Sign the petition     -    Print and display a White Horse flag poster
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Send comments and ideas to C.Fear@hotmail.co.uk

Wiltshire is a large, rural county in the West of England, characterised by its high chalk down-land, wide valleys, and wealth of ancient landmarks, including Stonehenge and the Avebury complex. But for all its beautiful scenery and fascinating history Wiltshire, unlike many English counties, does not have a widely or officially recognised flag.

This is not my campaign to back my design for such a flag. This is about people who want their county to find true representation through a symbol that is both simple and iconic, and which represents the land and the people of Wiltshire. A good flag should be striking in its simplicity and should bear an existing and widely recognised symbol of the county - if one exists - and in Wiltshire's case one certainly does; a symbol which is, or has been, found across the county from Rockley to Ham Hill, from Devizes to Pewsey, and which symbolises the sacred union of people and their land. I do not propose the White Horse flag so that I alone can make and sell them - I propose it so that other people can do and make what they will with it, so that they can use it, and so that it can be a living icon. Below is my own interpretation of what I see as Wiltshire's natural flag. I have used an image first published in W.C. Plenderleath's The White Horses of the West of England in 1885. Indeed, when I waved a home-made version of it at Glastonbury Festival in 2005, I was approached and asked by people from the other side of England whether the flag I waved were that of Wiltshire - already so widely recognised is the white horse flag.

My vision is to see the White Horse flying above local pubs, market stalls and at school fêtes right across the county. I want Tourist Information Centres to be able to sell tins of biscuits with the flag on them, Wiltshire flag car-stickers, and those little sew-on patches that Scouts have on their camp-blankets. I want to see Wiltshire's true flag flying proudly at cricket matches and other sporting occasions, and at concerts and music festivals where there are people who want to say "I've come all the way from Wiltshire to see this". If you share my vision, please sign the petition.