The Flag world has been excitedly waiting for the unveiling of the new Exmoor Flag. The winning designer Jenny Stevens was overjoyed, briefly explaining her creation: “The flag tells a story of Exmoor’s varied terrain – sea meets river meets cliff path meets moorland meets forest meets wildlife.”
Jenny’s Flag was first flown in a unique ceremony at the West Somerset Railway Station in Minehead. The flag of Exmoor rumbled down the track on a stunning stream engine greeted by huge celebrations.
The flag was created to coincide with the 60th Anniversary Celebrations of the Exmoor National Park – Exmoor is now the only county encompassing a national park with its own flag! The winning flag was selected from 5 finalists by a panel which included Philip Tibbetts, Community Vexillologist at The Flag Institute.
In total 261 designs were submitted from all over the globe… even Australia. Philip Tibbetts commented: “Exmoor can now represent its pride in the unique local culture and environment which in turn is part of the patchwork that makes up our national identity”. Jenny lives in London with her young family, she fell in love with Exmoor as a child on a school trip. Her bold and simple design clearly struck a chord with the public as it received 41% of the vote.
Jenny’s new Exmoor Flag will now embark on a grand tour of the region in a vintage bus provided by Quantock Heritage and sponsored by local businesses, distributing flags to towns and villages for them to have their own celebration. The first stop on the tour will be at Porlock, where an Exmoor Ranger will take up the challenge to fly the new Exmoor Flag on Dunkery Beacon the highest point on Exmoor.
Here at Flagmakers, we thought this was a fantastic competition and a great opportunity to raise the awareness of all things flags and Exmoor. Congratulations to Jenny on her beautiful bold design and we hope to see it flying high and proudly around Exmoor.
