‘Wolverhampton? Aldridge?’ you may cry, ‘but you’ve already done those flags!’ I cannot deny that but there is good reason for having revisited the designs. Over time my knowledge of the heraldic arts has grown and matured, and whilst I remain happy with the vast majority of my designs there are some I wish to revisit. Read the rest of this entry »

This week I have two flags that beautifully illustrate how simple flag design can be whilst still being powerfully expressive. Both examples being nothing more complicated than a field division, one type of charge and no more than three colours. Read the rest of this entry »

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

Streetly is a town in the Walsall borough, and this may not come as a surprise but its name is derived from a street. Not just any street through – an important Roman Road known as Icknield Street. Read the rest of this entry »

I can already hear the cries… “but Quinton ay the Black Country, it’s Brummagem!” Which I concede is true… sort of. Read the rest of this entry »

Happy New Year 2010!

This week we will again look at options for a name for the Black Country Flag, having looked at ideas derived from religion and geography already. In the last article looking at geography we hit upon the idea of ‘The Coal Cross’ and this may give us a clue as to another area for examination. Read the rest of this entry »

Happy Christmas!

Although separated between Dudley and Sandwell councils these two towns have a lot of shared history. Whilst Cradley and Cradley Heath do have a fun brotherly rivalry, I felt that the flags to represent them should be very similar – brother flags for brother towns if you will – though still noticeably different. Read the rest of this entry »

This week we feature two flags that have drawn upon quite unique inspirations for their designs. The first is Amblecote, a small town just north of Stourbridge, which many might consider to be a suburb though a civic history of its own belies its nature as distinct town.

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The Rowley Regis is a nice example of a concept in tartan design called under-check and over-check. Which put pretty simply is where it looks like there is a broad ‘base’ check pattern with a smaller ‘foreground’ overlaid on the top. Read the rest of this entry »

My proposal for a Netherton flag has a reasonably long gestation, nearly as long as my Halesowen flag. When I started designing the latter, a good friend of mine, James Tromans, a passionate Netherton native, was keen that I turn my attentions to his home town too! Read the rest of this entry »