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Isle of Wight (United Kingdom)

by Jason Saber, 12 January 2009

Description of the flag
Banner of Arms
Report of the St. David's flag on Isle of Wight (erroneous)
Isle of Wight brand logo
Cowes
Island Sailing Club of Cowes

See also:

Description of the flag

The Isle of Wight Flag Committee, in association with the County Press newspaper, organized a public competition to design a flag for the island. They received over 350 entries. These were whittled down to a shortlist of four designs which the public then had an opportunity to vote on. This was the winning design.
Jason Saber, 12 January 2009

The Isle of Wight Press site shows a photo of designer John Graney holding his winning design. He reportedly received a ₤50 prize, plus "a copy of the flag" which I hope is more than the apparent design on posterboard that retired seaman Graney holds in the picture. The design, he is quoted as saying, reflects the maritime nature of the county, which is an island. It shows a white diamond on a light blue background, with darker blue and white wavy lines below ... three white and two medium blue waves, and a blue flat-edged lower part.
Bill Dunning, 14 January 2009

While for U.K. members it will be obvious, it's probably worth noting that the shape of the diamond is a (slightly) idealised map of the Isle of Wight itself, with the 'notch' in the top representing the River Medina which separates Cowes from East Cowes.
André Coutanche, 14 January 2009

Banner of Arms

by John Graney

I work next to the council offices in Newport and I see this most days. I call it a flag rather than a banner because it has only elements of the arms of the Isle of Wight. I downloaded the arms from http://www.ngw.nl/int/gbr/i/iwight.htm then copied the elements from the centre of the arms and arranged them on a flag of a darker blue.
John Graney, 30 November, 2003

Under the reorganisation of English regional government in 1974, the Isle of Wight was separated from Hampshire. Since 1996 it has been a unitary authority, combining the powers of a county and district council.

On another page, a small FAQ about Wight, (http://www.isleofwight.freeuk.com/), is asked: "Is there an Isle of Wight flag or crest?
- Mmmm... yes and no! The Isle of Wight Council has a crest and the central shield of this, the castle and three anchors, is used as a flag for the Council. Whether this counts as an official flag is open to debate..."
According to this, the County Council is using a banner of is arms. These can be found at: http://www.ngw.nl/int/gbr/i/iwight.htm
Pascal Vagnat, 17 April 2003

At the International Island Games in July 2003, the Isle of Wight competed as one of the teams at the games, and used the English flag as their national flag (unlike places like Guernsey, the Orkneys, Gotland and Froya) - so presumably there is no official Island flag.
James Dignan, 2 July 2003

Reports of the St. David's flag on Isle of Wight (erroneous)

In article about the flags of the Isles of Scilly, Scilly News reported the flag of Isle of Wight is a yellow cross on black, essentially the flag of Dewi Sant (Saint David) of Wales
W. Madsen, 24 June 2002

This flag is doubtful. I found on the web, this other page: http://members.lycos.co.uk/damonmlord/wessisc/flag.html, where it is said that "the flag of the "Wessic" people is a black banner with a yellow cross. The flag of Wight is the flag of "Saint Geowan", who is the patron saint of Wight." If you read carefully it is said also: "Note: This is a work of fiction, a background for my fictional language Wessisc. For real information on tourism on the Isle of Wight, a site we may suggest is
http://www.isle-of-wight-tourism.gov.uk/."

Isle of Wight Brand Logo

Isle of Wight council is deciding whether or not it will sign up to become one of the organisations flying the new “Island-brand” flag. The full story and the flag are here http://www.solent.tv/pageviewer.aspx?page=S632574614529218750.
Valentin Poposki, 5 December 2005

I would note that the word 'logo' is used to describe this flag, and I think that this would be a fairer description; I think that this is a case where the word 'flag' has been used indiscriminately and incorrectly. If there actually is a flag with this emblem and/or wording on it, then I would be prepared to consider it as a proper flag, but not before then.
Ron Lahav, 5 December 2005

I agree that it's not clear whether this branding logo also exists as a flag - if it does, then presumably it will be a LoB. However, there isn't the slightest question of it being - or becoming - the Isle of Wight flag. It's a logo (and possibly a flag) which has been designed to raise the profile of the IoW. The story is about the IoW Council deciding to sign up to join the campaign, and - if it does - to use the logo and any flag associated with it. That wouldn't make it the IoW flag, anymore than the London Olympic flag is 'the flag of London' - it's just a piece of marketing which the Council has joined in with.
André Coutanche, 5 December 2005

Cowes, Isle of Wight

The flag of Cowes (a city in the Isle of Wight) is a 2:3 banner of arms. It is a Saint George cross, red on white field, with a crown in the upper hoist and a ship in the lower fly. An idea of it can be obtained from www.cowes.co.uk.

Olivier Touzeau, 7 November 2001

Cowes is an important yachting harbor, at the mouth of a mighty river with the typical English name of Medina.

Jarig Bakker, 14 January 2002

Island Sailing Club of Cowes

by Ivan Sache, tower from the GASO website

A red triangular flag with a yellow tower with black door, masonry etc. was seen on a boat moored in the Old Basin of Honfleur (Normandy). Jarig Bakker identified the flag as the burgee of the Island Sailing Club of Cowles, Isle of Wight.
Ivan Sache, 27 December 2004