This is just an idea that popped into my head; another social symbol (as opposed to a visual one) for the Black Country.

Most council bodies around the country have some sort of award system, including the four boroughs that make up the Black Country. Such systems are very important social symbols, as they allow recognition to be given to people who have worked hard within a community or particular area. This in turn provides an achievement to aspire to for other members of that area. This ties in very well to my goals of providing things that allow the Black Country and its people to transcend their current state and strive for betterment.

Creating a symbol and using it in such a way is by no means a new idea. You only have to look at the New Years Honours lists to see that the benefits of such an idea are well understood and utilised on a national level.

It is from this that I drew some inspiration for the idea of a Black Country honour. One national recognition of achievement and effort is a knighthood, andwhen knighted one becomes part of a particular order, which usually is related to a specific area. In the UK the most senior of these are the Order of the Garter (for England), Order of the Thistle (for Scotland) and the Order of St Patrick (for Ireland).

Now I must make clear that I am not proposing to create an entire order, after all the Black Country is not a nation. However, I do think that modelling some form of civic style award on this would work very well – The Order of the Ommer.

The word ‘Ommer’ of course being Black Country dialect for hammer, making use of the areas heritage as well as an element that appears in the heraldic emblem that I designed. Such an honour could be conferred by the joint mayors of each borough and denoted with the presentation of a small ceremonial hammer.

This way we can create a practical mechanism of recognising the talents of people across the entire Black Country, and through the careful use of meaning and symbols we can tie-in to the prestige that other awards can give. Making working for the community and striving for honour and recognition within the Black Country more appealing as well as rewarding.

Article is written by Phillip Tibbets, researcher of Heraldic Art and co-founder of Heartland Heritagewear