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London (United Kingdom)

Greater London Authority

Greater London Authority
London Rowing Club
London 2012 Olympics candidate city
Thames Division Metropolitan Police
Port of London Authority

GLA Flag

I've been in touch with the Mayor's Office recently about their flag, and the reply was that the London Assembly does not have a flag, and there are no plans to introduce one at the moment.
Ian Sumner, 16 September 2003

This is perhaps not technically inaccurate. However, it was slightly misleading, as the flags used in the building occupied by the Assembly, as part of the GLA, do bear the logo which is used on their web site. The building and the flags are, however, under the Executive control of the Mayor and not the Assembly.
Colin Dobson, 9 December 2005

The Greater London Authority (GLA), comprises the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The Mayor of London is responsible for setting the budget and some statutory strategies for five organisations, now known as "the GLA Group". That is, the Greater London Authority, Transport for London, the Metropolitan Police Authority, the London Development Agency and the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority. The London Assembly has a scrutiny role. First elected in 2000, The Mayor and the Assembly are elected by voters registered in Greater London, at the same election, using different voting systems, once every four years.

Even before the GLA moved into its own building, there were questions from Assembly members as to whether City Hall was to have a flagpole. Trevor Phillips, then a (Labour Party) member of the Assembly, asked the Mayor in 2001: "Is it your intention to fly the Union Flag and the London Standard there?" and added "I ask that question for a very specific reason - that the Union Flag should not be surrendered to the British National Party, as it is at the moment."

The Mayor, Ken Livingstone, then in his first term of office, pointed out that he was not responsible for building City Hall, as it was a Government contract and that he had not seen a flagpole on all of the drawings he had seen. However, he was willing to discuss with the Assembly the location of a flagpole. Pressed further by Mr Phillips as to whether he would "instruct" the flying of the Union Flag, he responded: "If we have a flagpole, we will do all the flags that we are supposed to do under whatever the national flag convention is. I am sure there is a Government working party on what flag to fly, which we always did at the GLC The flag went up and down every day." [Mr Livingstone was the former leader of the Greater London Council].

City Hall was opened by The Queen on 23 July 2002 and is located in a purpose built building, leased from the developers, more London, on the south bank of the River Thames at The Queen's Walk, London SE1 2AA. From that date, there have been three, free standing, flagpoles in the grassed area on the river side of the building. These are located next to each other and fly, from left to right as viewed from the north bank of the River Thames, flags in the proportion of 1:2, as follows:

image by Colin Dobson, 9 December 2005

A mid to dark blue field, upon which in bold white lettering are the words "CITY HALL"

image by Colin Dobson, 9 December 2005

A white field, upon which in bold type, dark blue colour the letters "LOND" and red lettering the letters "ON". This is the same logotype as currently used on the GLA web site.

image by Colin Dobson, 9 December 2005

A mid to dark red field, upon which in bold white lettering are the words "CITY HALL"

There does not appear to be any official specification of the colour of these flags. Moreover, the logo which is featured on the white flag actually has several different colour specifications when it appears on the GLA web site. All flags are in the ratio of 1:2

In his second term of office, Mr Livingstone was questioned again on the issue on 15 July 2004, this time by a Conservative Party member of the Assembly, who asked if he could "explain why the Union Flag is not being flown outside City Hall?"

His response was: "Whilst I appreciate the sentiment behind your question, City Hall is the home of the Greater London Authority and, as such, has its own unique set of flags. To introduce alternate flags is not a policy I support. To fly one particular flag would inevitably lead to many demands for others, so I have consistently taken the view that it is best to be fair to all by not commencing such a process."

Sources:
London Assembly
(1) Question number 0855/2001 (supplementary question), Meeting date 19 December 2001
(2) Question number 0914/2004 (main question), Meeting date 15 July 2004
(3) Mayors Report, 18 September 2002
(4) London Elects web site www.londonelects.org.uk
(5) Personal observations, 2002 to date

Colin Dobson, 9 December 2005

London County Council and Greater London Council

from Port Cities, located by Jan Mertens

From the Port Cities site (National Maritime Museum): The London County Council was formed in 1889. It covered the same area as the former Metropolitan Board of Works, from which it took over control of London's transport infrastructure. It also controlled areas such as education, fire-fighting and sewage disposal. In 1965, the LCC was replaced by the Greater London Council, covering the enlarged Greater London - an amalgamation of the former County of London with the neighbouring districts in Middlesex, Essex, Surrey and Kent. The GLC lasted only 20 years before it was abolished by the Conservative government in 1986. The flag was taken from the LCC sludge boat 'Edward Cruse'.
Jan Mertens, 20 February 2005

by James Frankcom

The GLC was granted arms which were used on all civic documents and flown frequently in flag form from County Hall until its abolition by Margaret Thatcher in 1986. London had no self government at all (apart from the residual square mile City of London) until the present Greater London Authority was established in 2000.
James Frankcom, 13 October 2003

Bexley

The Bexley Express reported on 19 January 2006 the decease of Terry Musgrave, who had served at Bexley council from 1975 until 1995. "The council's flag will fly at half-mast outside the Civic Offices in Bexleyheath on the day of Mr Musgrave's funeral." So we know that Bexley council has a flag.
Ivan Sache, 20 January 2006

Borough of Hackney

I saw a white flag with a coat of arms flying from the Hackney Town Hall yesterday. I assume it was the flag of the Borough of Hackney, but since I did not get a particularly good view of the flag, and haven't been able to find out anything about the coat of arms of Hackney, I can't confirm this or give any more information.
Jonathan Dixon, 6 October 2003

After having had a good look at the flag, I can confirm that the flag is white with the arms of the London Borough of Hackney, as found at the International Civic Heraldry site http://www.ngw.nl/int/gbr/h/hackney.htm. The arms, granted in 1969, 4 years after the former boroughs of Shoreditch and Stoke Newington were added to the borough, have the shield divided in three horizontally, black over white over red. Over the black and white bars is a Maltese Cross countercharged white and red. The Cross and colours used represent the Knights of St John, who held the manor after it was held by the Knights Templar. On the black chief there are also two gold oak trees, taken from unofficial arms of Stoke Newington. On the red bar are three gold bells, symbolising St Leonard's church in Shoreditch and the three former boroughs. The shield has a border of wavy blue and white bars, symbolising the River Lea and the canals in the borough. Above the shield are a helmet with red and white mantling, above that the crest - the tower of St Augustine's church from the previous arms, on a green mound representing the island on the River Lea on which Hackney was founded on a red and white torse.
Jonathan Dixon, 19 September 2005

Haringey

image by Jonathan Dixon, 31 August 2006

Haringey, is in North London and was formed in 1965 from areas that were previously part of Middlesex. A colleague observed a flag flying at Crouch End Town Hall a few weeks ago. The flag was gold/yellow with a black stylised electric flash. This is a banner of arms with the colours reversed. The blazon of the arms is given at http://www.haringey.gov.uk/index/news_and_events/fact_file/historyofharingey/coat_of_arms.htm as "sable eight rays issuing from the fess point throughout Or and for the crest on a wreath of colours in front of a demi-sun in splendour or a demi cogwheel sable." This page also explains that the colours black and gold represent stability (earth) and enterprise and that the rays revolving around the centre of the symbol symbolise action reaching out to the boundaries of the borough and movement. They also allude to the first television transmission in Britain, which was from Alexandra Palace, which is within the borough.
Jonathan Dixon, 31 August 2006

Kingston-upon-Thames

Kingston-upon-Thames had a banner of its arms, three fishes on a blue background. I dare say other London boroughs do too.
Roy Stilling, 28 April 2000

Newham

image by Jonathan Dixon, 31 August 2006

Newham is a borough in the east of London, north of the River Thames. It is one of the host boroughs for the 2012 Olympic Games, and the main Olympic Park will be located in the borough. It has the highest non-white population in the country ( http://www.newham.gov.uk/Services/EqualityAndDiversityPolicy/FAQs/ ). The borough logo features a red curving ribbon-like shape which resembles the shape of the Thames near the borough, ending in an upward pointing arrow. The text "Newham" appears in a san serif font in a gap in the ribbon.

I have observed a white flag bearing the logo flying at the Old Town Hall in Stratford in March 2006 and this month. At other times the flagpole is often empty, although as I think I have reported before, it has flown the London Olympic bid flag, and during the soccer world cup, the English flag (see http://www.newham.gov.uk/News/2006/June/englandfootballers.htm ). An news item on the old council site mentions a flag "with the Newham coat of arms".
Jonathan Dixon, 31 August 2006

London Rowing Club

by Ivan Sache

Vertical navy blue and white bars are the racing colours of London Rowing Club, based on the Thames at Putney, the start of the annual boat race.
Lionel Willis, 17 February 2004

The London Rowing Club web site at www.londonrc.org.uk shows not the image above, but a sort of flag graphic, used as a logo. I can't see anything on the web site which indicates whether this is actually flown as a flag, however.
Colin Dobson, 23 October 2005

London 2012 Olympics candidate city

image by Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán based on www.london2012.org, 7 July 2005

Devised by Kino Design, winners of a contest which attracted 1,100 entries, the logo features a multi-coloured ribbon following the course of the River Thames and weaving through the words "London 2012". London 2012 Chairman Barbara Cassani said: "The Olympic Games embody competition, harmony and human endeavour. To me, the ribbon in the logo brings to mind the medals Olympians and Paralympians from around the world will come to London to compete for in 2012, or it could be the finishing line of a world class race. The colours of the ribbon represent the five continents of the world, from where London has drawn its dynamic people."

Andy Stanfield, of Kino Design, added: "We are delighted that our design has been chosen to represent London's bid for the 2012 Olympic Games. We chose the River Thames because it flows through the centre of London and is the point at which many of the city's waterways and communities meet. It is also symbolic of the people from all over the world that flow in and out of London, defining its style, personality and vibrancy. Our aim was to create a flexible logo that was integrated into the words 'London 2012' but would be strong enough to stand alone. The ribbon delivers that and can be used in many creative ways in the campaign to win the 2012 Olympic Games for London."

from London 2012, located by Jonathan Dixon, 19 February 2005

The logo for the London 2012 Olympic Games was unveiled on 04 June 2007 and is said by the organisers to be "constantly evolving", although there are four standard versions, which are essentially shades of pink, blue, orange and green, shown on the London 2012 web site, together with a video explaining the rationale of the brand.

Media organisations have reported that the logo has caused some controversy in the UK, with the BBC and others promoting a number of alternative logos. In a somewhat clever move, even the organisers themselves have a large selection of emblem designs, based on their own template, on their web site. There have been reports in the UK media that the animated logo originally shown on the London 2012 web site could cause epileptic seizures.

Reports are yet to appear of official flags, but there is an example on the London 2012 web site at the address given above, of the logo appearing on a vertically hanging banner outside Newham Town Hall in east London.

Sources:
(1) London 2012 web site, http://www.london2012.com, http://www.london2012.com/about-newlook-video.html, as consulted 21 June 2007
(2) British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Sport web site, http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/olympics_2012/6718243.stm, stated to be last updated 04 June 2007, as consulted 21 June 2007.
(3) BBC News web site, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6724245.stm, stated to be last updated 05June 2007, as consulted 21 June 2007.

Colin Dobson, 21 June 2007