THE Isle of Skye will soon get its own flag after a design competition received more than 200 entries from across the world.
The competition launched in November after islanders petitioned the Court of Lord Lyon – the body that deals with heraldry and coats of arms in Scotland – to officially recognise the winning flag.
Skye residents will meet with court representatives at the end of January to compile a shortlist that will be open for a public vote soon after, with the winning design due to be unveiled in March.
Among those championing the search is local newspaper the West Highland Free Press. According to reporter Keith MacKenzie, a flag is “a symbol that people can rally around and can identify with at home and abroad”.
He continued: “When you think of any big occasion where a place is celebrated, be it the Olympic Games or parades or festivals, you always see flags. People show off their flag.
“I thought with Skye being such a popular and iconic place for Scotland, it seemed like a good idea for Skye to have its own flag too.”
Entries have been received from across the world, including the US, New Zealand, Norway, Ireland and France.
To encourage local engagement, Philip Tibbetts, honorary vexillologist at the Court of Lord Lyon, visited the island and conducted flag workshops at local schools.
Tibbetts told The National that it is important locals play a key role in the selection process to ensure the design resonates and means something to their community.
He believes there is a huge opportunity on the island to make use of the flag: “There’s a wealth of creativity on Skye, with all the different things that are made, baked and created there. There’s a real opportunity to use the flag as part of their branding and merchandising.”
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Alistair Danter, project manager at tourism body SkyeConnect, agrees that having a flag will be useful for branding. “For somewhere like Skye, where there’s quite a lot of artisanal production, arts, crafts and food, it can help a lot,” he said.
“People are naturally inventive, and I’m sure [the flag] will pop up all over the place.”
Representatives from SkyeConnect will be on the panel when a shortlist is compiled at the end of the month. Danter is looking forward to seeing the entries, including those which have come in from abroad. “It’ll be really interesting to see how others see us. You can get a lot from that,” he said.
Tibbetts and Lord Lyon will also sit on the selection panel to ensure the shortlisted designs meet the standards required by the court, both in terms of graphics and the traditions of Scottish heraldry.
“It’s how we stop Flaggy McFlagface, and ensure a viable flag,” Tibbetts told The National. “Having said that, I have seen some amazing Flaggy McFlagfaces, even if they wouldn’t work as a flag.”
Tibbetts says there is tradition in Scotland for communities to develop their own symbols, be it a coat of arms, tartan or flag.
“Scotland is possibly the richest country in the world for that sheer level of awareness, diversity and pride in all the regions that make up what it means to be Scottish,” he told The National.
Communities creating these symbols is not a new phenomenon, Tibbetts said. Even though Shetland’s flag wasn’t officially registered until 2005, Shetlanders have been using their flag since 1950, while other islands and areas of the country including, Orkney, Caithness and Tiree, also have their own flags.
According to Tibbets, Caithness was the first community to use a competition to find its flag.
“I think the fact that we’ve opened this up as a competition so that we’re getting people’s own unique ideas is really important,” John Finlayson, councillor for the Eilean a’ Cheo ward, told The National.
He continued: “The competition opens it up to everyone, and what we finally come up with, we can say this was agreed democratically, because everyone had the opportunity of input.”
After the panel meets on January 31, a shortlist will be available in the West Highland Free Press and on the paper’s website (www.whfp.com) throughout February for the public to cast their votes.
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