geological Society www.bcgs.info/
The Black Country Living Museum: www.bclm.com
The Black Country Society: www.blackcountrysociety.co.uk/
Cradley Links: www.cradleylinks.co.uk/
Distinctly Black Country Network: http://distinctlyblackcountry.org.uk/
Black Country History: http://blackcountryhistory.org.uk
Wolverhampton History and Heritage Website: http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk/
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Flag Design Guidelines
The Flag Institute has a series of civic flag design criteria:
Keep it simple
The flag should be simple enough to enable a child to draw it from memory. If not it will be
too hard for people to remember it and reproduce it.
For example, this is
far too complicated.
Use meaningful symbolism
The different elements, colours, or patterns on the flag should clearly relate to what it will
represent. The flag should symbolise the Black Country as a whole rather than specific
towns.
Try to use two to three basic colours
Limit the number of colours on the flag to three which contrast well. They should come
from the standard colour set: red, orange, yellow, green, light blue, dark blue, purple, black
and white. Dark and light colours will contrast well against each other, in particular yellow
or white will work well on any of the other colours and vice versa.
No lettering or seals
Avoid the use of writing of any kind or an organisation’s badge, seal or coat of arms.
Writing and other intricate detail is difficult to see at a distance and will likely be
unrecognisable when the flag is flying in the wind. It is better to use elements from an
appropriate coat of arms as symbols on the flag.
Be distinctive
Avoid duplicating other flags. If designs look too similar then the flags could be
misidentified.
How will it fly in the wind?
Remember, the design must be distinctive when flying on a high pole in a strong wind, and
when hanging in windless conditions too. Also remember that it will almost always have
ripples caused by the wind.
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Helpful Tips on Flag Design
Local flag design expert, Philip Tibbetts, will be delivering flag design workshops at the
Black Country Living Museum. Here are his tips to help inspire budding designers.
Getting Started
When looking to design a flag for a town or area begin by looking at a number of sources
for inspiration to find something that is important and unique. Such elements include:
 Meaning of the area’s name. For example:
- “Bradley” means “the broad clearing in woodland”. The name comes from the Old
English brad, meaning “broad” and the Old English leah, which means either a
wood in an open area or a clearing in woodland. The many “–leys” in the area,
indicate the exploitation of natural clearings and the creation of new clearings.
- “Ettingshall” means either “the grazing place” or “the place of Etting”. It derives from
the Old English halh which simply means “a place” and etting, meaning pasturage
or grazing place.
 Legends and folklore
 Traditional emblems and colours
 Local people, industries and achievements
There are many traditional symbols that could be used to represent aspects of the Black
Country. For example, a black diamond, or pattern of black lozenges, can symbolise coal.
New symbols or adaptations of old symbols can be very powerful. Two local examples:
Finchfield Town Flag, Staffordshire
The goldfinches represent the birds that help give the town its
name and are placed on the left to show their importance.
The colour yellow represents the traditional farmers’ fields of
old, and the green represents the modern parks and
environment centre, as well as the colours of the local
schools. The patterned line represents the agriculture that
has always been important to the town and shows how the
past (yellow) and present (green) connect together.
Kingswinford
The boar recalls those used by local civic heraldry and sports
teams. The Saxon crown symbolises the fact that the King
once owned the land and the age of the town. The blue
background represents water and as such the crowned boar
walking across it alludes to the name Kingswinford.
Useful Links
The following websites might help you find out more about vexillology (the scientific study
of flags and related emblems):
The Flag Institute: http://www.flaginstitute.org
The UK Flag Registry: http://www.flaginstitute.org/index.php?location=10
“Flying Flags in the United Kingdom” information booklet:
http://www.flaginstitute.org/index.php?location=7.1
“Good Flag, Bad Flag” guide to flag design:
http://www.nava.org/Flag%20Design/GFBF/index.html
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Competition Terms & Conditions
Eligibility

The competition is organised by the Black Country Living Museum Trust, a registered
charity, No. 504481.

This is a Black Country community competition. It is open to individuals and groups:
- Individuals of all ages living in the UK are eligible, except for employees and
Trustees of the Black Country Living Museum, or close relatives of any Black
Country Living Museum employees or Trustees.
- Group entries are welcomed from societies in the Black Country and schools/
colleges from the four Black Country Local Authorities of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall
and Wolverhampton. Your entry must be clearly marked with the organisation’s
name and the contact details for the club representative/school teacher.
How to Enter

All entries (including digital versions) to be posted to the following address:
Black Country Flag Competition
Black Country Living Museum
Tipton Road
Dudley
DY1 4SQ

Entries must be accompanied by a fully completed and signed entry form. Further
copies of the entry form are available from our website www.bclm.com or from
reception at the Black Country Living Museum. For all entrants under the age of 16 an
adult will be required to approve the entry and agree to these Terms and Conditions.
The adult may be the entrant’s parent, guardian or teacher. The adult must provide
their own contact details (not the child’s). The personal data provided will be used for
the purposes of administering the competition.

The standard ratio for a flag is 3:5. Entries must be submitted on paper, card, canvas
or fabric at a minimum size of A4 (297 x 210 mm) and a maximum size of A2 (594 x
420 mm). Digitally produced artwork is also acceptable. Images must be submitted in
JPG or PNG format and must be no greater than 2MB. Please retain your original
artwork files as they will be required in the event of your entry winning.

Entry is limited to one design per person/group. Please ensure your name and contact
telephone number are clearly marked on the reverse of your entry.

All entries must be the original work of the entrant(s) and must not infringe the rights of
any other party. The Black Country Living Museum accepts no responsibility if entrants
ignore these Terms and Conditions and entrants agree to indemnify the Black Country
Living Museum from any breach of these Terms and Conditions.

Please package your entry carefully to avoid damage in the post. Large items can be
left at the Black Country Living Museum reception. These items must be clearly
marked with “Black Country Flag Competition”.

Entries cannot be returned, and may be archived or destroyed at the discretion of the
Black Country Living Museum. Please remember to retain a copy of your designs. The
winning and short-listed entries will be published on the Museum website.

Unsuccessful entrants will not be contacted in respect of their entry and no feedback
on any entry will be provided.
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Competition Terms & Conditions (Continued)
Judging

Entry closes on Sunday 10 June 2012 at 23.59.

An Assessment panel, including representatives from the Flag Institute, the Black
Country Living Museum, the Black Country Society, University of Wolverhampton
Visual Communications Department and the Express and Star, will then choose the top
6 Designs.

Designs will be judged on the following criteria:
-
Use of Colour
-
Use of Symbolism
-
Originality
-
Distinctiveness
-
Practicality (simple enough to be reduced in size, reproduced in different forms and
published)

The top 6 designs will be published on the Museum website for a public vote which will
close on Friday 6 July 2012 at 23.59.

On Saturday 14th July 2012 the overall winner will be announced. Prizes will be as
follows:
Overall Winner: flag design registered as the Black Country Flag, 1 year free
membership to the new Museum Membership Scheme and £200 prize money
5 Runners-up: £100 each and 1 year free membership to the new Museum
Membership Scheme

The decision at each stage of this competition – the top 6 designs and the overall
winner – is final. No correspondence will be entered into but the results of the public
vote will be published on the Museum website.

The Black Country Living Museum reserves the right to disqualify any entry which
breaches any of the Terms and Conditions.
Future Use

By entering the competition you release your design into the public domain in order for
it to become a freely useable symbol for all.

You agree to allow your design to undergo professional manipulation to make it
suitable for production.
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Entry Form
Please clearly label the reverse of your entry with your name and contact details and
complete the form below.
Title:
First Name(s):
I am 16+ years old
Last Name
I am under 16 years old
For entrants under the age of 16 please give the name and contact details of the parent,
guardian or teacher
Title:
First Name(s):
Last Name
Relationship to the entrant(s):
Group/Society/School
Address:
Postcode:
Telephone:
Email:
Please briefly explain what the symbols and colours you have chosen represent, and why
(Maximum 250 words)
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Entry Form (Continued)
Declaration
I hereby confirm [a] that I have read and agreed to the terms and conditions of the competition [b] that I am the
originator and owner/parent, guardian or teacher of the originator and owner of the design/images submitted
and that, to my knowledge, I am not infringing any copyright [c] that I release these designs/images into the
public domain, as set out in the terms and conditions [d] I am not an employee or Trustee or related to an
employee or Trustee of the Black Country Living Museum [e] I understand that my details will be held on
computer by the Museum in line with its registration under the Data Protection Act and will not be passed to
any third party.
Signed:
Date:
If the entrant is under 16 please state your relationship to the entrant (parent/guardian/teacher):
Return your completed entry form and design, before the closing date of Sunday 10th June 2012 to:
Black Country Flag Competition
Black Country Living Museum
Tipton Road
Dudley
West Midlands
DY1 4SQ
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