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Sussex (United Kingdom)

Sussex flag competition
East Sussex
Mid Sussex District Council
West Sussex County Council
Arun District Council
Brighton and Hove
Worthing
Sussex Party flag for Sussex

See also:

United Kingdom
English regions

Sussex Flag Competition

image located by Andrew Whitnall, 22 May 2009

There has been a local BBC radio competition to design a flag for Sussex. The winning entry can be seen at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sussex_flag.
Andrew Whitnall, 22 May 2009

According to the East Sussex County web page, giving the Minutes of a meeting of the East Sussex county council held at Pelham House, Lewes, on Tuesday, 15 October 2002 at 10.00 am, the English County of East Sussex has its own flag:

"37.10 The Chairman referred to the two new flags, the County flag and the Union flag, on display in the Council Chamber which had been donated by two members."
Pascal Vagnat, 30 January 2003

Coat of Arms

The Arms of East Sussex were granted in 1889 and are of ancient origin. The Arms of East Sussex as shown are very similar to the symbol/banner attributed to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex (6th-8th Century) except that it contained only the six golden "martlets" on a red background. The Arms of West Sussex County have the six golden martlets on a blue background with a similar golden wavy strip. After 1974 the arms were adjusted to add a crown with oak leaves on the top to symbolise a part of Surrey which Sussex absorbed (Gatwick Airport).
James Frankcom, 13 October 2003

The original (unofficial?) coat-of-arms of the County of Sussex is blue with six gold (sometimes silver) martlets. This probably came from the arms of the Earl of Arundel. The red shield with golden martlets and Saxon crown was first used by East Sussex County Council in 1937. It was the West Sussex coat-of-arms that was granted in 1889 - the first County Council do have an official coat of arms due to the influence of the Duke of Norfolk.
Andrew Whitnall, 22 May 2009

On http://www.eastsussex.gov.uk/yourcouncil/about/history/default.htm we see that the East Sussex County Council flag is a 'banner of arms' - it can be seen flying from County Hall in Lewes when there is a full meeting of the Council.
Andrew Whitnall, 22 May 2009

Mid Sussex District Council

The website of Newton Newton Flags shows a flag for Mid Sussex District Council as a white sheet bearing an outline map of whole county of Sussex, with a red heart in the mid part, and lettering in dark blue (or black?) stating MID SUSSEX DISTRICT COUNCIL and THE HEART OF SUSSEX.
Laurence Jones, 10 October 2005

West Sussex County Council

image located by Olivier Touzeau, 2 June 2008

Source: http://wsgfl.westsussex.gov.uk/ccm/content/news/articles/2008/fly-the-sussex-flag.en

BBC have now formally launched a competition for a flag for Sussex at http://www.bbc.co.uk/southerncounties/content/articles/2008/04/28/sussex_flag_intro_feature.shtml. The page shows a blue banner with 7 light blue wavy lines, and the crowned coat of arms in the centre in white. It also alludes to the design being made by Graham Bartram.
Jason Saber, 1 June 2008

There is also a flag touted on the internet known as a 'West Sussex flag' which is a yellow over blue horizontal bicolour, not equally divided. The yellow band looks to be about 1/4 of the width of the flag. The bottom blue band features the five martlets in yellow and one local company is selling it in a five foot by three foot version - see my sources below for links.

Sources:
(1) eBay United Kingdom, http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/West-Sussex-England-County-Flag-English-Patriot-UK_W0QQitemZ200234723084QQcmdZViewItem?IMSfp=TL080627143a14907, as consulted 28 June 2008
(2) Skyblue Leisure, commercial web site, http://www.skyblueleisure.co.uk/acatalog/West_Sussex_5_x_3.html, as consulted 28 June 2008
Colin Dobson, 28 June 2008

Arun District Council

The website of Newton Newton Flags shows a flag for Arun District Council as a dark blue flag depicting a sea gull over waves and the council's title in white.
Laurence Jones, 10 October 2005

Brighton and Hove

Brighton & Hove (247,817 inhabitants in 2001) is a unitary authority and city in East Sussex on the south coast of England. It was formed as a unitary authority on April 1, 1997 by the merger of the East Sussex districts of Brighton and Hove. It immediately applied for and was granted borough status, which was followed by an award of city status by letters patent in 2000, as the joint winner of a competition to mark the Millennium. Brighton and Hove forms part of a conurbation along the Sussex Coast. Directly the west is Shoreham-by-Sea, and a short distance to the east are Peacehaven and Newhaven.
from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brighton_&_Hove

"The Argus", 9 January 2007, reported:
"Brighton and Hove is to get its own flag, designed by one of the city's children. The 2020 Community Partnership, in association with "The Argus", is calling on the city's schoolchildren to come up with flags based on their vision for the city's future.
[...]
Roger French, chairman of the partnership, said: "[...] As our children are our future we thought a flag competition would be a fun way of getting them to think about what they want Brighton and Hove to be like in the future." The winning flag design will be announced in "The Argus" on May 4 and made into a full-sized flag to be raised at the annual Children's Parade on May 6. A selection of runners-up designs will be made into bunting which will also form part of the parade. Mr French, managing director of Brighton and Hove Bus and Coach Company, said: "We hope the children might take into account some of the themes within the strategy when they are creating their designs - perhaps looking at transport, their homes, their local shops and the environment in which they live.
[...]
The closing date for entries is March 9. A shortlist of designs will be printed in "The Argus" in April and the public will vote for their favourite design via "The Argus" website, www.theargus.co.uk, or by contacting the paper directly. The overall winner will be announced in the paper on May 4."

Ivan Sache, 10 January 2007

Worthing

located by Dov Gutterman, 7 March 2002

Sussex Party flag for Sussex

by Steve Sainsbury

The design of the flag for Sussex, produced by the Sussex Party which has been formed to put the case for a parliament for Sussex. We work closely with other regionalist movements in the British Isles. The flag is four bands. The top also has a yellow circle in the top left corner. The circle represents the sun. the first band (blue) the sky, the second band (green) the Downs, the third band (yellow) the beaches and the fourth band (blue) the sea. The flag is a deliberate departure from the rather staid and historic flags adopted by other regionalist movements in Britain. I imagine commercial production of the flag will be started in the not too distant future, once we've done a bit of publicity/marketing!
Steve Sainsbury MA, Chair, The Sussex Party, 11 March 2004