Last modified: 2020-08-15 by rob raeside
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Historical Bedfordshire County ceased to exist as a local government entity
on 24 January 1889 when Bedfordshire County Council was created, and some of its
previous territory became part of other councils, and the new Bedfordshire
County Counil got some areas from other obsolete counties. The new Bedfordshire
County Council was an upper-tier local government entity, which at various times
during this period [1890-1974] consisted of 17 lower-tier local governments. In
1964 Luton County Borough Council (which is a county-equivalent entity) was
created, so the area of Bedfordshire County Council got a little smaller. The
Bedfordshire County Council existed until 2009.
Bedfordshire County
Council was granted a flag and coat of arms in 1951, and those were the official
county council symbols until 2009. The coat of arms was created in 1951 as part
of the Festival of Britain celebrations. It became the symbol of the county
being placed on many public buildings and signs. The council used the banner of
arms as a flag until it was abolished in 2009.
Valentin Poposki, 22
July 2020
Bedfordshire’s flag is that used by the council which is now defunct –
similar to Middlesex and Westmorland for example. The registered version has
been slightly modified by transposing the blue and white wavy lines on the left
(form the observer’s viewpoint) to ensure that yellow does not touch
white and red does not touch blue. The blue is also a lighter hue to stand out
better where it touches the black central panel. The three escallops or shells
on a black field are from the arms of the Russells, Dukes of Bedford, with the
red and yellow (gold) quartered field, from the arms of the Beauchamps, the
leading family in the county after the Norman Conquest, who constructed Bedford
Castle and were granted a barony at Bedford. The blue and white wavy stripes are
a reference to the River Ouse which flows through the county and are a
traditional heraldic representation of a "water course". Thus, although a
relatively recent creation, composed in 1951, the design subsumes centuries of
local tradition, with elements that bespeak the county's history, heritage and
geography. The same design features in the badges, crests, logos and insignia of
a myriad Bedfordshire organisations.
Jason Saber, 13 September 2014
Bedfordshire’s flag was registered on September 11th 2014 following a
campaign led by county native Luke Blackstaffe of the Friends of Bedfordshire
Society. The design is a slightly modified version of the banner of the arms of
the former Bedfordshire County Council, which was abolished
on 1 April 2009. The flag may be considered as quasi-traditional as although a
comparatively recent creation, the arms being awarded to the council in 1951, it
does subsume centuries of local tradition, with elements that bespeak the
county’s history, heritage and geography.
Source:
https://britishcountyflags.com/
Valentin Poposki, 27 June 2020
Flag Type: County Flag
Flag Date: 12th April 1951
Flag Designer:
College of Arms
Adoption Route: Regional Organisation
Aspect Ratio: 3:5
Pantone® Colours: Yellow 109, Red 485, Blue 300, White, Black
Source:
https://www.flaginstitute.org
Valentin Poposki, 27 June 2020
The flag of Bedfordshire county council is a simple the
banner of arms (obtained from
Dirk
Schönberger's website).
Falko Schmidt, 25 October 2002
See also the Department for Communities and Local Government stream on flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/communitiesuk/sets/72157624821543799/with/5050801617/
where they have a set of county flags. The scallops are more ornate than on the
registered flag.
Colin Dobson, 2010
image located by Valentin Poposki, 22
July 2020
Official blazon
Arms : Quarterly Or and Gules a Fess wavy barry way of
four Argent and Azure surmounted by a Pale Sable charged with three Escallops of
the third.
Crest : On a Wreath of the Colours issuant from a Wreath of
Oak Or a Swan's Head and Neck proper.
Supporters : On the dexter side a
Lion Gules and on the sinister side a Bull Or.
Motto: 'CONSTANT BE'
Origin/meaning
The arms were officially granted on 12 April 1951.
The division of the field quarterly or and gules is derived from the arms of the
Beauchamps, Constables of Bedford Castle, the leading family in the county after
the Norman Conquest. The Beauchamp of 1215 was one of the promoters of Magna
Carta, and their last male was killed at Evesham in 1265. The wavy bar denotes
the river Ouse. The pale charged with three escallops commemorates the services
of the House of Russell to the State, the County and the County Council, and is
taken from the arms of that family. The crest is a swan's head and neck and
again refers to the Ouse. The lion supporter is taken from a similar supporter
to the Russell coat of arms. The bull supporter stands for the importance of
agriculture in the county. The motto "Constant be" is taken from Bunyan's hymn:
"Who would true valour see, let him come hither, One here will constant be, come
wind, come weather") taken from Wikipedia.
Valentin Poposki, 22
July 2020
Here is the list of all entities that were part of Bedfordshire County
Council in this researched period [1890-1974]. The dates in parentheses are the
years of existence of the entity and a star (*) means there is a coat of arms.
Former Bedfordshire County [1890-1974]
County Councils
1. Bedfordshire County Council [1890-1974] * [arms]
2. Luton County Borough Council [1964-1974] * [arms
re-granted from the Luton Municipal Borough Council arms when it became a County
Borough Council in 1964]
District Councils
1. Ampthill Rural District Council [1894-1974] * [arms
granted in 1957]
2. Ampthill Urban District Council [1894-1974]
3. Bedford Municipal Borough Council [1890-1974] * [arms]
4. Bedford Rural District Council [1894-1974]
5. Biggleswade Rural District Council [1894-1974]
6. Biggleswade Urban District Council [1894-1974]
7. Dunstable Municipal Borough Council [1890-1974] * [arms]
8. Eaton Bray Rural District Council [1894-1933]
9. Eaton Socon Rural District Council [1894-1934]
10. Holwell Rural District Council [1894-1897]
11. Kempston Urban District Council [1896-1974]
12. Leighton Buzzard Urban District Council [1894-1965]
13. Leighton-Linslade Urban District Council [1965-1974] * [arms
granted 1966]
14. Luton Municipal Borough Council [1890-1964] * [arms
granted 1876]
15. Luton Rural District Council [1894-1974] * [arms
granted 1959]
16. Sandy Urban District Council [1927-1974]
17. Woburn Rural District Council [1894-1900]
The only entity I found that had a flag is Bedfordshire
County Council. It is very similar to the modern flag for traditional/historical
Bedfordshire County. The main differences are that the wavy bars on both sides
start with white wave, and has different shells.
Coat of arms for
Bedford MBC was granted before 1890 as municipal
boroughs in general were created in 1830s and 1860s. The same situation exists for Dunstable
MBC.
Source of coats of arms:
https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=United_Kingdom
Valentin Poposki, 22 July 2020